The Obama Administration is on a land-grab binge – trying to take as many acres of undeveloped Western US public land as possible, and place it in a “federal wilderness protection” category.
The reason – Obama wants to eliminate millions of acres of prime oil and natural gas regions from licensing and development. What did you expect? President Obama to go out there in the hot sun and supervise the planting of trees in these remote areas?
Once land(any land) is categorized as under federal wilderness protection, it is unlawful to cut down trees, mow grassland(to prevent fires), irrigate or cultivate for food production, explore for oil, gas or mineral deposits, erect no buildings(not even an outhouse)…and the list goes on and on.
Environmentalists want to continue to protect vast open range for the benefit of the Kangaroo Rat, the Desert Tortoise, and other rodents.
Congress finally put a stop to this outrageous Obama pet project – noting that the vast mineral and oil deposits on which the US depends to maintain its economic engine in working condition would be jeopardized. The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar relented but is trying to keep the issue alive by asking Congress to come up with a plan to “manage” these wide open spaces.
Once the “management” camel gets its nose under the tent it is not long thereafter that the entire camel herd is running amok in the tent.
The balance of good environmental protection versus carefully planned economic development is clearly shifted toward the radical left in the current Obama administration, in direct opposition to a long list of prior administrations which understood the need to carefully and safely extract oil, gas and minerals essential to the US economy and energy production requirements.
Remember that the current Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu once said(publicly): “…we need to find a way to increase the price of gasoline to $8 to $9 per gallon like Europe”…
"...we need to find a way to increase gas prices to what Europe is experiencing: $8 to $9 per gallon---and this is our "Secretary of Energy"?...
With energy leadership like this, perhaps Dr. Chu should return his Nobel Prize – he clearly does not have the best interests of the US at heart.
His most notable contribution during his tenure in the Obama administration was when the Department of Energy updated the water usage regulations on toilets and showers. Now, this is real Nobel Prize stuff!!
What do you think?
Conservative Critic's Blog 
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