If They Screw Everything Else Up, I'll Still Laud Them For This
Salazar cancels Bush-era energy leases in Utah
"The Obama administration Wednesday canceled 77 leases its predecessor sold to oil and gas companies that wanted to explore beneath the red rock country of Utah, the first of several expected steps to reverse the Bush administration's Western legacy."We need to responsibly develop oil and gas supply to protect us from our dependence on foreign oil," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, "but we need to do so in a thoughtful and respectful way."
I would kiss those bastards for this. These are some of the most jaw droppingly gorgeous square inches on the planet, but of course the capitalist vultures see only dollar signs, not beauty.
I've had experience witnessing land opened up to resource extraction, and it's far more involved than just the acreage allotted. Areas that might be promising for oil get seismically tested with explosive thumpers that check the rock data down a couple thousand feet. When I worked in Wyoming thirty years ago these explosions rocked the hills for weeks at a time. Promising areas were leveled for the drilling platform. Roads were built into pristine country and the traffic was noisy and constant. Staging areas got constructed. Tankers sucked millions of gallons of stream and pond water for slurry. And it's all very, very messy.
The map above shows the cancelled projects. I've been there many times and the land is beyond beautiful. The thing about southern Utah is the immense grandeur of the landscape; you can see a long ways, sometime a hundred miles if it's not too smoggy. When you go to red rock canyon country it's not the immediate viciniy but the vast sweep of the land that makes you gasp and commercial activity will destroy the panorama.
Imagine a McDonalds in the midst of this, just a few miles from where the Bushista mob would have allowed drilling operations.
"The Obama administration Wednesday canceled 77 leases its predecessor sold to oil and gas companies that wanted to explore beneath the red rock country of Utah, the first of several expected steps to reverse the Bush administration's Western legacy."We need to responsibly develop oil and gas supply to protect us from our dependence on foreign oil," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, "but we need to do so in a thoughtful and respectful way."
I would kiss those bastards for this. These are some of the most jaw droppingly gorgeous square inches on the planet, but of course the capitalist vultures see only dollar signs, not beauty.
I've had experience witnessing land opened up to resource extraction, and it's far more involved than just the acreage allotted. Areas that might be promising for oil get seismically tested with explosive thumpers that check the rock data down a couple thousand feet. When I worked in Wyoming thirty years ago these explosions rocked the hills for weeks at a time. Promising areas were leveled for the drilling platform. Roads were built into pristine country and the traffic was noisy and constant. Staging areas got constructed. Tankers sucked millions of gallons of stream and pond water for slurry. And it's all very, very messy.
The map above shows the cancelled projects. I've been there many times and the land is beyond beautiful. The thing about southern Utah is the immense grandeur of the landscape; you can see a long ways, sometime a hundred miles if it's not too smoggy. When you go to red rock canyon country it's not the immediate viciniy but the vast sweep of the land that makes you gasp and commercial activity will destroy the panorama.
Imagine a McDonalds in the midst of this, just a few miles from where the Bushista mob would have allowed drilling operations.
posted by nolocontendere at 9:23 PM
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