Reader comments
Same-state sponsors are best for bills

The Legacy Highway lawsuit cost how much?
Had the road been in an appropriate location in the first place, no lawsuit would've been raised. Had lawmakers been willing to compromise with those "evil environmentalists" the lawsuit would not have dragged on so long and Utah taxpayers would've saved a ton of money. One of the first things Huntsman did when elected governor was to compromise and get construction on the highway going again.
It's sad that some people hate the environment and its support groups so much that they refuse to ever have a civil discussion with them. Fortunately, Huntsman was willing to do the intelligent thing, compromise, stop the lawsuit, and save taxpayers loads of money.

One thing about Jim Hansen is that he is full of great stories! And his institutional knowledge is something that cannot be overstated.

That aside, another restriction in Washington DC may not be the proper answer. Washington DC, Congress, is already one of the most restricted (read: dominated by 'good old boy' rules) environments you can come up.

Right now, rules with great arguments like this, make it almost impossible for anyone but committee chairs to run legislation. Anything of meaning to Americans like tax reform, immigration reform, etc functionally require a committee chair to do it, or nothing. Seniority was an argument like this one and it is ruining America.

Let our legislators go free! Remove all of these good old boy rules and laws and let the chips fly where they may. If some knucklehead out of New York runs the bill, fine. Then allow open debate with all votes recorded. Allow for the very rules that all 50 states use, much more freedom friendly then the crud and control that Congress has in place.

Congress is owned and controlled by about 20 Congresmmen, who are in-turn owned by special interest.

Not another control law Jim, PLEASE!

Having members of your state put forth land bills is all well and good. When all of your folks in Congress are beholden to devolopers and energy intrests ( including the author Jim Hansen),anybody with the ability to look forward more than on generation is more than welcome to sponsor land bills!

Re: Jim Hansen: Good article. I agree with your view, and have long respected your work in Congress. Local control and local sponsorship is an important issue.

Jim is up in the night and I am shocked at the support for this! So we want a better energy policy but since none of us live in Alaska, no one can run a bill to open up the oil fields up there?

Some people can't think further than the end of their nose. And Jim Hansen is the ULTIMATE in good old boy! Nice guy but holy cow...more to life than seniority.

And you people buy it! Amazing!

Great article Jim. Hinchey should not be pushing this through.

Oh Jim, your memory is so short, and your recall of the facts so selective. You're so desperate to muddy the waters that you can't even keep the issues straight. Congressional Wilderness designation has NOTHING to do with the Legacy Highway or draining Lake Powell.
America's Redrock Wilderness Act was introduced by Wayne Owens, D, UT., not Maurice Hinchey. Hinchey carried the bill after Owens left the house - NOT because environmentalists "shopped" Congress, but because of the close friendship shared by Maurice and Wayne stemming from matters of Middle East peace.
Your memory fails on the battles over wilderness in the mid-nineties as well - your bill proposed 1.8 million acres of BLM wilderness, not 4.2. Babbitt found 5.8 million acres, not 5.7, and that effort was a direct result of you challenging him to do so. Instead of admitting your bill was not based on broad public support, good science and actual on the ground conditions, you accuse Babbitt's inventory of being "poorly done." That's just not true, Jim.
Finally, Utah's public lands are owned equally by all Americans that's why Utah Wilderness is a national Issue, and will continue to be.