Deseret News | Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded

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Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded

basinboy | 12:45 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

If the Wilderness Society thinks this is a good appointment, then it is a bad appointment for Utah and anyone who values having gas for the vehicle and heat in the home as opposed to wolves, prairie dogs and plants no one has ever heard of. We are in for some tough times ahead.

J DUB | 12:55 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

Good Lord, who could be worse for this appointment than a tree hugger from Colorado? Oh wait, I know this answer: a SUWA charter member. If the Wilderness fanaticos are rejoicing, the rest of us who actually recreate on public lands should be sobbing. Let the panic-driven liberal hysteria begin...

xscribe | 1:02 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

Ken Salazar is a farmer in Colorado who has good environmental values, in my opinion. At least learn about his views before you condemn him, basinboy.

Comments continue below

Thinker | 1:28 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

Hey Dubs. I guess you probably need gas to fuel your ATV or snowmobile? Great. Now there's a Patriot. Burn more oil. Oh and stink up the backcountry for the rest of us while yer at it. Basinboy. Keep letting people who make more money than you'll ever know have your lands that you want to "recreate" in and you won't have to worry about it either. They love fences. You should Thank God that someone can see further than you two can. How about putting some of that thought process into engineering a vehicle that doesn't need gas? Now there's a job that some of us who are laid-off could use.

Change | 1:32 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

Another example of Change - another insider from Washington.

Interesting? | 2:11 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

At least he didn't pick another from Chicago or Illinois or a previous Clinton cabinet .... that's change!

Skeptic | 2:52 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

Salazar is opposed to development of oil shale, so I guess we better get set to pay thru the nose for oil and gas from foreign sources (and food while we turn grain into ethanol).

Salazar | 3:18 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

He is a moderate. So Obama continues to govern from the middle. You are not a US Senator without a little moderation in your step.

Good choice. He will serve Obama and the national well.

J DUB | 3:54 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

A "Thinker" you are not. You have bought into the self-aggrandizing, holier -and righter -than thou rhetoric that simply refuses logical reality. Why don't YOU spend that purely awesome thinking power of YOURS to develop alternative fuel vehicles? Because it's still decades away, that's why, Einstein. And while you're at it Copernicus, I'm sure you don't realize that OHV manufacturers are light years ahead of literally every other intermal combustion engine manufacturer regarding emissions reduction/control/capture. They have to be to stay in business, due to uninformed nards like you. Oh, and do you know who pays the vast bulk of resources into the Parks departments and Forestry departments? Recreationists and hunters, Sir Isaac. For all your state/federal maintained outdoor amenities, YOU ARE WELCOME. You are also clueless. You should be looking for a kitchen position at Mickey Dee's instead of opining about topics you're woefully too uninformed to address.

basinboy | 3:55 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008

xscribe: I have read about the senator's views...he authored a paper recently about what has been wrong with the public land policies of the past eight years...and his views are contrary to the views of rural Utahns who rely on public lands to make a living. And, Thinker, I do not own an ATV or snowmobile. I just hate paying over $4 per gallon of gas and I want to keep my home warm this winter at a reasonable price given my limited budget. That's more important to me than wilderness.

Anonymous | 12:17 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

basinboy If wildness isn't important more to SLC, get a job close to work.

Anonymous | 1:14 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Ripping oout the wilderness areas, strip mining for oil shale is not the solution. There will be mass consumptions of natural gas just to heat the shale for extraction. See what happens to the cost of heating your home then!

xscribe | 2:14 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

I came from one of those rural towns, and my grandfather was a farmer and a Democrat. You, like many others, just can't see the forest for the trees. It's all about instant gratification and rape the earth now, and our children can worry about the consequences later. $4-per-gallon gas is a mere pittance compared to European cities. In Norway, where they produce a lot of oil and gas, try $9 per liter. You can do the conversion yourself. OPEC just approved to stop production to raise prices. Producing our own oil and gas is years away. Get a clue: We need an alternative. And just how many rural utahns, who aren't farmers, rely on public lands to make a living?

