Americans Rejected 'Drill, Baby, Drill' -- Bush Should Respect Our Choice

Part of the change Americans just voted for in overwhelming numbers was to move away from the failed energy philosophy of "drill, baby, drill" to a more farsighted strategy, emphasized by Barack Obama, based on clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Yet on the very day that we raised our voices for change, the Bush administration dragged us in the opposite direction.

The Bureau of Land Management cynically chose November 4 to announce a last-minute plan to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in eastern Utah for oil and gas extraction one month before President-elect Obama takes office.

As its clock runs out, the Bush administration also is trying to open-up drilling all over the Rockies and Alaska, to green-light oil shale leasing, and to weaken the Endangered Species Act. Though sad, it's no surprise, coming as it does from the same crowd that designed a misguided national energy policy in secret meetings with the oil, gas and coal industries.

The BLM didn't just try to slip the audacious Utah lease maneuver past the American people on an historic election day, it actually hid the ball from its sister agency, the National Park Service, and then rejected the Service's request for more time to review the scheme.

Among the 360,000 acres to be auctioned for industrial development is pristine land near Canyonlands National Park, adjacent to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. This Christmas gift to the dirty fuel industry includes parts of Desolation Canyon, named in 1869 by the explorer John Wesley Powell, which has been proposed for national park status. In fact, the BLM itself described Desolation Canyon nine years ago as "a place where a visitor can experience true solitude -- where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape."

Words alone cannot do justice to the beauty of these places, but they do capture the absurdity of the Bush plan. Oil and gas drilling in Desolation Canyon? Industrial development along the meandering Green River? The thought makes one wince.

The Obama transition team already has signaled its opposition to the leases, and said that once in office the Obama administration will try to reverse them. Let's hope that's possible. Utah's eastern expanse is one of America's few remaining wilderness treasures. It's our land, it's our legacy, but will it still be here for our children and grandchildren? We made our wishes about that known loudly and clearly on election day.

We voted to take control of our own destiny by breaking our addiction to dirty fuels. We voted to re-power America with clean energy from wind, solar and geothermal power. We voted to use of our greatest resource, American ingenuity, to build economic, energy and climate security, and to preserve our natural heritage. Yes we did. And yes we can.

Robert Redford, an actor, director and environmental activist, is a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and is the founder of Sundance, in Utah.

This post also appears on NRDC's Greenlight blog.

Comments

[toypiano]

Thanks for the article, very helpful.

Utah and Canyonlands are deeply beautiful and inspiring to me. Subjecting these wilderness areas to oil and gas extraction is definitely old thinking, no longer appropriate or sustainable. It shows a lack of creativity and a cynical willingness to not only go against the voters' wishes but to auction off to the highest bidder the health and balance of future generations of all species. Ugh, so short sighted.

I think we're at a critical pivot point in our evolution. Besides developing alternative energy systems, and resisting attempts to destroy wilderness, I think we also need to keep making the case for why it matters -- so ppl who would profit financially from dirty fuels understand the true cost and the reasons we are moving on.

[LMAO AT USEFUL IDIOTS]

Dirty Fuels, but being slaves to foreign governments is OK. Not one new refinery in 30 years. Every new find of fossil fuels has some enviromental impact, like the poor black fly in ANWR. The leftist ilk demonizes "Big Oil" and ignores the hypocrits like Redford, Travolta, Gore. No worries your Savior Obama will add 1.50 to the gas tax to enslave the US more to Foreign Enities, He'll ban Drilling all for the un-economical Green solution. There needs to be a SANE approach to becoming less dependent on foreign sources and Feasable Alternatives. So when they outlaw drilling may YOU be the first one without a job but no worries you can wallow at the government trough while waiting for your alternative employment to come through....

[BobsNotWorking]

Hey! Your plan has been working so well! We should all get behind it right? Your comment is laughable.

[toypiano]

Your comment doesn't make much sense. Besides enormous corporate profits, what's to like about dirty fuels wherever they come from? Thanks to the conservatives who made sure to prolong our dependence on foreign governments so that their buddies in the oil industry could continue to rake in enormous private profits while paying ever decreasing taxes, we are decades behind in developing large-scale alternative energy systems here at home.

Big oil is not entitled to pillage everything in its path nor do we owe allegiance to that outdated, destructive industry beyond trying to make sure workers can transition from a dirty industry to a cleaner one and get jobs on the new energy frontier. The CEOs can take care of themselves.

Obama has many strengths, but he's no savior. Unfortunately he's looking a bit more conservative by the day, though I still have hope that some good changes will come.

[bbc3341]

I was just shooing a documentary up at Zion National Park in southern Utah - it's beauty is incredible. It's awe inspiring. There is something about these places that is so powerful, so inspiring, that they need to be protected.

