“We will mine more, drill more, cut more timber.” — James Watt, Ronald Reagan’s first Interior secretary.
As we wait for the incoming Trump administration to identify its nominee for Interior secretary, we can't help but envision what the outcome could be. Among those said to be under consideration, or jockeying for the job, are retiring U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, all Republicans who favor energy exploration over conservation.
What shouldn’t go unnoticed is that Donald Trump could place the immediate future of hundreds of millions of acres of publicly owned lands — lands that all 321.4 million Americans have a vested interest in — into the hands of a politician who hasn’t shown they have the country’s best interests in mind when it comes to fracking regulations, public lands stewardship, or environmental protection.
- Rep. Lummis has supported legislation that would give states control over fracking regulations on federal lands in their state; has opposed the Obama administration’s climate change program; signed legislation that opponents said “would prevent the EPA from protecting the world class fisheries of Bristol Bay, Alaska” from the proposed Pebble Mine; and voted along the lines of the League of Conservation Voters just 5 percent of the time during her eight years in the House.
- Rep. Bishop has tried time and again to restrict the president’s use of the Antiquities Act to designate national monuments; helped found the Federal Land Action Group, FLAG, which works to transfer federal lands to states; declined requests that he denounce “Bundy-style thuggery and lawlessness on our nation’s public lands;” and been criticized for introducing legislation that opponents claim would weaken the Clean Air Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the National Forest Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Wilderness Act.
- Gov. Fallin has embraced pro-oil policies in Oklahoma; been criticized by the Sierra Club for having “been an absentee governor on all important environmental issues in our state during her term;” signed legislation that prohibited local governments in Oklahoma from banning hydrologic fracking; and in October led a day of prayer “to thank God for the blessings created by the oil and natural gas industry and to seek His wisdom and ask for protection.”
If you believe James Conca, a contributor to Forbes on energy and the environment, who on November 10 wrote that “energy in the new Administration will be just what the industry ordered,” you can further appreciate how any nominee Trump chooses for Interior will be bad for public lands management if you oppose energy exploration, want additional national monuments, and support federal land ownership.
And there has been much speculation over whether Mr. Trump could rescind monument designations bestowed on such places as Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine as well as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
The prospect of the next Interior secretary being a hard-line conservative who believes lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service should either be given to the states within which they exist or simply opened up to more energy exploration and logging is understandably concerning to those who appreciate public lands for recreation and habitat conservation and oppose rampant, loosely regulated fossil fuel energy production.
Then, too, there’s the economic return from preserving public lands. According to the Center for Western Priorities, one study indicates that 90 percent of America’s public lands already are open to oil and gas leasing, while just 10 percent are set aside for recreation, conservation, and other uses. Too, it's been demonstrated that counties with more protected lands, such as national monuments, perform better economically than counties without such protected areas. Additionally, surveys conducted by Colorado College conclude that majorities of voters in Western states believe public lands should remain under control of the federal government.
While the National Park System may not be directly impacted by energy development under the next administration, it very well could be adversely impacted by land management along its borders.
At the end of the day, we should question whether an Interior secretary who believes in aggressive energy exploration, reducing the size of public lands ownership, and weakening environmental regulations would be acting in the best interests of the entire U.S. population or simply in the interests of a fraction of that population and industry heads.
Comments
We are already seeing America's new version of greatness playing out. Today, among other things, The Tweeter in Chief tweeted an appointment for Secretary of Labor who feels that many American wages are too high. However, the appointee has stated that anyone who cannot find a job providing a living wage will be able to receive free catsup on any hamburgers they buy at Hardee's or Carl's Jr.
And then we learned that Tweetie tweeted a couple of tweets in which he personally attacked a union president in Indiana who dared question the numbers of jobs supposedly saved at Carrier.
CBS News also reported this evening that The Tweeter will moonlight as producer and perhaps a performer in the ongoing "reality" TV shows The Apprentice.
And in a recent news flash, our own Esteemed Comrade finally admitted that his posts are baseless opinions or "suggestions" with no factual content.
