Another Energy Industry Stooge

Lamborn... apparently standing in front of the land he'd like to
see leased to the energy industry for cut-rate royalties.

You'd think some Congressional ass clowns like U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn would come up with some original ideas when it comes to extracting energy resources from beneath some of the best fishing and hunting country left in the Lower 48, right?

Nope.

The U.S. Department of Interior announced this week that it's going to scale back Bush-era plans to extract oil from shale in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, largely because there's no proven way to do it without sucking up most of the region's water, trashing some of the most scenic and economically important land in the nation and, of course, spending more than the commodity is worth at market, even now with a barrel of oil coming in at about $100. Instead, federal resources will go into continued research and development. The idea, they say, is that a patient, deliberate approach to developing the science behind the potential extraction of untold amounts of oil from beneath this land is the way to go.

You know... figure out how to do it right. Makes sense, huh?

But Lamborn won't let pragmatism get in the way. He's advocating for a "full-speed-ahead" approach that advocates leasing these lands in the shale belt for reduced state and federal royalties. What the hell is this idiot smoking? And if it's the stuff he can get with the most sought-after prescription in Colorado, how's that glaucoma coming along?

Oh, wait. He's probably not smoking anything. He's an industry stooge. One look at his most recent campaign fundraising report will tell you exactly why he's asking communities on Colorado's Western Slope to bend over and take it up the grungehole from the oil and gas crowd. The oil and gas industry is his largest funder, and the Congressman is simply trying to give the industry its money's worth.

Never mind how we get it. Just get it. And save the industry
some cash in the process.

Trouble is, there's not a smidgeon of creative thought coming from this hard-core right winger when it comes to energy resources and how best to go about getting at oil and gas without trashing the land, the habitat and our ability to hunt and fish on public lands that belong to all of us. Like a lot of politicians out there who merit significant donations from energy industry PACs, Lamborn is a bought-and-paid-for mouthpiece that simply wants to keep his job, not do the job the people of Colorado's 5th District elected him to do.

But let's remember... this is the same congressman who stepped on his pecker when he said working with President Obama on debt-ceiling issues was like working with a tar baby. Not the sharpest pencil in the drawer, is he?

Sadly, as long industry is allowed to give unlimited amounts of money through PACs to hired stooges like Lamborn (you know, "corporations are people," right?), bills like Lamborn's creatively named Pioneer's Act will continue to surface and get attention (because there are a lot of industry stooges in Congress).

The solution for sportsmen who give a shit about public lands and what becomes of them? Fight back with your vote. Don't be a stooge. Vote for the candidate who can think on his own without an energy industry check to guide him.

U.S. Chamber of Horrors

R. Bruce talks with the "fair and balanced" folks. What a knob.

It seems that big industry in this country is relentlessly continuing its attack on the public lands that belong to every single American. This time, it's the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that's going on the record and supporting the Fish and Game Subversives Act, which would open up millions of acres of high-quality fish and wildlife habitat to development.

And that, of course, is exactly what this right-wing outfit wants. Contrary to its very name, the USCC is not so much a friend to commerce as it is to big industry. Thousands of mom-and-pop businesses out there that are members of this organization are being duped into thinking this overarching outfit is out to help the flow of cash through their communities when, in reality, this slave to Big Business is simply doing the bidding of the industry that desperately wants to develop public lands for their subsurface minerals.

In a letter to U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the evil mastermind behind the FAGS act that would open up unprotected public lands to eventual development and unchecked use by the reckless off-road vehicle community, USCC Executive Vice President for Government Affairs wrote: "This legislation would direct that these lands be managed for multiple uses, which would include increased recreational opportunities, responsible resource development and better access to enhance firefighting and insect control capabilities. The bill would allow local land managers and surrounding communities to determine through the local land management planning process how these lands should be used."

Ah, yes... R and W. Rich and White and out to rape
America's public lands.

