Taking the “Public” Out of Public Lands
Taking the “Public” Out of Public Lands
Land use – and conservation – is a big issue in the Rocky Mountain region, and a provision in the Bush energy bill is touching a raw nerve in the region. The Casper Star Tribune reports that legislative language “which slipped largely under the radar during the recent energy bill debate” may “undermine public involvement on public lands if it is not changed.” Specifically, a section of the 1,000-plus-page energy bill would limit required environmental reviews and solicitation of public comment under the existing National Environmental Policy Act.
In practice, that means oil companies may be able to evade review when moving onto potential drilling sites, and “wastewater discharge from things such as coal-bed methane drilling would not be subject” to current reviews. One local expert said the bill, if passed by the Senate, “would have devastating effects on ranchers and farmers in the Powder River Basin.”
Much of this stems from the so-called “Peterson amendment” — named for Congressman John Petersen (R-PA), who introduced the language that seeks “to exclude the public from the decision-making process.” Big surprise – oil and gas interests are among Petersen’s top campaign contributors.
It’s just another example of how conservatives’ close ties to corporations are increasingly putting them at odds with their base constituencies in rural America. And it’s not just limited to Wyoming. In Colorado, for instance, a controversy is brewing over the death of a bill to force oil and gas companies to pay more for harming land, and over a proposal to allow drilling on the sacred Rocky Mountain front.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Well I am not surprised that the Bush administration has shown nothing but contempt for the public good of FDR, the environmental protections of Carter and Nixon and the nature preservation of Teddy Roosevelt.
You remember that Simpson’s episode where Lisa goes to Washington and a special interest lobbyist wants to drill for oil in Mount Rushmore. Cartoon satire is not far from the actual plans of these extremists.
May 13th, 2005 at 4:48 pmA couple of years ago, i participated in the public hearings on the NRC/DOE’s GEIS proposal which would allow the transport of decommissioned nuclear reactor materials around the US, as well as the distribution and recycling of these materials, without any further review. Indeed buried within the language of the GEIS was a paragraph that said that it was going to be up to local jurisdictions if they were going to be interested in finding out what was being moved through their domains, but that when would not be relevent. The present language of the Energy Bill, particularly the Peterson amendment, represents the continuation of this policy: “here’s your chance, otherwise shut the $*(# up!” While these behaviors will be catastrophic for the sustainability of the planet and the populations of species living on it in the future, the profits are too glamorous to ignore. Unfortunately, most people will only care when they think they will have no clean water to drink, no clean air to breath, no energy to use. They don’t know that they already don’t have clean air nor clean water.
May 13th, 2005 at 4:54 pmDuring the Clinton years, all they did was complain about how long the environmental reviews were. They wasted no opportunity to ridicule those who took part in the public comment process. The only surprise is that they want to pretend they’re environmentalists. Bush’s idea of environmentalism is using wildlife refuge research lands for his own personal amusement park.
I say let him ride his bike on the same dwindling public lands the rest of us have to use.
May 13th, 2005 at 5:15 pmHere we go again with a ton of Bushit for the public to chew on. I hope they find tasty.
May 13th, 2005 at 8:19 pmI’m reminded of a disaster that almost happened in the late ’50s: Project Chariot.
Project Chariot was the nuking of part of Alaska to create an artifical harbor. You know: like e= mc2 boom!
It would have been an environmental catastrophe–and of serious harm to the inuit peoples living in the area. Not unlike the Soviet experiment in Siberia, it also would have the area essentially uninhabitable for generations to come.
Project Chariot, despite having some very powerful backers, was stopped.
Why? Because the public got involved–the local people first, and then many others. It’s a great, true but little known story.
God help us if the American public get taken out of the process. Better get “rapture-ready.”
May 13th, 2005 at 10:09 pmLegislative bills need to be shortened. If you have to write several small ones to prevent the pugs from “slipping in” their nonsense then I say do it. This could be a viable solution to preventing unread proposals being signed into law. How does a maximum of 300 pages per proposal sound?
BTW, doesn’t Bushie know that “Neverland Ranch” is for sale. Can you think of a nicer playground for Ol’ Georgie Porgie?
May 14th, 2005 at 11:20 amDoes Neverland Ranch have a “Drive the KGB Commandant’s Car” ride?
May 16th, 2005 at 12:40 pmgawqdau erdfcv http://tyghbntbisemofwp.com/
June 28th, 2005 at 6:44 pmVery nice site. Please keep updating it. Round can Rape Grass: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/default.stm , Small is feature of Standard Tournament when Plane Double Gnome Loose , Profound Table becomes White Slot in final Good Grass is always Faithful Gnome
December 4th, 2005 at 3:08 pm