Bush's "Fire Sale" For Oil, Gas Industries

Administration Will Lease 50,000 Acres Near National Parks For Drilling

(AP)  The view of Delicate Arch natural bridge - an unspoiled landmark so iconic it's on Utah's license plates - could one day include a drilling platform under a proposal that environmentalists call a Bush administration "fire sale" for the oil and gas industry.

Late on Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks in Utah: Dinosaur and Canyonlands.

The National Park Service's top official in the state calls it "shocking and disturbing" and says his agency wasn't properly notified. Environmentalists call it a "fire sale" for the oil and gas industry by a departing administration.

Officials of the BLM, which oversees millions of acres of public land in the West, say the sale is nothing unusual, and one is "puzzled" that the Park Service is upset.

"We find it shocking and disturbing," said Cordell Roy, the chief Park Service administrator in Utah. "They added 51,000 acres of tracts near Arches, Dinosaur and Canyonlands without telling us about it. That's 40 tracts within four miles of these parks."

Top aides to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne stepped into the fray, ordering the sister agencies to make amends. His press secretary, Shane Wolfe, told The Associated Press that deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett "resolved the dispute within 24 hours" last week.

A compromise ordered by the Interior Department requires the BLM to "take quite seriously" the Park Service's objections, said Wolfe.

However, the BLM didn't promise to pull any parcels from the sale, and in an interview after the supposed truce, BLM state director Selma Sierra was defiant, saying she saw nothing wrong with drilling near national parks.

"I'm puzzled the Park Service has been as upset as they are," said Sierra.

"There are already many parcels leased around the parks. It's not like they've never been leased," she said. "I don't see it as something we are doing to undermine the Park Service."

Roy and conservation groups dispute that, saying never before has the bureau bunched drilling parcels on the fence lines of national parks.

"This is the fire sale, the Bush administration's last great gift to the oil and gas industry," said Stephen Bloch, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

"The tracts of land offered here, next to Arches National Park or above Desolation Canyon, these are the crown jewels of America's lands that the BLM is offering to the highest bidder," he said.

[deathofusa]

Oh Yeah, I''m sure they are going to drill right on that arch. What idiot you environmentalists are. Ahhh. You are soooo stupid. Can''t you pick something else to harp on?

[hermitdave]

HEY folks Bush and Cheney are OIL men. That is why we have had no problems these last 8 years. LOL

[gramto8]

The oil companies should not be allowed to buy or lease any further lands until they have explored or tapped all the millions of acres they already have and are not using. To add more acreage to this, especially acreage close to parks, is stupid and should be criminal.

[bjcone8559]

Bush is such a piece of shiiit!!!

[aerhed]

Right on gramto8! These guys are amoral, unamerican, treasonous bustards. Whaddya expect from shooterdick and the village idiot.

[barbaraf4]

My first choice for drilling would be Bush''s ranch at Crawford.

[shanev137]

Utah is one of the biggest red states in the nation.....so what the hell do they care.

[mikezembill]

And the republicans want to know why they lost do they not see how they do things 2010 will be the time to get rid of some more of these people.

[spaspy]

I have only one question...how many of you posters here walk or ride a bike or a horse for your transportation?.....that''s what I thought. So Be quiet unless you plan to use alternate transportation other than the gasoline powered vehicles you now use!

[mikezembill]

deathofusa lets drill in your backyard forget about you and your family just drill baby drill.

[strangeworld]

The republicans are doing everything in their power now to foul the coming plans of president Obama. They''ll enact anything to ensure that the new government is tied up for months trying to get rid of bush administration laws rulings that would ruin our country. Remember this when you next go to the voting booth...a vote for a republican is a vote against America. The GOP would rather that the country fail than have a strong country in which they would not be able to run the show. We need to vote against republicans for decades to get things straightened out.

[mikezembill]

Spaspy what do you use.

