Re: US govt cancels leases for Utah oil, gas drilling

Obama is not serious about energy independence.

Vince wrote:

> Obama is not serious about energy independence.

You mean like the Shrub Administration?

We can start being energy independent by scrapping every one of the SUVs on our roads.



Post Edited (02-05-09 11:10)

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THE YOSEMITE POST
Voice of the Rocky Marmot Empire

Vince: >>Obama is not serious about energy independence.<<

Why is it not a requirement that all new buildings in the Southern Ca desert not required to even have the most basic level of Solar Panels??? It just kills me to see all that potential passive production going to waste.

szalkowski:>>We can start being energy independent by scrapping every one of the SUVs on our roads.<<

YES!!! Especially when a majority of them are used to take kids to school and go grocery shopping.

B

I am all for solar and wind power. Great for powering homes and other static things.

When they power this, I'll be impressed. Otherwise I'm gassing up.

Sorry szal, no passengers.

Two points of light:
1. Interesting NPR story Feb 5 dealing with college student disrupting auction by bidding on leases and eventually "owning/owing" more than 1million to feds.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100301366


2. I wonder why the neo-cons always think we should drill and deplete our own resources. I would think that they would be in favor of preserving our small reserves until the arab sources are depleted or until the WW3 (the Final War) breaks out. The price per barrel of oil, as a commodity, is fixed internationally and the product of oil prices will be the same to the consumer whether that oil comes from ANWR or from some guy named Anwar.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Frank Furter :>>Something like Dasani from Coca-Cola or Aquafina from Pepsi is just municipal water that's been run through reverse-osmosis, carbon filtration, UV, and ozone.<<

I was listening to that story when i was reading this thread (yesterday). Sounded like more cracked pottery muddling in a serious issue, making it easier for the pundants to write us all off as wack-0s.

>>2. I wonder why the neo-cons always think we should drill and deplete our own resources.<<

It begs the larger question of will we wait to deplete ALL the resources before seriously delving into viable alternate methods.

Vince: >>When they power this, I'll be impressed. Otherwise I'm gassing up.<<

I have a big giant truck, too, for the serious stuff (and a little 4 cylinder for everyday use)but I went with diesel.

B

>>It begs the larger question of will we wait to deplete ALL the resources before seriously delving into viable alternate methods.<<

Conservatives have retained significant control and the country is generally right of center. Arguments need to address the essential concern of the interest group. Cupidity, xenophobia, and self-interest are factors that usually persuade and influence conservative behavior. Unfortunately, alturism, worldview, and social good will not issues that will gain much traction with the current crop of O'Reilly-Limbaugh-Hannity-Crowley conservatives.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Frank Furter wrote:

> Cupidity, xenophobia,
> and self-interest are factors that usually persuade and
> influence conservative behavior. Unfortunately, alturism,
> worldview, and social good will not issues that will gain much
> traction with the current crop of
> O'Reilly-Limbaugh-Hannity-Crowley conservatives.
>


I rather like Carl Pope's label of "Reckless Conservatism" (read the whole article):
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200809/create.asp

I propose that we instead merely use the acronym RC to label these people.
This has the added advantage that it is multidescriptive (e.g.: Radical Crackpots, Real Crazies,etc.).



Post Edited (02-06-09 11:27)

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THE YOSEMITE POST
Voice of the Rocky Marmot Empire

I'm glad they were canceled. The short-sightedness of "drill for more oil" is obvious. While it's a temporary fix for Mr. and Mrs. Suburban and their gas guzzling Tahoe or Expedition, it just perpetuates many problems. The best time to bite the bullet is now...get it overwith.

One unfortunate part about gas prices going back down is that people had begun realizing that driving giant monster vehicles isn't the best idea, so they begun getting rid of them. Now, at $2 or so, I imagine a lot of them figure it's not so bad after all.

All of the American car mfgrs. are partly to blame, and the gullible public is to blame for the rest of it, along with a government that passes regulations full of loopholes. They made mileage standards for cars way back in the '70's, so the car companies (the ones that are now asking for handouts) skirted the issue by selling trucks disguised as cars, with the selling points of "drive the big rig you so richly deserve" or "economy cars are for wimps, be a real man and drive a big truck". And the public was stupid enough to go along, and SUV's filled our roads, using 6000 pounds of iron to carry a 110 lb housewife and bag of groceries down a paved road.

So we need to re-educate people and detach their egos from their transportation, pass laws that don't have such ridiculous loopholes, and find resources for power that have fewer problems than petroleum products do. A good start, I think, would be to set a high tax on fuel for any vehicle that gets below a certain mileage...say by charging a registration fee for miles driven. That Tahoe may not be as appealing if it costs $5000 to register, especially when the guy next door pays $75 for his Honda Civic.

Drive-throughs are really the epitome of what we've become...too busy to stop, too lazy to get out of the car (so they sit in a running car waiting), gabbing on the cell phone unaware of what's going on around them, making sure they get that closest parking space (or parking in the red zone) at the store so they don't have to walk. Then they go to the gym and try every fad diet that comes along, to no avail. So let's drill for more oil, so we can keep driving rolling warehouses down to get coffee.

OK, Ok, I'm off on a tangent...sorry 8^)



Post Edited (02-06-09 11:01)

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

I bought that Bronco last July 23. What was the gas price? Hm, don't remember. Didn't bother me much, I guess.

Date: Feb. 4, 2009
Contact: Frank Quimby
(202) 208-6416
Secretary Salazar Restores Balance in Controversial Last-Minute Oil and Gas Lease Sale near Utah National Parks

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Land Management would withdraw leases that were offered on 77 parcels of U.S. public land near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon. The leases on these 77 parcels are the subject of litigation in U.S. District Court.

“In its last weeks in office, the Bush Administration rushed ahead to sell oil and gas leases at the doorstep of some of our nation’s most treasured landscapes in Utah,” said Secretary Salazar. “We need to responsibly develop our oil and gas supplies to help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but we must do so in a thoughtful and balanced way that allows us to protect our signature landscapes and cultural resources in places like Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon, for future generations.

“I have directed Bureau of Land Management not to accept the bids on 77 parcels from the December 19 lease sale and which are in close proximity to these national parks, monuments, and sensitive landscapes. We will take a fresh look at these 77 parcels and at the adequacy of the environmental review and analysis that led to their being offered for oil and gas development. I am also concerned that there was inadequate consultation with other agencies, including the National Park Service.”

The 77 parcels, which are the subject of a Temporary Restraining Order, were part of a Dec. 19, 2008 lease sale offering 130 parcels in three areas in northeastern Utah covered by the Bureau of Land Management’s Vernal, Moab and Price land use plans. The 77 parcels, which total about 103,225 acres, are all in the vicinity of two National Parks and Dinosaur National Monument. Of the 130 parcels offered, bids were received on 116 parcels, totaling 148,598 acres.

Under the BLM lease sale process, companies bid on parcels in a public auction and the BLM then reviews and evaluates the bids to decide whether to accept them or not. A government contract is not completed until the BLM formally accepts the bids, which it has not done for these 77 parcels.

Several groups filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on Dec. 22, challenging the previous administration’s decision to offer 77 of the 130 parcels and arguing that the lease sale process did not fully comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act. Some groups also filed administrative protests, which are currently pending before the BLM state office.

On Jan. 17, 2009, the U.S. District Court granted a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order on the 77 parcels. The U.S. Department of Justice response to the motion for preliminary injunction is due on Feb. 6, 2009.


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