Urban Ecoist

George Bush is not going quietly into that good night, indeed. I warned before of the sneaky lame duck tactics of our dear, soon-to-be-departed-but-not-forgotten Dubya. And once again, I ask you to continue your good work of bitching at the appropriate people when needed, although it had no effect on the recent EPA’s repeal of the Stream Buffer Zone.

Now, the Bureau of Land Management is holding an auction, and wilderness lands in Utah’s Red Rock Wilderness are up for grabs for all the oil and gas mining you can shake a dollar at.

According to a recent press release from the BLM (a sub-agency within the Department of the Interior), the BLM is forced by law to hold such auctions every quarter. However, in that same law, the BLM is also entrusted with safeguarding “special and unique non-energy resources”.

Ah, the great debate that we will be facing more and more in the coming century. What pristine wilderness is worth saving when there is oil in that there ground?

I could go on and on about how we should save these wild lands from industrialized rape, but then I am typing on a laptop that uses electricity. I could point out that most of the energy that I am consuming right now comes from the Bonneville Dam, but then I have to apologize for the salmon hurt by dams. I am in a Catch-22 right now, but I still think that some areas should be preserved no matter what. Even if I have no gas to go the candle store to buy candles since I don’t have electricity, I don’t care. Some areas should not be touched, and maybe we should figure out a better way to support our energy habit and get off the junk.

But this is the United States, and for some reason, our industry is only looking for a quick buck and our politicians only look for quick fixes.

Vast swatches of the Utah Redrock Wilderness are coming up for sale December 19th. Many of those areas are in lands that are very, very close to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as well as Dinosaur National Monument. This auction was initially announced on Election Day; the thinking being that with the whole nation focused elsewhere, maybe nobody would notice. That didn’t work. Under pressure from environmental groups, the BLM recently took nearly 100,000 acres off the auction block. Oh, but wait, the BLM took off the canyon floors but not the canyons’ sides.

Kinda like that scene in Poltergeist when you find out that Craig T. Nelson’s boss removed the tombstones, but not the bodies

You can bitch about this to the Bureau of Land Management, but they are hardly concerned with what you think. You can bitch about it to the Obama Transition Team, but they may not be able to do anything either. You can send letters and emails and phone calls to your Representative and your Senators. You should probably do all of the above. Sometimes complaining gets things done. Let’s hope this is one of those times.

An easy way to hit all of those people is to check out the Natural Resources Defense Council’s campaign website by clicking here. All you have to do is fill out your name and address and voila, you are protesting. I love internet activism.

A mine is a terrible waste.

BLM, Bureau of Land Management, George Bush, Bush, Dubya, Utah, Red Rock, wilderness, EPA, Stream Buffer Zone, auction, oil, gas, mining, industry, National Parks, Canyonlands, Arches, Dinosaur National Monument, public lands, lame duck, Department of the Interior, energy, electricity, Bonneville Dam, Natural Resources Defense Council, Obama, senator, representative