[mikezembill]

There are no words that i know of to say what the repulicns and BUSH/CHENEY have done to this country.

[spaspy]

rxzyu, I use my feet except when I take my daughter to and from school. It isn''t safe out there for children to walk. My husband and I both walk to the grocery store,etc. He drives an economy car when he goes to work because it is too far to walk, however, he does carpool, as do I. I only drive every other week and it is only a 5 mile round trip. We try to do our part to cut down on the use of gas. It is too expensive (even now with the prices on the downslide)and our environment is suffering. How ''bout you?

[racam_us]

The rape of our country continues. Bush is the Judas Iscariot of modern times. This is the man who claimed to be a Christian. The man who invoked the name of God to procure the Christian vote in 2000 and 2004. This scum is what is wrong with the Republican Party. A man greedy enough to override his oath that he swore upon the Bible to serve and protect so help him God. There should be a way to override any of his edicts that are nothing but a way to fulfill his political promises and to make it harder on the man taking over the office and the country that he (Bush) has run into the ground. He is the scum of the earth. He is a moron that shows the judgment of the Republican party that elected him for the two terms that he served.

[cattiej]

I too think the first place another oil rig should be placed is at the Crawford Ranchhouse. Bush has left our country in such a mess that Jesus Christ himself, would have trouble trying to straighten it out. Bush will hopefully go down in history as the worse U.S. President in America, and *** Cheney, as the worse Vice President, followed by Donald Rumsfield, Alberto Gonzalez,Karl Rove and all the Congress people who sold, traded or gave our country away. President- Elect Obama and his team have a tough job ahead trying to save America. One of the first things to do is send the 11 million illegal aliens, including his aunt, back to their home countries. Stop the import of foreign cars, stop the outsourcing of our jobs,put the drug dealers in prison for life, build the wall across our southern states and fire anyone in the administration who takes money or gifts from lobbyists. Outlaw the profession of lobbyists, there are our own homegrown criminals, they just aren''t using a gun to ruin our country. This is OUR country, take the FOR SALE SIGN OFF THE WHITE HOUSE DOOR AND THE DOORS OF CONGRESS.

[solarrays247-2009]

My first choice for drilling would be Bush''''s ranch at Crawford.

Posted by barbaraf4 at 08:23 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Sounds like a great idea! And Bush should not mind at all, you betcha'' !!!!

[arthurcl1]

Bush and Cheney should be tried for their War Crimes and now "Oil and Gas Fire Sale" across the U.S.A. We should drill for oil on Bushes Ranch in his front lawn and see how he likes it!

[solarrays247-2009]

I have only one question...how many of you posters here walk or ride a bike or a horse for your transportation?.....that''''s what I thought. So Be quiet unless you plan to use alternate transportation other than the gasoline powered vehicles you now use!

Posted by Spaspy at 08:50 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Good question! I walk as much as I possibly can, I need the exercise. And my Volkswagen Jetta, 5-speed, gets over 30 miles per gallon. I am self-employed, work out of my home, so I don''t need to use transportion much at all. When I need to do my shopping, I plan my trips to conserve as much as possible. Interestingly, my little Jetta really looks small amongst all these big SUV''s and huge pick up trucks, but I''m laughing all the way to the bank!

[cattiej]

There are many ways to save on gasoline. One way is to start rationing gas. Some family''s have three teenagers who all have their own cars. Sell, them and tell the kids to bike, walk or ride the bus. Millions of school buses are driving millions of miles every day. It is time for the families to pay for the gas it takes to drive their kids to school. I''m in my 70''s and I didn''t know what a school bus was, I walked over 2 miles to school every school day. So many teens are overweight because they don''t walk, they ride everywhere. The city buses are almost empty, it is time to start putting your kids and yourself on the city buses. American''s are spoiled by cars, trucks and take me to Walmart or the shopping mall. TV advertises cars, cars, cars. No wonder the first thing a kid wants when they turn 16 is a car. The parents have bought into this, why I will never know. What a country..no wonder other people want to come here, it''s the land of sleeze and ease. Turn off your TV''s and get outside with your family and take a walk together. Then perhaps you too will live to be a crusty old person who can still be feisty enough to tell it like it is.

[cattiej]

solarrays...we too have a car that gets 33mpg. It''s a Saturn, paid for, low insurance and made in America.
Our wish is that Bush would leave the White House and return to Crawford tomorrow morning and not go back to D.C. He should be impeached if he allows oil companies to drill in the National Parks area''s like Utah. This can be stopped by the citizens who can protest just like they did to stop the war in Vietnam. When you go to the filling station to get gasoline, only put $20. in the tank. You will find you won''t drive as much and save yourself some much needed money..you will need money to feed yourself and your family when the depression hits.

[cattiej]

I want to know who are the people in the BLM who are involved in the selling of our national parks lands for oil drilling. I want to know the oil company''s who are bidding or win the bids for placement of oil rigs on this land, that is owned by the people of our country. It is NOT FOR SALE...who the h... told Bush he could sell it. Let''s put the Crawford Ranch up for sale to the highest bidder and leave the Bush''s homeless..They could move to Saudia Arabia to live with the King, they probably already have a home over there too. Ever read the book, House of Bush, House of Saud..? How George got elected for 2 terms is beyond me..I sure don''t see anymore W on car windows, is that because the W now stands for WORSE?

[trishab56]

A man greedy enough to override his oath that he swore upon the Bible to serve and protect so help him God. There should be a way to override any of his edicts that are nothing but a way to fulfill his political promises and to make it harder on the man taking over the office and the country that he (Bush) has run into the ground. He is the scum of the earth. He is a moron that shows the judgment of the Republican party that elected him for the two terms that he served.
---------------------------------------------
Posted by racam_us at 09:21 PM : Nov 16, 2008

-Purge the scum! Oh, we already did! good!
-Actually this scum is nothing but a puppet in the hand of his controllers.
-America needs a real purge, a deeeeep one and to the sea or Alaska; let the scum and his handlers go freeze their azzzes in the Palin backyard goulags on their way to Russia!

[bbpkr]

johnbrown888, my name is also John Brown, and I Heartily Approve of your Comment!
P.S. If you haven''t yet, I recommend you visit Harpers Ferry, W. Va.

[yeswedid]

BLM state director Selma Sierra was defiant, saying she saw nothing wrong with drilling near national parks.

"I''m puzzled the Park Service has been as upset as they are," said Sierra.
---------------------------------------------------
Puzzled about being upset for ruining our country''s few precious natural areas? ***!!! This is the most disturbing article I have seen for awhile. Drill, baby drill! Yeah & it''s bullsh*t to do it in this area. It makes me physically ill to think of this country turning into one giant cement block for our future generations!

[keuban]

What is going on here? Who likes to go to state parks for camping hiking fishing etc? Truly, what do you think drilling would do for the scenery? These parks are held in high esteem and are invaluable resources because their purpose is to preserve our country and its ecosystems.

And please tell me, are people out there who don%u2019t believe we should use alternative fuel sources and that oil is the only way? Our country is what it is today because of our ingenuity, ambition, and hope. Look ahead, dream, inspire, challenge and recognize there is always another way- a better way. Open your mind. Think America.

[apprxam]

Who''s surprised?

[excoachken]

How about Full Disclosure in this article. Just how much does "W" earn for himself with this "gift" to his Oil cronies?

[perk235]

How much damage can he do before Jan 20th? I''m afraid to ask.

[solarrays247-2009]

solarrays...we too have a car that gets 33mpg. It''''s a Saturn, paid for, low insurance and made in America.
Our wish is that Bush would leave the White House and return to Crawford tomorrow morning and not go back to D.C. He should be impeached if he allows oil companies to drill in the National Parks area''''s like Utah. This can be stopped by the citizens who can protest just like they did to stop the war in Vietnam. When you go to the filling station to get gasoline, only put $20. in the tank. You will find you won''''t drive as much and save yourself some much needed money..you will need money to feed yourself and your family when the depression hits.

Posted by cattieJ at 09:37 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Good for you....and very good advice! I''ve already been doing all of what you suggest for the last couple years. Because I already lived through the oil embargo in the ''70''s, I could see the writing on the wall.

If you read my previous post, you would have read that I don''t need to travel to work, I work out of my home, and I conserve my fuel usage both in my vehicle and my home. I feel badly for those millions of my fellow Americans who must commute many miles daily to work, and still feed their families, pay their mortgages, etc.

It would be great if everyone would begin conserving more than they have in the past, and insist that we continue to explore alternative energy sources. I for one, refuse to waste my money to feed the oil pigs.

[tallyman2008]

Spaspy ask:

''... how many of you posters here ... ride a bike ... for your transportation?''


I do.

Have since early 1970s during the first oil embargo when living in Hawaii.

Within a week or so the Islands went to rationing, odd/even, etc.

Was approaching total chaos until most gas stations started opening only during the middle of the night so the long lines would not disrupt day traffic in Honolulu.

In case you missed that one, it was repeated in the later 1970s hitting California and rest of Country fairly hard that time.

Was a situation anyone who lived through should not have forgotten, but apparently many have.

Is a fate that awaits the all of the USA on a permanent basis if - as a Nation - we do not wise up. And fast.



Oh, one more thing - thinking about memory of the Hawaiian gas crisis in early 70s, and who else would have memories of it ?

Someone who lived through that situation and has something which few can have - the unique perspective of that experience.

Someone else who was there at the time. Someone who would remember it as a young kid.

A guy named Obama.

[solarrays247-2009]

I''''m as upset as all previous posters. But words are not going to change BLM''''s decision. We need action and I will be the first one to sign up for a sit-in or other expressions of protest organized by the Utah National Park Service. Just imagine: every 100th person of the 1 million unemployed people in the U.S. take their bicycles and meet in Utah. That is a hard core group of 10,000 people that will increase with the nationwide media attention this will generate. And I''''m convinced that concerned citizens would offer shelter and food for the passing bicyclists. Just a thought. We need to protect our land if the government is not willing to do so.

Posted by webervt at 10:28 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Great idea! Protect our land from our "government." Very poignant!

[nordeck52]

This doesn''t make much sense at all to me.... have the last of Bush''s brain cells finally been killed??

[ardiva1]

Bush Oil does it again!

[solarrays247-2009]

This doesn''''t make much sense at all to me.... have the last of Bush''''s brain cells finally been killed??

Posted by nordeck52 at 10:36 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Don''t know if he had any to begin with!

[b0ludo]

Let''s all stage a nationwide protest and ride our bicycles to work until the stupid administration that has been deluded into thinking this country moves on oil takes it back and stops any future oil exploration forever and ever and ever ad infinitum.
Oh, you say you can''t or wont? OK, ride your battery powered car. Oops, the real ones won''t be available for another 12 years?
OK... I''ll volunteer for the sit-in if you all ride your bicycles there. Otherwise, you are just being hypocrites who speak of lofty ideals, until you have to give something up. Much like communists... They like sharing everybody else''s possessions until they steal enough... Then they turn into capitalists.

[tallyman2008]

P.S.

And because of that realization I came to during those days in Hawaii of the Koyaanisqatsi the USA Automobile Culture represents ...

That was when I changed my ways about the internal combustion engine, and came to understand the dead end road to ruin the USA is driving toward.

So got on a bicycle, and with few exceptions have not been off of it since.



(and if you have no idea what ''Koyaanisqatsi'' means, wikipedia is open 24/7 ;-)

[kellyharris5]

Bush is the enemy. You need to understand this simple fact. Dem''s and Rep''s need to see the truth www.theseriouspolice.com

[b0ludo]

You say you want to fix what is wrong with this country''s thirst for oil? Write to Ms. Pelosi and ask her to pull the EPA/DOT brownshirts off the American Auto industry. A two-four year moratorium that would allow them to bring in the cars they are selling elsewhere in the world, 60 MPG wunderwagen like the GM Vauxhall Agila and the Ford Ka. Vehicles of this ilk, clean enough for Germany and France, could cut our oil dependence and CO2 emissions in half TODAY!!!!

[emelder]

Stop this in the courts, if necessary ... goal is to delay everything Bush has offered, until Barack''s team gets into place. We need Bush out ASAP ... what a dope!

[barbaraf4]

He and Cheney weren''t satisfied to peel their bailout kickback off of the top. Now they want to guarantee oil kickbacks till the end of the century.

[doorgunner3]

One of several dozen dirty little kicks in the rear by the vandals in chief.

[skeetchamp]

The first thing Obama should do is sign an order rescinding the sales. His war powers plus the authorities granted to the President by Congress in the wake of 9/11 should be sufficient to enable this.

[jonstorm-2009]

Didn''t that arch fall... Why would they use that picture it doesn''t exist any longer

[philprism]

A couple of years ago I had the priviledge of seeing the mid west states including Utah and The Arches national park. I hope those drilling plots close to the boundaries simply dont get drilled or changed in any way it would be a disaster for future generations to bear.

Not just Americans either.

I was born in the UK and live in New Zealand

Please dont allow Bush and Cheney to trash the unspoilt view from Delicate Arch as some sort of twisted leaving message and Christmas present for his cronies.

[alphaa10000]

The latest expert assessment says proven US oil reserves will not significantly reduce foreign oil dependency. Despite eight years of Bush policy to promote Big Oil, that dependency has only grown.

And this, despite massive federal help. A US congressional assessment says millions of acres of federal lands-- on and off-shore-- are available, but ignored by the oil industry. The federal lease areas are neither explored nor used.

The congressional report says 72 percent of onshore and 74 percent of offshore oil drilling federal acreage is available.

Since 2004, however, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land-- while only 18,954 wells were actually drilled.

After eight years of Bush taxpayer subsidy to Big Oil-- ostensibly for exploration and development-- the situation has not changed.

What has changed since Bush happened in 2001 is the truckloads of taxpayer dollars being shipped to Big Oil for its purported oil drilling activity. Big Oil likes that, and keeps its public relations arm pumping more rapidly than its oil rig fleet.

But how can Big Oil claim it is working feverishly for development of alternative energy development and reduction of foreign oil dependency, and still report such massive profits-- a record for any major corporate entity in US history?

[flreason]

"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
Thomas Jefferson

How can these soulless pseudo-Christians look in the mirror without shame? They would construct oil rigs on the Lincoln Memorial if the price were right. There needs to be legal action, including an immediate injunction against sale of these drilling rights. The Obama Administration needs to use their e-mail lists to rally opposition to this travesty...and patriotic Americans need to send a message to the Bushies that they don''t own the U.S. If there was any doubt about who they are working for, this final F-U to the voters should erase it. Write/e-mail/call your Senators and Congressmen, your governor and state legislators, and, if necessary, sit-in at the White House and Dept. of Interior on Dec. 19.

[airboatboy1]

I guess Bush is trying to drop his approval ratings more before he leaves office. There is something wrong with this idiot. I would be ashamed to show my smirky little face if I was that moron.

[skysoldier75]

Time and again the Republicans have proven themselves to be a party composed of greedy, shortsighted idiots.

This latest example simply confirms that fact beyond any shadow of a doubt.

[pirmin3]

Bush is out to totally trash this country before he and Darth leave office. I can hardly wait to see who he pardons as he leaves office. Maybe Charles Manson.