[huffyISaHottie]

in 1980 i did a cross country on a motorcycle from san francisco to boston....to this day i still talk about the incredible beauty i witnessed..in particular Zion National Park...i hope to make that journey again ..but in a camper this time :)

[bbc3341]

Two great cities for bookends! (I'm from Boston, so I am biased...)

Yeah Zion really gets to people. We saw a lot of people from Europe there, just amazed at the formations. It's something we might take for granted, but seeing the reactions of people who aren't able to see this particular kind of natural beauty just whenever, really reinforces how special they are.

[shedances]

Mr. Redford ~ I doubt that persons like George Bush Jr. & certain corporation heads will ever understand that nature is, indeed, our jewel & our lifeline; and without it, we all perish. Instead, they will probably continue to despise both the efforts of environmentalists & activists themselves; perhaps because, we make no apologies for our priorities of keeping areas ~ esp. those already in peril, like the oceans, etc. ~ from bleeding to death, on our watch (so-to-speak). You really would think that since Teddy Roosevelt's day & accomplishments, we would no longer need to work so hard in both educating & advocating protection of places like our very beautiful National Parks ... but, too many still think that greed trumps Nature.

[Jaybird248]

Bush & Company will steal everything that's not nailed down, and some things that are, before Security escorts them out the door.

This last minute gift to the energy industry for whom they shill is not unexpected. Let's just hope Obama can wrest it back. BTW, expect Bush to pardon everyone, including himself, for all and any wrongdoing, before his trail of disaster and destruction thankfully reaches its end.

[ResidentChimpinExile]

I'm sure Redford would agree that gays should respect California's choice on Gay marriage. But i fail to see how the election affected polling that showed most Americans agree with the slogan "Drill, Baby Drill".

[CaptainStormfield]

Im sure thats true. However I think most people have no idea what shale oil is and why extracting it is a dead loss and an enviromental nightmare. Or open pit coal mines, The water from the Appalachian mountains is worth more long term than the coal.

[instagladiator]

Bush respects one thing and one thing only, Bush.

[HoraceOvidson]

Redford's interpretation poses an alarming prospect for U.S. dentists.

[Fremon]

Bush is not acting this way to put "america first". He will get paid down the line with corruptive lucre by the other financial "wh..es who will appreciate his incompetency and largesse in office. No publisher will pay for any book he will write as they will for Sarah Palin or even his wife's proposed books. Here he is a white man born into the highest American priveledge and wealth that had to have all his life's golden paths lined with direction by his family. He did such a bad job with the presidency that a smarter black man from modest circumstances from a no name family beat him and made his Republican party with congressional losses. And the world cheered. Today even leaders of the industrialized world would not shake hands with him at the G20 summit. What a legacy! As Martin Luther would say "free at last".

[tomas0808]

Remember Shock and Awe? I found that phrase totally disgusting at the time, and inappropriate. But it's quite fitting for what he and they have done to America.

[shedances]

Yes indeed! And the Bush Administration quickly & effectively turned back the proverbial clock (not only in the U.S.; but also elsewhere around the globe) on progress that was already being made on our environmental issues, problems. It certainly reminds me of what Milton wrote in Paradise Lost: "Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part; Do thou but thine!"

[Cowboylove]

Oil is not the answer and never will be. We should make a decision to be imported oil free in FIVE years. It is possible, and Americans will make whatever sacrifices necessary to end our involvement in the Middle East. If Obama leads, we will follow. We are at war with ourselves,a nd we need to be disciplined back into a healthy economy and a peaceful nation.

[tomas0808]

I propose a huge gas tax to pay for free healthcare and free education. The side benefit would be Detroit if they survive would be forced to make fuel efficient cars. I'd be willing to bet that Americans would go for it if we got those things. That's what Europe has been doing for years

[Bocababs]

Mr. Redford....

Your post reminded me of that scene in Star Wars where the ship flies over the city....which the whole planet looks like one eternal city with no trees and all concrete structures. Was Lucas trying to tell us all something? Your post today reminds me of that very striking scene in the movie.

[Tyrione]

Other than the topology of a machine planet isn't going to be Organic?

[Tyrione]

Swap topology for topography.

[zitlight73]

If Bush respected us we wouldn't have lied us into a war.

[dc2nm]

The republicans have played their hand and their cashing in their chips. They swindled not just the American people but the world.

[mamacat]

I am so glad to have Mr. Redford on the the side of the American people. However, does anyone still think that Bush cares what the American people want? After lying his way into a war with Iraq, I don't trust this President to give me the weather report.

[shedances]

Nicely said, mamacat! I agree with you. And the sooner Bush is gone, the better for all of us ... inc. those committed to protecting our environment.

[johnnynyc]

Yeah well, it was the Democrats in Congress who let the restrictions on offshore drilling expire just before the recent election.

Redford ought to be directing his fire at both parties.

[K-Dog76]

jonnynyc
point!