It's proof that R. Bruce Josten (what kind of blue-blood uses an initial for his first name, anyway?) knows virtually nothing about the millions of acres of land in question and is simply parroting the message clearly delivered to him by the moneyed extraction industry that, more than anything, wants to build inventory and enslave the nation to decades more of fossil fuel dependence. If he had an orginal thought, R. would have considered the impact that trashing prime fish and game habitat would have on the long-term economy in rural America that depends on the billions of renewable dollars that flow into these communities each year thanks to hunters, anglers and others who have no trouble "accessing" these apparently inaccessible lands. He'd know that these lands are already subject to multiple use, even the kind he's so blindly supporting. In short, R. is a tool ... of the extraction industry.

And he's a dick, too.

It's one thing to have sell-out organizations like the Safari Club and the NRA (themselves political mouthpieces of the rich white guys who run outfits like Exxon-Mobil and Shell) throwing themselves into this arena and declaring the lands that are supposedly unfit for wilderness are now only of value if they're turned under in favor of oil and gas extraction. But to have the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the assumed parent organization (even though that's not true) of all chambers of commerce across the nation, ignoring the healthy, steady income that keeps much of the rural West afloat in favor of short-term gain for the richest of its members is unconscionable.

Are these lands unfit for wilderness? That's debatable. Are they only worth something if they're opened up to the rape-and-ruin plans put forth by the USCC and the right-wing extraction industry? Uh, no. There are millions of acres of roaded front-country land that every American with a desire can access, and then there are roadless lands that provide vital refuge for big game herds, irreplaceable habitat for wild fish and, oh yeah, unfettered access to every American with the will to take a step up a trail without the help of a fucking machine. And then there's wilderness, industry's favorite four-letter word. Why is there an assumption that, if land isn't appropriate for wilderness distinction (and wilderness, too, is accessible to every single American with the nerve to walk) then it must only be good for industrial and motorized destruction?

That's the USCC for you... a slave to industry, not the servant of America's small businesses.

And that's not my original thought. Take the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce in Massachusetts, which recently cancelled its membership in the USCC, citing the organizations bias toward industry and its lack of assistance to simple business. 

Harry Robinson of the Brookline, Mass., Chamber of Commerce, said his organization made an effort to further distance itself from the USCC because, "I think they are viewed in some circles as more in favor of large corporations as opposed to small businesses..." 

Hmm. Imagine that. And that's from some far-flung chamber in Massachusetts, where roadless lands are but a rumor.

So, while big business and industry continue their assault on the best of what's left of our public lands, it falls to hunters and anglers to get off their collective ass and start communicating with the bought-and-paid for douchebags in Congress, who will do the bidding of industry because, frankly, it was industry that paid to get them elected. 

Remind Congress, particularly those right-wingers in the West, that we've seen the impact industry and unchecked motorized access have on fish and game habitat and our ability to hunt and fish on public lands. Tell them that the money we spend in these rural communities we visit as we fish and hunt is real money, and that we spend it every single year in restaurants, convenience stores, motels and retail stores. It pays the bills for rural America, and will for generations to come if they'll just leave well enough alone.

Industry has its inventory already. Much of the West is leased and awaiting development. Drill there. Leave the good stuff alone. The real Americans who hunt, fish, hike and camp will thank you for it.

'Won't Take Yes for an Answer'

In an increasingly common display of partisan douchebaggery, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah is actually opposing the diversification of our domestic energy production on public lands. Apparently, the rotund, bought-and-paid congressman is a live-in-the-now kind of cat–to hell with the future of hunting and fishing (and why not throw in breathing clean air and drinking clean water while we're at it). He's not going to live long enough to deal with his own self-centered mistakes.

He's an oil and gas stooge. A one-trick pony. No matter how much sense it makes to invest in research and development of clean, renewable energy resources, this guy simply won't bend, instead insisting that, before we consider new long-term sources of energy in this country that might allow us to keep our public lands healthy and intact for future generations, we bleed every acre of public land dry of fossil fuels. Oh, and did I mention that he's the chairman of a public lands subcommittee in Congress? Friggin' awesome.

You try and figure it out. I'm stumped.

This is a dude who simply works for industry, and he's doing it on our nickel. Here's proof, as mentioned in a recent Salt Lake Tribune editorial:

• Presently, the United States has more producing oil wells than at any time since 2002. We are producing about a fourth of our own oil consumption (about 5 million barrels of day of our 18 million barrels-a-day habit). Keep in mind this is after the Deepwater Horizon disaster last summer that is, if you believe Bishop and his GOP cronies, hampering domestic production.
• We've reduced dependence on foreign oil by 25 percent by ramping up domestic production, but, no matter how many holes we'll drill, we'll never be able to match our present oil consumption. The reason? Uh, we just don't have the oil.
• We've leased almost 40 million acres of public lands for oil and gas development. We've drilled less that half of it. 
• President Obama, in the midst of a budget crisis, devoted significant attention to this issue last week when he talked of the need to diversify our domestic energy production while still using oil, gas and "clean" coal to bridge the gap to the next generation of fuels.

He won't support drilling for oil because ... he supports
more drilling for oil. 

All this, and Bishop still isn't satisfied. We must sell more oil and gas leases, he says (or, if you're like me, you see the truth: "We must build inventory, so my asshole buddies in the industry will have something do when we finally dump this Muslim, foreign-born, Kenyan spy the silly Democrats elected in 2008"). We must drill our way out of this problem (Sarah Palin must be whispering in his ear–amazing how much influence the MILF factor has, isn't it?). We must continue to enable the industry to record billions in annual profits, by God.

What a tool. I would wager that, had George W. Bush delivered the message that expanding domestic energy production to include solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear energy, Bishop would have noted the wisdom of using fossil fuels as a bridge to the future (and the continued stream of industry money into his campaigns) and wholeheartedly supported it.

But, since the plan comes from the other side of the aisle, he's busy getting all red-faced and indignant. As the Trib said, Bishop won't take 'yes' for an answer.

And here's the irony. He's opposing a bill that would create jobs at no cost to the taxpayer and without borrowing money from foreign governments simply because it requires some environmental accountability from the industry as it seeks to drill–yes, Rob, drill!–for oil and gas, both onshore and off. We've seen what can happen without proper oversight, and not just last summer. We've seen it right here in the West, where hydraulic fracturing chemicals are turning up in domestic water wells; where drilling mud spills and then spends the winter frozen in a waterfall; where surface water is tainted; where air quality in western Wyoming is worse than it is in downtown Los Angeles; where mule deer herds simply vanish for lack of winter range. Nah. We don't need oversight. We don't need accountability. Benzene is like sea salt–it's great on steak.

Oh, and here's some more irony. By opposing the bill, as the Trib points out, Bishop is trying to micromanage the Department of Interior. He's inserting more government into the equation, not less. He's demanding that Congress have some management authority on land managed by a executive branch secretary. If that doesn't raise the hackles of every sportsman who understands that quality fishing and hunting depends on having places to fish and hunt left intact, what will?

Wake up, Utah. This creep is mortgaging our future to subsidize his cushy job on The Hill. Need proof? His top campaign contributors? Lobbyists. No. 2? Oil and gas. 

The Big Bad Wolf ... Not the One You're Thinking Of

Why it took U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar two years to restore administrative authority to the Bureau of Land Management when it comes to protecting some of the best hunting and fishing country in the West is beyond me. But predictably, it took extremists like U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop about five minutes to start whining about the return to the way things used to–and ought to–be.


Back when Gale Norton occupied Salazar's office in D.C., she conspired with the likes of Bishop to effectively hamstring the BLM and prohibit the federal land management agency from, well, managing land. Specifically, Bishop and his bought-and-paid-for buddies in Congres didn't want any more wilderness  or wilderness study areas on public land, particularly in Utah. See, wilderness locks out industrial development while protecting fish and wildlife habitat. In other words, Bishop's campaign financiers (read, the extractive industry lobby) would be unable to drill, mine, rape and pillage on land belonging to every single American if that land–worthy as might be–were to be designated as wilderness or a wilderness study area.