Comments about ‘ Obama's pick for public lands chief lauded’

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.

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...

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.

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.

Another example of Change - another insider from Washington.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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?

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 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.

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.

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

The enviros don't like anyone very much.

Awesome selection! I love you obammy.
K. Couric

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!