Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumTell Congress to stop trying to privatize public lands
Credo Action
Republicans didnt campaign on getting rid of Americas public lands and national monuments in the last election, but they sure are acting like it.
First they attempted to pass a bill that would abolish the Antiquities Act, a hundred year old executive privilege that allows Presidents to protect threatened public lands and designate national monuments.
Now, theyre using Congresss annual budget process to lay the groundwork for turning Americas public lands over to state control for sale to private mining, drilling and real estate companies.
This latest assault on Americas public lands is at the hands of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the new Republican chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Her amendment, which passed by two votes and is now a part of the Senates official budget, would fund state efforts to seize Americas public lands and then sell them off to the highest bidder.1
Under state control, these public lands would likely be sold off for real estate or fossil fuel extraction. Hundreds of millions of acres of pristine public lands in the American West that are the cradle of future national parks, monuments, and preserves would instead be sacrificed to dirty oil drilling and fracking companies.
According to New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, who stands in opposition to these attacks, selling off Americas treasured lands to the highest bidder would result in a proliferation of locked gates and no-trespassing signs in places that have been open to the public and used for generations.
But heres the good news: Because Congresss budget is non-binding, these proposals need further legislation to actually take effect. Thats why its incredibly important to step in now to let Congress know exactly where Americans stand on this terrible idea.
This is a coordinated attack on government management of taxpayer owned public lands. Murkowskis amendment mirrors a similar proposal by House Natural Resources Committee chairman Rob Bishop, that would spend $50 million of taxpayers money to transfer Americas public lands to states for private sale.
With these attacks, Republicans are marching in lockstep with the self-serving ideology made famous by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who refused to pay $1 million owed to American taxpayers for grazing his cattle on public lands on the grounds that states have sovereignty over public lands. Even Murkowski herself described President Obamas decision to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as a stunning attack on our sovereignty.
We need to make sure Congress knows Americans wont stand by while Republicans wage war on Americas public lands. Tell Congress that Americas public lands are NOT for sale.
Sign petition:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/Public_Land_Sale?t=1001&akid=14237.2823127.nxPMac
Info/sources
"Senate Votes To Help States Sell Off Public Lands," ThinkProgress, March 26, 2015.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/26/3639683/senate-sell-off-public-lands/
"President Obama Protects a Valued Wilderness," The New York Times, January 27, 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/opinion/president-obama-protects-a-valued-wilderness.html