A Victory for America's Land
The American public just scored a major victory on behalf of our public lands. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced that he is canceling all 77 contested leases surrounding some of Utah's most stunning national parks. Now, instead of being drilled and industrialized, this redrock wilderness can remain part of our natural heritage.
I see this announcement as a sign that after eight long years of rapacious greed and backdoor dealings, our government is returning a sense of balance to the way it manages our lands.
The Bush administration made oil and gas drilling the dominant use of public lands, placing it above recreation, preservation, and wildlife habitat. Considering America has less than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves and couldn't possible drill its way out of our energy problems, the policy amounted to little more than a giveaway of public resources to the administration's energy industry friends. The Utah leases, announced in November, were just one last parting gift.
Now a new era has dawned in Washington. Our new president is pledging to put America on a clean energy path, one in which we mine our energy efficiency and renewable resources instead of our pristine wildlands.
Although I don't expect miracles from the new administration, I do expect a more even-handed approach to the lands we hold in common. Cancelling the Utah leases was a step in that direction.
The decision reminds us that we don't have to choose between preserving special places and achieving energy security. We can do both. We can drive down energy costs by calling on American workers to weatherize our homes and build more efficient cars. We can opt for clean wind and solar power that doesn't pollute our air and water or endanger our health. And we can protect wild landscapes for generations to come.
But the administration didn't arrive at this decision alone. Yes, my friends at NRDC, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Earthjustice had to file a lawsuit to temporarily halt the leases, but that's not the only thing that brought us to victory. Salazar's announcement confirms something I believe firmly: American citizens have a say in the fate of the lands we love.
I have spent my adult life exploring the slick rock ridgelines, red-walled canyons, and rock art galleries that were threatened by the recent lease sale. I feel deeply connected to these places, and that's why I spoke up for them. But I wasn't the only one.
More than 150,000 Americans filed protest comments with the BLM and broadcast their outrage online. A broad coalition of preservation and business groups and even Congressional leaders added their voices to the outcry. And the media covered the stories extensively, not just because of the secretive nature of the deal, but because well-loved national treasures were at stake.
Government agencies are supposed to protect our lands for our benefit. When they don't, we need to speak up. Well, that's what we did in the name of the Utah wildlands, and look what we accomplished.
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There are currently proposals to place industrial sized wind farms in the national forests of Vermont, Michigan, and Virginia. Forests in other states await further study. The companies seeking to develop our forests are large and foreign owned; British Petroleum seeks to develop nearly 10,000 acres in Michigan and Iberdrola Renewables of Madrid, Spain would move on the Green Mountains National Forest of Vermont. Each of the giant turbines requires a 60 ft. diameter cement pad 30 ft. deep. This along with the massive infrastructure to support their construction will devastate these fragile ecosystems. These are not the vast open public lands of the west, only 13% of our national forests system lies east of the Mississippi River. Because of their proximity to large urban areas they are enjoyed by millions and form the foundations of thriving tourist economies. Why such a looming and potentially devastating threat to our National Forests isn't being more actively publicized by the myriad array of conservation groups previously charged with their protection? Perhaps when having to make the choice of protecting the wilderness or standing in the way of long awaited “green technologies” many are choosing to stand silent. Are the millions of tons of cement poured to construct a wind farm any less malignant to these ecosystems than the cement that would be used to build a coal fired electric plant over them? Our forests are a legacy and should never fall victim to any administrations “pet project”.
PLEASE PROTECT OUR NATIONAL FORESTS
Thank you again Mr. Redford. I signed the NRDC petition when you posted it here and wouldn't have known about it if you hadn't. I believe people power may have helped and thanks to you and all the other people involved, the word got out. Feels great! So glad there are more sane people in Washington now.
Mr. Redford:
I admire your commitment to perserving natural resources for so many years. I was an idealist student in NY during the Carter administration, and some of my teachers worked with you on "SUN DAY" celebrations, to generate interest in solar and renewable energy sources.
