Stopping Bush's Destruction of Our Environment

Democracy is working. At least that's the news for now from my friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has filed a lawsuit against last-minute Bush administration plans to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in Utah for oil and gas extraction.

Late last night, NRDC and a coalition of environmental and preservation groups filed an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management that could save 100,000 acres of pristine land that are endangered. The deal temporarily prevents the Bureau from issuing leases on 80 contested parcels of Utah wilderness, including land adjacent to national parks, for 30 days (until January 19).

Although the Bureau will go forward with the auction today, based on the agreement it will not issue the contested leases. The delay will give a federal court time to hear the case.

As I've written previously, 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.

Utah's Red Rock country 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?

The Bureau's agreement has delayed the potential destruction. We will now get our day in court and I know that NRDC, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) and their partners will continue to do all they can to protect Utah's unspoiled landscapes.

Comments

[onzaga]

i think the man that bid on 22,500 acres at the auction the other day had the right idea
couldn't we start an online donation site to collect $ for this? after all look how much we
were able to raise to elect our president. possibly buy acreage that blocks access to
deeper acreage? if there is no law against this LETS DO IT!

[mamacat]

On Rachel Maddow's show I think I heard that the total of all of the leasing bids came to $7 million. Maybe I am way off, but if that figure is accureate, would it not have been possible for someone with money to burn to go to the meeting and buy up the land rights for the public good? And, once the Democrats are in office, and the lame duck Republicans gone, maybe it would be possibe to cancel the contracts, so that it wouldn't actually cost the $7 million?

[SteveDenver]

I have just become acquainted with BIONEERS.ORG, a scientific group that mimics nature for better engineering. In addition to preserving natural beauty and wilderness, these unspoiled lands are the reference library for scientists and engineers who are improving every facet of our lives, from high-speed mass transportation to self-cooling highrise structures to audio-visual equipment to inoculation suspensions that do not need refrigeration. Once destroyed or altered, nature's answers to our needs could be lost.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Question: All by itself, how much impact would restoration of the Roadless Act have? I would think it would make *use* by mining and logging companies of previously off-limits National Forest lands impossible, but I'm not familiar enough with all the statutes to be certain.

Thank you for all your hard work, Mr. Redford!

[lbrillante]

Thank you so much for your advocacy on this issue! I am very glad to hear this. i was also encouraged by the rogue action of the gentleman who participated in raising up the bids at the recent auction so that the auctions were ceased. it had not occurred to me that 'we' could have chipped in to bid on these leases to prevent them going to drilling companies. There must be a way to save our lands from destruction.

[buffalochris2006]

i believe that what deChristopher did was incredible. i also do believe that we should start to help him raise the money that is required so that we can have these lovely pieces of land available to us and our children.

[Paige Donner - Huffpost Blogger]

Look forward to you keeping us updated on the progress of the lawsuit NRDC filed that you mention here.

[rubygreen]

First I would like to thank all those that do their part in trying to protect the planet, not just for the human species but for the animals and plants. But to all those with these great ideas, please, please forward them to anyone who will listen, especially to the new administration. They are truely wiling to listen.

[Oilfieldguy]

I am familiar with this area in my travels supplying an addicted nation. The rugged beauty of the area is truly spectacular. The town of Moab, UT caters to adventurous types offering a launching point for boating, rock climbing, (by hand, jeep, bicycle or motorcycle) horseback riding, hiking, etc. Just at the north end of town there still exists a very large windrow of earth left over from the uranium mining days.

We should try to keep this available for enjoyment of the many and not the profit of the few.

[CVignone]

Think about it; Human population on the planet is 7.1Billion people, Not including all the animals
who are incorporated into a VERY Complex phylogenetic planetary enviornment.
This incredible paradise Earth is Still here with nature beginning to fight back.
Every day the Sun produces enough energy to power humanity's power needs. Could this not be accomplished by producing and incorporating planetary solar cell systems using a standardized
planetary DC Voltage system....Computers and almost all electronics on Earth use 11volt to 20volt
DC systems....
Why not make furniture from scrap wood Already in existance INSTEAD of cutting down crucial O2 producing rain forests?... With our technology products made from recycled material can be made to
look and wear like the expensive originals from past eras....
Why pump our sewage out into the oceans when we can convert it to fertilizer and construction products.
Humanity can enact alternating year long ocean fishing moratoriums with armies of technicians
stopping and converting toxic wastes from leaching into the oceans ...we NEED the oceans, as the
plankton produces 28% of Earths Oxygen for we Humans to breathe..
We are getting the idea on energy efficient cars and appliances!!!! With all the unemployment going on
thanks to our enlightened governmental and corporate leaders we have the numbers for the much
needed Enviornmental EcoArmies....
It is Doable, and we have started; We just have to increase the scope of our Earth saving efforts..
Earth is The Only Planet we have!!!!!!!!!

[dori]

Thank you for an enlightening post. We must constantly fight to save the environment and all that entails. Yes, we do need the birds, fish, animals and plants. There is so much we have not discovered yet and if we destroy those 'empty' spaces, we are destroying amazing things we have not even dreamed of yet....

I am so grateful for every person who understands the value of our planet--and the need to protect spaces that may look 'unused' but there is no area that isn't being used by something. There is no area it is safe to destroy.