How much greater can we possibly become?
I can hardly wait to find out what kind of "greatness" is coming next to America.
I keep hoping that I'll wake up and find it was all a dream. But I'm afraid it's not.
In the meantime, we still have our national parks to which we may retreat in search of quiet, peace, and at least some sanity. For now, at least.
Lee, do you have any concept of what happens to workers whose wages are more than the value they add? Hint: http://newsexaminer.net/food/mcdonalds-to-open-25000-robot-run-stores-by...
The whole concept of a "living wage" is fake news.
Finally admitted? Nice try to twist things Lee - as usual. There are times I state facts, there are times I state opinions. My language always indicates which is which.
Yes, they either obtain the skills that help them find jobs that provide living wages or they live the consequences of not doing so. If they demand ( or the government forces) wages that aren't justified, the jobs go away or are replaced by robots.
Its not the cite implementing robots, its economics.
Ah so . . . . now have you heard of a new website called Homie that will make realtors obsolete? It's just economics, ya?
Esteemed Comrade, do you have any idea what really happens to workers who can't find a job that pays living wages? Try volunteering to help and you will have plenty of opportunities to meet them and learn that they are not always the "parasites" that some of our hate groups pretend them to be.
I tried your link to the McDonalds "report." I also prowled around a little on the News Examiner website. Among other things I found was a section that seems to pretend to be a "fact checker" looking for fake news on the Internet. One of the stories it reports as true is that Ted Cruz has been confirmed to be the Zodiac killer. Another story in the "breaking news" section claimed that Obama was planning to run for a third term. Still another claimed that the FBI is using light aircraft filled with electronic monitoring equipment to spy on American cities. Here are a few of their other "headlines":
Obama Tweets Series of 50 Cent Lyrics At Putin After Russian Bombers Attack US Base
Ted Cruz: "I Will Endorse Donald Trump For President If He Makes Masturbation Illegal"
Is Bill Clinton The Father Of Bristol Palin's Latest Baby? PROBABLY!
Donald Trump Announces Sheriff Joe Arpaio As His VP Running Mate In 2016
I invite other Traveler readers to click the link in our Comrade's post and explore it for yourselves.
When someone uses a web site such as this to try to support an argument, the argument kinda falls apart, doesn't it? Fake news is real -- and it's a real threat when gullible people actually believe it.
As I've tried to say before, with administration by Tweets and public opinion shaped by fake news sites, our public lands may well be the least of our national worries.
If it makes realtors obsolete? Ya. It will be up to realtors to add value to keep themselves relevant, and valuable. It won't be up to the government to force people to pay realtors.
Thanks, Al, for the advice, but already did it. After studying management in college initially I spent a decade or so in the corporate world. Hated it but partially vested a pension. At age 40 I went back to follow my dream and calling, got a nursing degree and spent the next 20 years in medicine. Saved a lot of lives, literally, improved even more, and retired 5-6 years ago. Now I study for enlightenment and pure pleasure rather than career or degree. You'll always have more initials after your name than I, but I'm content with my world, my contributions, and my life. Those who know me, face to face, think well of me. Am I always serious? No. No reason to be unless I want to be sonorously thought of as A Serious Person. Humor is the only way to get through the next four years. If I chose to insert frivolity into somber discourse, sometimes it needs to be lightened up. I certainly wouldn't want to be thought of as a pompous pedant any more than you would.
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Eric - you cited Darius Rubics? Oh, lordie. That reminds me - I need to change the straw in my chicken coop in the morning.
Interesting thoughts on this subject but I think we will just have to wait and see what happens. I continue to think that the change of administrations will have a positive impact on the management of our national parks. The years under the Obama administration with Jarvis and his friends in control of the national park system have not been good. Lack of staffing and funding for the growning list of maintenance problems facing our national parks have cripple the national park system. These issue were not being addressed. I hope that whoever becomes the new Secretary of the Interior/Director of the National Park System will restore competent management and work to address the many issues that have been neglected for too long. I am looking forward to the change and hope for the best.+