Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Salazar's doin' ok by me so far; or, oil & gas leases cancelled

Cool beans: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar put the kibosh on the oil & gas leases today. Yippee! Although it only involves the 77 parcels that were up for grabs in the "fire sale" back in December, that's a tremendous victory for us desert rats and otherwise suspicious-of-greedy-oil-company types.

Unfortunately for that brave (foolish? Your thoughts?) activist Tim deChristopher, Salazar's decision does not have any bearing on his case. Of course, I say just let the kid go and let's spawn an entire future of sales-disrupting activism to spring up--but I'm also a bit biased.

Well, blow me down with a feather, or something like that. No oil & gas drilling near gorgeous areas? Near where I, or my friends, or our descendants might like to roam, unobstructed of view and lung? Sounds pretty damn peachy keen to me. HA!

Take it on the nose, o greedmongers out there. The people roared, they were heard, and they were righteous in this victory. (Sorry, I'm feeling a bit punchy today. Need to lash out at someone!) As Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in the WaPo article linked above, "We can have energy security without sacrificing the West's wild places."

Yeehaw. I might need to celebrate a little. :)
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5 comments:

Ken Wright said...

Next we gotta stop the oil shale nightmare ... no rest for the leery ...

Robin Road said...

Off shore drilling, Alaskan oil, Utah wilderness, McMansions, clear cutting forests, gouging our land for granite to adorn opulent kitchens that aren't ever used. The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of our animals for food, genetically altered food, pesticides..Overflowing toxic landfills, out of control housing developments, bigger, larger everything....

These are only a few things that we as a nation need to stop.

I guess we all have to pick one or two and be passionate about it....

Julie Trevelyan said...

I know...one battle at a time! Oil shale nightmare, you're next on my hit list. Sigh.

And yes, one must make a stand on whatever issues one deems most important. We can tear ourselves asunder by directing our focus in too many directions. I've chosen the wilds of Utah in particular, and the Western US in general, as my main focus of (very mild) activism. That and animal abuse...shudder.

Thank god there are those out there who fight for the other things important to us all that we each cannot necessarily devote time to.

What floats your boat as far as activism, your passionate platform that you will continue to pursue until things are better?

Robin Road said...

I was watching a television debate one day. The topic was a generic, "do we promote democracy across the world" blah blah blah. A woman stood up during the Q & A and quietly stated, "We can't clean up the rest of the world until we clean up our own backyards."

I think Jesus had a similiar parable when he talked about the splinter in a neighbor's eye, while having a log lodged in your own.

So, to take this woman's statement in the most literal way possible, I have decided to concentrate on my own backyard first.

I figure, once I walk my own talk, then I will hold more credibility if I ever have the opportunity to share what I know. Or at least when I know to be true.

My property is slowly transorming into something more sustainable, both for myself and for the environment. My energy use is lower, I'm planting native trees and grasses. The fruit trees and veggie garden is well established. In the future a water reclamation system and solar system will be installed....

Yup...the front porch is a great place to start.

Julie Trevelyan said...

This is so true. Biting off a bigger piece than we can even cram into our mouths (huh...weird metaphor) makes for an overwhelming start that might stall almost immediately.

I like what you are doing with your yard and home. It *does* start small, and locally--as local as your own little castle, sometimes.