Re: Anonymous | 2:18 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Maybe by ripping out wilderness areas we can find Obama's birth certificate that no one has ever seen! We need to extract that before we worry about extracting oil. Most natural "gas" in this country comes from liberals and there is no shortage of that at all.

Strip Mining? | 6:34 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Strip Mining happens to be reclaimed and grasses and sage grow back better than ever. We do it everyday as we mine coal which powers your energy sucking PC while you write against mining. On the other hand, delusional enviros have sold us "STRIP FARMING" -- where year after year we pancake a former ecosystem, douse it with phosphates and nitrogen, and waste THE LARGEST SUMS OF FRESH WATER IN THE WORLD on ridiculous "Renewable" ethanol. With all the EMERGING STUDIES EXPOSING agribusiness for its emissions, oceanic eutriphication, massive ecosystem footprint destruction, I WOULD TAKE STRIP MINING RECLAIMED OVER ENDLESS STRIP FARMING DESTROYING OUR OCEAN -- EVERYTIME. And this is all to say nothing of the millions who will die as a result of farm subsidies. Who's the environmentalist here? Who's the humanitarian here? Enviros have the right intent but wrong solutions. They always have. Fossil fuels will be ZERO EMISSIONS in ten years. Mining reclaimed is 100 years of settled case law. Enjoy my strip mining.

Get with the program, DNews. | 7:09 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Okay first of all, this pick is not receiving "widespread" support among environmentalists. Just yesterday NPR ran a piece about the skepticism of the pick, saying "Salazar is getting mixed reviews at best from environmentalists and public lands advocates, while agricultural and mining interests are relieved."
Last week a coalition of over 100 environmental groups (many based in the West) signed a letter asking Obama to nominate Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona.

I suggest checking out some less lazy versions of the story on NPR, Grist, New York Times, Newsweek, etc.

KM | 7:50 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

We need to get used to the media portraying anything Obama does as smart, well thought out and genious.

Dave | 7:54 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

The enviros don't like anyone very much.

brilliant | 8:42 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Awesome selection! I love you obammy.
K. Couric

Anonymous | 9:21 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

Great pick. I will shiver, request public utility assistance and watch jobs in mining, and energy production be flushed down the toilet. Oh yeah, you will be allowed one flush per household per day. Nice!

Bro Chuck's Rant n Rave | 9:53 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

I don't care who Obama picks, first off, he can't even pick his nose right, I don't care if he picked a Republican or another Clinton liberal. We can't trust him or his pic's. Nor HIS friends either. Can we REALLY TRUST any of Obama's friend's?. An FBI informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation says he told authorities years ago that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was a gambling impresario before entering politics. He is accused of paying street tax to the Chicago mob. The ABC7 I -Team has learned that an attorney who went undercover for the FBI in the late 1980's says he told federal authorities years ago about wrongdoing by Blagojevich. His name is Robert Cooley. Cooley was a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago in the late 1980's who became one of the most potent witnesses against Chicago corruption, testifying for federal prosecutors in cases that resulted in dozens of convictions, but clearly not enough convictions. Cooley says that before Rod Blagojevich got into politics he was a bookmaker on the North Side who regularly paid the Chicago mob to operate. Perhaps we have Obama impeached after Jan 20th, 2009?.

basinboy | 11:33 a.m. Dec. 18, 2008

xscribe: A good percentage of folks in the Uintah Basin, not just farmers, rely on public lands to make a living. Most of the energy industry is working on public lands these days. If you'd like to educate yourself before you spout off again, go the Uintah Basin Standard newspaper website and look at their "Profiles in Energy" special section. It will give your brain a dose of reality, which you obviously need.

The NIT | 11:53 p.m. Dec. 18, 2008

If this new appointment is "lauded" by the environmentalists then we're in big trouble - can you spell $6 gallon gasoline!!

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Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded

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Reader comments Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded

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Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded