bush loses one

As we all know the final days of the Bush Administration was disastrous to the environment.  But one midnight ruling is actually going to have a happy ending.

The Obama Administration’s Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reversed one ruling by taking away the leases to the oil and gas companies on government land in Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

And while Salazar did cancel the leases, he didn’t rule out the possibility of mining in the future, stating that more information needs to be gathered before anything can be done.  

This is a decision that has come after a long fight between conservationists and industry personnel.  At the end of last year, 77 leases were auctioned by the Bush Administration to oil and gas industry companies, based on a plan created by the Bureau of Land Management.  Salazar has indicated that the review of these documents may open the land for mining in the future, but for now it is on hold.

how nice to wake up to good news

The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday partially backed off from unpopular plans to open land near Utah national parks to oil and gas drilling. BLM deferred leasing about one-third of the 93 tracts that the National Park Service had objected could contaminate parks with noise, water, and air pollution; the rest will still go on the auction block Dec. 19.

via Grist.org