Thank you for continuing to support these causes during the recent hiatus in sound energy practice....the dark days.
How to reverse this country's dependence on foreign oil is a puzzle that's very complex, and it's hard to know what to do or if it's possible to make a difference.
Don't forget to give credit to the student who singlehandedly delayed the sale of the leases long enough for Salzar to act. He bid and won enough leases to throw off the auction. He's in the process of taking donations to keep those leases out of the hands of the oil companies. Don't know if his sale is canceled too and he no longer owes the money. But if he's still liable....what are you doing to help him? He is the hero in this entire story.
This student's behavior was brilliant!! This was done in a non-violent, intelligent manner to keep big money from destroying this country any further. It's great to watch.
Yahoo. One for the good guys!!
I doubt Appalachia can stand much more of The Bush Legacy of progress and prosperity, we've been bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world America. http://www.wisecountyissues.com Hannity's America sure isn't My America !
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Thanks for the time and energy you have devoted to this cause.
Thank you Mr Redford for standing up for what you believe in. The bottomline is, developing Southern Utah for short term energy is not good economic policy. People will not visit Moab to explore a crushed, burnt out, slag heap. Tourism is Utah's number one industry. Should we ruin this so corporations (many foreign owned) can make some quick bucks and then leave? This is a complete lapse of seeing the long term economic picture.
Be sure and read "The Monkey Wrench Gang". I did my share "monkey wrenching" when I lived in New Mexico.
As stewards of OUR land, we must stay vigilant and committed to whatever it takes to
save the environment.
More good environmental news from the President! This is inspiring to say the least! Great work Mr. Redford and the rest of you who were involved over the years and who had put up with a former President who just did not understand how he was destroying great landscapes and ecologies. Keep up the great work! We must all continue to work more than ever with the President to create a cleaner and greener planet.
Mr Redford,
Possibly you didn't hear but Senator Edward Kennedy is opposed to Wind Power...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/21/MNG5H9V40D1.DTL
Possibly you heard wrong. As a matter of fact you did hear wrong.
The article does not suggest he is against wind power per se and you know it. He was talking about a specific area and he raises some good points. The beauty of wind power is that there are many places to build them. While I may or may not in the end not agree with Mr. Kennedy on this specific project, the article you refer to does NOT say anything about some kind of general stance against wind power. You evidence is very weak.
Wonderful news. Special shout-out to Tim DeChristopher (Bidder 70) for his daring act of civil disobedience: thank you.
Absolutely. Tim is the hero in this story. He singlehandedly delayed and obstructed the auction long enough for Obama to be inaugurated, appoint Salazar and Salazar to reverse the policies. Without Tim, it would be a done deal.
More good news! Too bad the MSM don't harp on this like they do "Obama's 'failure' with Republicans on the stimulus package".
Wilderness preservation and an administration that values the environment.
Wonderful.
Yep. When I first saw the headline of Mr. Redford's piece I thought "Oh I guess he hasn't heard what a FAILURE Obama already is." :-)
The Ledbetter legislation, the passed schip expansion which Bush had vetoed, and the immediate attention that has already been paid to the environment all let me know that I made the right choice when I voted for Obama.
I have no doubt that if McCain was in office right now none of these things would have been addressed, but boy we'd be hearing about how important it is to make tax-cuts for bigshots permanent.
change can happen but only if those in the know remain diligent. The public, with all the issues on their plates, need people to keep abreast of these things and bring them out to see when necessary. I'm sure there are those in the halls of power who are saying "okay - just wait a minute we can sneak it through when the furor dies down."
MUST KEEP IRONS TO THE FIRE THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE IN THE KNOW AND KEEP TRACK.
Ed Abby is smiling somewhere. good job! Thank you. Now everybody go see Milagro Beanfield War, take a hike in the hills, kiss someone you love.
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