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White House Puts the West on Fast Track for Oil, Gas Drilling
LA Times ^ | 8/25/04 | Alan C. Miller, Tom Hamburger and Julie Cart

Posted on 08/25/2004 8:59:39 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON — Placing a heavy emphasis on energy production in the American West, the Bush administration has moved aggressively to open up broad areas of largely unspoiled federal land to oil and gas exploration.

The administration has pressed for approval of new drilling permits across the Rocky Mountains and lifted protections on hundreds of thousands of acres with gas and oil reserves in Utah and Colorado. In the process, it has targeted a number of places prized for their scenery, abundant wildlife and clean water, natural assets increasingly valuable to the region's changing economy.

Soon after taking office in 2001, the Bush White House set up a little-known task force that acts as a complaint desk for industry, passing energy company concerns directly to federal land management employees in the field. Although the creation of White House task forces is commonplace, experts on the executive branch say it is unusual to have one primarily serving the interests of a single industry.

In addition, the Bureau of Land Management has been pushed to issue drilling permits at a record pace for three of the last four years, an increase of 70% since the Clinton administration.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: drilling; energy; environment; fasttrack; gas; oil; west; whitehouse
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1 posted on 08/25/2004 8:59:41 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

LA Times? Can you beleive the RATS?


2 posted on 08/25/2004 9:04:58 AM PDT by mmyers
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To: NormsRevenge

But what about the environment? the Trees and the birds???? No this can't happen!!!


3 posted on 08/25/2004 9:06:28 AM PDT by Pondman88
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To: NormsRevenge

4 posted on 08/25/2004 9:07:05 AM PDT by AllTheRage (Put yer dukes up)
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To: NormsRevenge

"it has targeted a number of places prized for their scenery, abundant wildlife and clean water, natural assets increasingly valuable to the region's changing economy. "


Who cares about the animals and other 'natural assets'? Go to a zoo or look at pictures on a PC.

I want cheap gas and I'm willing to sacrifice these natural niceties for both me and my small children because hey - if Bush says it's the right thing to do, then it must be true.


5 posted on 08/25/2004 9:07:42 AM PDT by Blzbba (John Kerry - Dawn of a New Error.)
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To: NormsRevenge

They are drilling new wells everyplace I drive here in OK and our other wells are pumping more then I have ever seen since moving here. Some wells I would never see pump before and now I see them pumping a lot. Lot of trucks on the roads to empty the tanks -- many more than before.


6 posted on 08/25/2004 9:08:01 AM PDT by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Oklahoma is Reagan Country and now Bush Country -- Win Another One for the Gipper!)
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To: NormsRevenge
To me, when I see an oil drilling rig or pump, it gives me a feeling of triumph and victory.


7 posted on 08/25/2004 9:08:04 AM PDT by fishtank
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To: NormsRevenge
Ah, here come the "BUSH IS KILLING YOUR CHILDREN AND SMALL PETS!" ads.

Expect a new John Kerry...er...MoveOn.org ad soon comparing Bush to a small nuclear weapon...

8 posted on 08/25/2004 9:09:06 AM PDT by Damocles (sword of...)
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To: fishtank; TexasCowboy; Dog Gone; NerdDad

Love those toy rigs!


9 posted on 08/25/2004 9:11:34 AM PDT by razorback-bert
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To: razorback-bert

Boy, that is a tiny one.


10 posted on 08/25/2004 9:18:55 AM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Blzbba; Admin Moderator
"Who cares about the animals and other 'natural assets'? Go to a zoo or look at pictures on a PC. I want cheap gas and I'm willing to sacrifice these natural niceties for both me and my small children because hey - if Bush says it's the right thing to do, then it must be true."

How old are you?

11 posted on 08/25/2004 9:21:08 AM PDT by Matchett-PI (All DemocRATS are either religious relativists, libertines or anarchists.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Kerry is for clean coal.

Kerry's clean coal ... have the maid wash it.


12 posted on 08/25/2004 9:22:22 AM PDT by snooker
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To: PhiKapMom

Wasn't there some lawsuit in OK about oil leases on Indian territory that weren't being paid. It might be that the lawsuit was settled and wells are again pumping.


13 posted on 08/25/2004 9:24:16 AM PDT by Eva
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To: PhiKapMom

The other possiblility is that the high oil prices make recovery of oil from shale profitable.


14 posted on 08/25/2004 9:25:50 AM PDT by Eva
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To: fishtank

That's one of the best sights there is. It should be neat and clean, of course, but rounding a bend in a road and finding purposeful concrete, gravel, and steel at work adds considerably to the scenery.


15 posted on 08/25/2004 9:28:58 AM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and establish property rights)
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To: Blzbba

Drilling in the west and even in ANWR won't solve our long term energy problems. Conservation and new technology can.


16 posted on 08/25/2004 9:29:35 AM PDT by conserv13
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To: NormsRevenge

Timing of this is suspicious.


17 posted on 08/25/2004 9:31:28 AM PDT by ShandaLear (Swifties v. MoveOn.org: David slays Goliath)
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To: NormsRevenge
Drill till the caribou come home...

--------------------------------
To print out and wear as a Campaign Button, go HERE. Feel free to reuse this anywhere you wish...

18 posted on 08/25/2004 9:31:55 AM PDT by sonofatpatcher2 (Texas, Love & a .45-- What more could you want, campers? };^)
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To: Pondman88

Oil and gas drilling can be done and not harm the local environment. The whole work area is less than a football field and the road in is made with due regard to erosion and other disturbance.

Once the well is producing, the work area shrinks even more and the collecting tanks or pipeline are not that noticeable.

We can have affordable energy as well as a nice view of nature.


19 posted on 08/25/2004 9:39:57 AM PDT by RicocheT
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To: NormsRevenge
Exploration ain't worth gettin' to worked up over. Now if they were issuing permits to build a few new refineries then we got something to cheer about.
20 posted on 08/25/2004 10:03:13 AM PDT by WinMod70
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