Utah Lands Win a Reprieve at the Dawn of a Cleaner, Greener Future
For the past several days, America has been swept up by a wave of hope and possibility. It was fitting, therefore, that a federal court acted last weekend to protect more than 110,000 acres of stunning Utah wilderness that otherwise would have been sold by the outgoing Bush administration to the dirty fuels industry.
These pristine lands sit on the boundaries of some of our nation's most spectacular parks: Arches, Canyonlands, and Dinosaur National Monument. They are redrock icons of American ruggedness. Yet the Bush administration announced in November that it would auction them off to be torn apart by the oil and gas industry, further polluting delicate environments and endangering public health.
My friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and their partners quickly filed suit to avert this tragedy, and last Saturday night they succeeded. Judge Ricardo Urbina issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the Bureau of Land Management from moving forward with the contested leases to the oil and gas industry.
What inspired me most was when Judge Urbina wrote that the "development of domestic energy resources... is far outweighed by the public interest in avoiding irreparable damage to public lands and the environment."
Finally, the greater good has prevailed over the profit of the few. For eight long years, the Bush administration acted not as the steward of our natural heritage, but as the broker of shady land deals. Those days of deep cynicism and self interest are over.
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke about the responsibility of all Americans to help build a better future for our nation.
I take very seriously my responsibility to help protect the lands I love which belong to all of us, the American people. I have hiked and ridden on horseback through these redrock canyons for decades, and the battle to keep them wild for generations to come always has been deeply personal for me. Destroying our natural heritage will do nothing to solve our energy challenges for the long-term, which to me, is even more reason to act.
I will continue to keep a vigilant watch over these lands, while working to build a cleaner, greener energy foundation for America. With endless untapped reserves of efficiency, solar, and wind power, we do not need to choose between affordable electricity, and one-of-a-kind landscapes. We can have both.
Now that is a greater good worth fighting for.
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Environmentalist Punked Bush Administration, Hopes To Save Utah Land
A few weeks ago, an environmentalist named Tim DeChristopher played a big joke on the Bureau of Land Management, the Bush Administration and the oil...
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Mr. Redford,hope you are responding to your article. My daughter sent me this article published by the NOAA.
First two paragraphs: New Study Shows Climate Change,Irreversible
January 26, 2009
A new scientific study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reaches a conclusion about climate change caused by future increases of CO2: to a large extent, there’s no going back. The study, led by NOAA scientist Susan Solomon, shows how changes in surface temperature, rainfall, and sea level are largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after carbon dioxide emissions are completely stopped. The findings appear during the week of January 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (link)
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090126_climate.html
Since the economy is failing and people are being put out of work, it seemed logical to have a bail out that mostly funds making of green cars, establishing a green power grid and figuring out how to take CO2's out of the atmosphere. This would put people back to work and get us all united,trying to preserve the environment. I will suggest this to the president, but if you can get access and promote ideas of this type, it would have a major impact. It appears the proposed stimulus package has a lot of waste. We don' t have time to waste, nor money. People desperately need to get back to work. Thank you for the work that you do. It is appreciated.
Mr Redford, as a fellow Utahn I thank you for your efforts over the years. You have faced criticism many times from the far-right majority of idiots here in Utah, yet you never wavered. Thank you for helping to preserve the environment not only for you and I, but also my children and grandchildren. I'd like my three granddaughters to have the same opportunity to see these beautiful places unspoiled as my children had. Keep up the good work!
forgetting to say.......
Our energy needs are actually really real, but lets just pretend they are not. It is easier and no-one challenges that, so we can get away with the impression that gridlock on this issue is just an inconsequential irritant that we can continually blame on the other side. We will use words like uncooperative, natural heritage, delicate environments, broker of shady land deals, and self interest while we continue to pretend that it is not us, we the people who consume daily this energy. Do we want a goverment that limits consumption, not really, but we can pretend we do not need to choose and so we will. And in Washington the issue again politicized, but hey, that's politics.
We are fortunate indeed to have a person of Robert Redford's status and reputation to watch what is going on and to be able to use positive influence to help us prevent more damage to the environment. I recently watched Redford's film ("The Unforseen") about development around Austin. I would strongly encourage everyone to watch this. It might be things already known, but to see this unfold gave me a much deeper appreciation of what is at stake if we don't shape up and get control of development. We definitely need people to become educated about the impact and dangers to all present forms of life on our planet, not the least of which, human beings. Thank you Mr. Redford for your work.
Great news. I'm happy that the Bush adminstration's raping and pillaging of the environment has finally been halted. It's a shame it took a war, Katrina and a financial meltdown to stop them though.
Dear Mr. Redford,
Thank you for your efforts to protect our land. I am still confused how we as people think that we can continue to take from the land and give so little back without any consequences. I loved our president's speech too and I especially love that he talks of innovation and imagination. These too are resources we must protect in our children. It is imagination that allowed Einstein to see the Universe in a different way. it is imagination that allowed a man to go to the moon. it is imagination that will see our economy as it could be and it will be imagination that will enable us to live in harmony with our mother earth.
By the way, I had lunch with you in 1976 as a 9 year old at my uncle's restaurant, Tia Sophia's, in Santa Fe. I had no idea who you were then but I remember the questions you asked and your kindness.
Consider the Connection to:
Environmental Conservation
Please visit: www.hattiesburgamerican.com screen name CTC123 PROFILE-PHOTOS-BLOG-COMMENTS
Yay! I was wondering if President Bush would be able to ram that vile sale through before he left town. Evidently not. Ha ha. Hahahahahahaha. HA. I know it's unseemly to gloat but hey, it's been a long eight years.
Please let us know when Judge Ricardo Urbina is up for re-election. Many Huffposters would happily contribute to keep this guy on the bench.
Keep fighting the good fight, Robert Redford. You've done more to raise the environmental consciousness of Americans than you'll ever know.
I love the concept of energy independence, greener cheaper energy that doesn't harm this great land... So let's not look to Gov. to get it done... they have ah... a record on things like this and it's not good!
I grew up and lived in Utah Valley. I used to ski at Timp Haven, which is now Sundance. I watched as Mr. Redford bulldozed a hillside in order to build his mansion. I watch as the developers some how got use of public lands around Sundance for the purpose of putting in roads, and septic tanks, so that vacation homes could be sold to the wealthy. I am sure that Mr Redford profited in these endeavors. After all it was just business. Like so many of the wealthy celebrities, having enough money and time on his hands, he now has developed a concern for the environment. Better late than never.
I watched as Geneva Steel, which provide good paying jobs for middle class workers, declined, and was finely torn down. In its place a bunch off small businesses sprang up. The vast majority of such pay low wages. I watched as Californians moved in and drove the price of homes ever upward, while the medium income stagnated.
I now live in Texas the ugliest state in the Union, seen from both a pictorial, and political point of view. I make a living erecting wind turbines. You might say that Mr Redford and I are on the same side.
My parents are both buried at the foot of Mount Timpanogos, and I have directed my daughter than when I pass that my ashes be scattered among the aspens groves of this majestic and beautiful Mountain.
Thank you for reminding us that these celebrities..can ruin as much as they may help..if regular people live in a beautiful area..these celebs can quickly come in and change the landscape all the while driving up prices out of the reach of the native residents...hasn't Ted Turner own 25% of New Mexico?
First off, anytime a home is built, there's bulldozing involved. You say it as if there's something terribly wrong, but this is just the way it's done.
Secondly, you say developers got hold of public lands. This is very doubtful, but there are times where private interests trade swaths of private land for equivalent value in desirable areas. As I recall, some of this went on in Utah. You suggest that there's something terribly wrong here, and as I recall some of those swaps, you may be right.
Finally, you say, "I am sure that Mr. Redford profited in these endeavors.", which to me suggests that you are suspicious that he might have, which further suggests that you honestly don't know, which makes that an attack without any clue whether you're attacking someone who deserves to be attacked.
For the record, I grew up closer to Sundance than you did. Close enough to visit on bicycle.
"I am sure that Mr Redford profited in these endeavors."
Oh honey, please. Everyone knows that Redford took a huge financial hit on Sundance for years. YEARS. He may still be taking one although I think it's gotten better. The damn thing nearly bankrupted him.
Thank you, Robert Redford. We have had 8 long years of our environment being plundered by greedy oil and gas management. I know there are a lot more changes to be made in order to save what we still have.
Dear Mr. Redford,
There are very few that will place their fame and reputations on the line the way that you have in seeking positive change for our planet.
Thank you.
************************
The Bush mantra in opposition to change; “Bad for Business.”
We have been taken to war, lands confiscated, our entire way of life manipulated, managed and designed surrounding profitability and future exploitations of nature. The propaganda remained the same for 60 years; “Environmentalists, are people who choose freeze to death in the dark.”
WRONG!
We are at a critical juncture, hopefully, with the assistance embodied in a new administration. In our common struggle for responsible management of world resources, we ALL ignore the fundamental reality and essence of the “Alternatives Movement.”
This would include, alternative income, alternative investments, alternative cash flow, alternative business models, alternative employment, and alternative profitability structures.
Green Businesses are prospering.
Huge Corporations, are turning their thinking around.
Recycling is now Mega Business.
Innovation is no longer limited to a few Industrialized Nations.
New business models are finding BILLIONS of savings in Green Tech, if not direct profitability.
The Alternatives Movement???
Slowly, we are teaching others, GREEN is not only good,,,, it is profitable.
Local.
Easy to obtain.
Abundant.
Highly marketable.
Consumer friendly.
Environmentally desirable.
Inexhaustible.
Few or NO moving parts.
Low Cost.
Zero or low labor costs.
These are the factors driving GREEN Economies.
Green,,, Is GOOD for Business too!
All the best
Knute
To all concerned... I tried to "take the pledge" and my computer gave me warnings that the site was not safe, and to get off it immediately. I welcome suggestion as I'm new to the computer.
Join Facebook and find the site from there. Easy, just type www.facebook.com in your address window, the rest is a walk-through. Then type Robert Redford or Utah Wilderness in the Facebook Search window. Have fun!
What's to be done with all the "I Hate Nature" buttons left over from the Bush administration?
Considering Palin is now suing the Goverment to take beluga whales off the endangered list, you can send them to her...
They're going to be recycled into "I Ate Nature" buttons and sold at Whole Foods.
Mr. Redford.
How much have you contributed to help Tim DeChristopher pay for the land he won the bid on? Mr. Tim DeChristopher took an active part in saving the same lands you have talked about. He didn't write letters. He didn't march in protest. And he didn't wait around for some lawyers to file a suit and then wait around for the suit to reach the courts and then wait around...well, you get the picture. Mr. Tim DeChristopher came up with a briliant way of keeping these lands out of the hands of those that would destroy them.
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