[newpantaloons]

I live in the western mountains of Colorado and the red-rock deserts of Utah are my immediate neighbors. Believe me when I say that this is some of the most gorgeous scenery in the United States, if not the world. We, as a people, must turn from the greed and avarice of the past couple of centuries to looking at our planet as our 'mother'. We are all on this planet together, and there is really no where else to go. How can we destroy an entire planet for money?? Other species on this planet are being forced into smaller and smaller environments to try and live their lives. It seems they are discounted by many millions of people living on the land that the animals used to call their home. How many times have I heard the phrase, "Why have 'wilderness'? The only people who use it are a bunch of hippies and wild animals"! How shortsighted we humans are. I think of the animals that live in the forests surrounding my small town as my 'brothers and sisters' on this planet. What we do to the least among us, we do to ourselves. But, our planet is not one of the 'least among us'. It is everything, and we CANNOT survive without it. To destroy it, for money, is ignorant, short-sighted, and dispicable. Something or someone must come along to save our earth from this greed. It is the animals', the planet's, and humanity's only hope.

[dessertsfirst]

Thank you Bob, for being an advocate for our national natural treasures. Bush apparently thought he could do his big oil buddies a last favor by allowing drilling near one of the most beautiful places in America. Having had the privilege of visiting there just last year, I was so struck by the amazing red rock formations. Drilling nearby would be a travesty.

[hapsandmishaps]

I completely agree - have been a supporter of Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) for almost a decade, after falling in love with the many areas of Utah during several hiking trips. The amount assumed to be available - expensively and destructively available - is negligible. With the cost of oil below $80/bbl, the economics don't even support drilling, but that won't stop companies from buying leases to drill later. To read more on this, go to hapsandmishaps dot blogger dot com.

[breakingpoint]

Groups all around the country must start writing demands to revers, preserve and protect what the Bush Administraion has wrought upon this nation.

From the environment to health care to corporate regulations, it's time to get these things taken care of and on President Elect Obama's desk January 21, 2009 and don't let go until our democracy is not only restored, but in better shape.

Regardless of who you voted for we need to unite and get active fast by engaging with our representatives and push them all to do the right thing for the American People.
http://november5.org has it going on

Remember We the People out number them.
Americans can have anything they want.
Want something good!

[mcjorich]

Thank you, whoever filed the lawsuit in Utah. Colorado is already lost, please let's save as much of our planet as we can. I only wish they could have saved Colorado, the place I loved. I lived with the rapacious greed that fueled the rampant oil and gas drilling in Colorado and only moved when it became apparent the toxins were killing me and my family. Time to give our planet back to those who will care for and nurture it. Can we shed enough greed fast enough to save any of it? What do we call people who kill and eat their young? Because that is apparently what we are doing.
That's just the View from My Trailer Park.
Thank you.
MJ Richards

[sheila]

since you are so concerned about 100,000 acres in Utah, let's hope you will stand up and protest the nearly 1 MILLION acres under development for Industrial Solar and Industrial Wind and the 200 MILLION acres the BLM recently opened for geothermal permitting!

Big Energy is Big Energy. Killing off beautiful public lands for private property, and externalizing all the costs is just as evil for Sun and Wind, which we have an abundance of in the built landscape, as it is for Coal, Oil and Gas, which we don't.

The Mojave has proven to be as effective a carbon sink as FOREST, so you can't cheerlead destroying an amazing carbon sink, killing thousands of plants and animals, depleting aquifers, AND emitting HUGE amounts of GHGs by building and maintaining Big Solar and Big Wind and Big Transmission, while using those arguments against Big Fossils.

The only answer is LOCAL POINT OF USE solutions. massive efficiency gains, generation on every rooftop, smart grids, storage, feed in tariffs, bulk contracting for installation of PV on buildings, etc. there is NO excuse to permanently kill our wilderness for more energy. we need to get better at living off the resources we have - where we live.

[gclum]

I respectfully disagree. We need much larger solutions to solve our energy needs than what a local point of use could possibly generate. I am as green as the next liberal but we have a problem that is not solvable with this line of thinking.

[sheila]

welcome to the 21st century. this is not the 70s, and technology could EASILY manage 100% point of use solutions. it's political WILL that is lacking, and people like you provide cover for the mercenary Big Energy Robber Barons by repeating their talking points about how we need "larger solutions." you are dead wrong, and we can't afford to kill off millions more acres of open spaces (including carbon sinks like the Mojave) for Big Energy giveaways, to look back later and say "ooops, we shouldn't have destroyed the planet in the name of saving it," it will be too late.

[SimJack]

In 1982 a film was released depicting the relationship between humans, nature and technology. It was entitle 'Koyaansiqatsi' which in the Hopi language means 'crazy life, life in turmoil, life out of balance, life disintegrating, a state of life that calls for another way of living'. It was a portentous film then and humans have probably quadrupled (or more) our negative impact on the planet's resources and overall environment since. The planet is a closed system, once a component of the biosphere is removed, transformed or destroyed on the scale we are capable of it will have an impact. Damage several essential systems at once and that impact will be profound, very likely irreversible and ultimately catastrophic consequences for all or most surface dwelling life forms, including ourselves. The ocean's are overfished, coral reefs are dying in massive numbers, huge swaths of protective, oxygen-producing rainforests are destroyed each day (eventually the Amazon basin will look like the Sahara). The movie helps put things in perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi