Ken Salazar: Oil And Gas Interests ‘Do Not Own The Nation’s Public Lands’

[ProSense]

Ken Salazar, The ‘New Sheriff’ At Interior: Oil And Gas Interests ‘Do Not Own The Nation’s Public Lands’

Our guest blogger is Tom Kenworthy, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

When president-elect Barack Obama nominated Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to head the Department of Interior at the end of 2008, some voices in the conservation community wondered whether the moderate Democrat with ties to ranching and other traditional western industries was the best choice to chart a new direction in managing one-fifth of the nation’s land. But immediately after taking office, Salazar quickly moved to dispel many of those worries with a series of directives that forcefully demonstrated that the Bush era had ended, particularly on policies related to energy development on federal lands:

— He suspended 77 controversial oil and gas leases in Utah, some of them near national parks and national monuments.

– Understanding that renewable energy projects create more jobs than fossil fuels development, he directed his agencies to make the development of renewable energy a priority.

– He withdrew the Bush administration’s industry-friendly research and development leases for oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

– He launched a department-wide effort to ensure that federal land management decisions respond effectively to climate change.

And, saying “There’s a new sheriff in town,” he began to clean up the scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service, the Interior agency that oversees royalty collections from oil and gas companies operating on federal land and offshore.

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The Bush administration did industry’s bidding for eight years: from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2009, more than 41,700 drilling permits were approved on federal lands, almost two-and-a-half times as many as during the previous eight years. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office found that the “dramatic increase” in oil and gas development on federal lands had undercut the BLM’s ability to meet its environmental obligations. The pace of development was such that rural Sublette County, Wyoming – which doesn’t even have a traffic light – recorded ozone levels in February 2008 that were nearly 50 percent higher than federal health standards. But it wasn’t just the numbers, it was also the cherished places the Bush administration wanted to drill: Colorado’s Roan Plateau, New Mexico’s Otero Mesa, Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, the Wyoming Range, and the list goes on.

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Salazar, to his credit, has not backed away under industry criticisms, calling them “poison and deceptive.” Oil and gas interests, he said, “do not own the nation’s public lands; taxpayers do.”

[Craftsman]

1. No but they do own many congressman

[livetohike]

2. They (oil and gas) are here raping PA lands

It's a big issue in my little corner of PA where we all have water wells. The Allegheny National Forest is a few miles away and from many of the hiking trails you can see a well or two :-(.

[Jennicut]

3. I am pleasantly surprised to see Salazar making some needed changes

at the Interior. The drilling close to national parks...what was Bush thinking? Never mind, he didn't think much.

[liberal N proud]

4. But they soon will

The SCOTUS decision just sealed that deal, they will be able to buy a few Senators and Representatives and drive through the legislation they need.

[avaistheone1]

5. This is certainly some good news.

I would like to see Salazar continue to work in this vein.

k&r

[Autumn]

6. They just have to own the politicians,

which they do.