Comments about ‘Interior chief may overturn oil leases’

This makes perfect sense.

We need to be energy independent but the enviromentalist extremist wingnuts get their paybacks for getting Obama into the whitehouse.

We need to stop any possible traditional domestic energy development here so we can maintain our dependence on foreign oil.

The reality is that we need oil AND green energy including nuclear but of course the wacko environmentalists have sufficiently bribed your neighborhood democrat to block that. Strange thing is that is will be all of our expense.

Stupid to the 10th power but not surprising with the left wing extremist policy that now rules DC.

Get prepared people--they will tell you how when what and where you will do it. Like it or not. You are too dumb to know what is best for you so now they will "help" you by limiting the decisions you have to make.

Sounds nice huh?

Yeah, Yeah! Next they'll be telling us that women can't choose whether to carry a child, or better yet, they'll begin telling some citizens that they can't receive the legal right to be acknowledged as the significant other of a person of the same sex, that they don't have the right of inheritance, or the right to give informed consent in an emergency situation. Those nutjobs will next define for us what is moral, who is patriotic, and erode our rights under the constitution. Perhaps they will redefine toture, house prisoners overseas without ryhme or reason, hide facts from us, edit scientific documents, invade a country, engage in nationbuilding, and manufacture reasons for doing this all under the guise of "protecting our interets." Can you imagine these people who run on the premise of less gov't intervention in the lives of citizens support and implement the most intrusive policies? Sounds even better, huh?

it seems to me that the oil companies should use the leases they have before they start getting new ones. They claim they don't know if oil can be found on the existing leases, but they spend their money looking at property they don't have rights for? There are a lot of existing capped wells. If the wells were dry, they would have damaged them or sold the property rights. The only reason they are still stopped is because the owners of the mineral rights would have to be sent a check for a percentage of the profit pumped from the well head. How dare this administration try to make the oil companies play fair! Yes, we need oil, but the companies need to start better addressing their own problems rather than looking for a handout of land.

The Utah landscape is beautiful and a huge tourist attraction. If we allowed drilling, the beauty would be tarnished forever with ugly oil rigs. Drilling in Utah would make such a tiny difference in gasoline prices that no one would notice it and it would not get us away from foreign dependence at all. I'd rather save our beautiful scenery than potentially save a penny or two on gasoline. I wish everything Bush did could be reversed!

We need better ways to power our vehicles. Drilling more oil isn't the answer we need. I also hope Obama does pardon Tim DeChristopher. I'm glad Tim was willing to risk his freedom to save our gorgeous land.

The "I agree" poster did a great job defining the Bush administration. As for you "Of course" - Obama is less left wing than Bush is right wing. Also, please answer me this: Why do republicans (especially in Utah) hate democrats so strongly? It's instant automatic hatred and I don't understand it. Please enlighten me. Thank you.

- Not the same Tim

While he's at it he should see about reversing Clintons Grand Staircase land grab in Utah on his way out.

I agree with those who point out Obama has promised us energy independence... then to score political points with his base he pulls something like this (which makes us MORE DEPENDENT on non-domestic oil producers)?

Not the same Tim | 3:23 p.m.

Are you under the mistaken impression that oil exploration isn't already taking place in these areas?

I like to explore our backroads and do a lot of exploring in the Moab, 4-corners, Canyonlands, Green River and Colorado River areas where I understand these leases are located (not all of them but some).

I can assure you oil exploration has already been done in these areas. But you would never even be able to find the areas they explored unless you knew where they were beforehand.

There is a pad not far from the Deadhorse Point visitor's center (just off the road connecting the paved road to the Shaffer Trail) and even from the dirt road you couldn't see it, unless you knew where it was from a GPS-Map or something and could go out of your way to find it.

It doesn't have to destroy the scenery. You don't have to get all upset about it. NOBODY wants to ruin the truly magnificent vistas we have in Utah (especially Utahns). But we just know you can do it without ruining_the_land_or_the_scenery, so_we_don't_share_outsider's_wish_to_block_energy_exploration_at_every_turn.

How in the world are these "Midnight Actions"?

The leases were approved and sold weeks BEFORE Bush left office. This "Midnight Actions" term makes it sound like he did this on his way out (like Clinton's letting his buddies out of jail the night before leaving office). That is a mischaracterization of the situation.

Yes, to everything you said. This action was just another example of the Bush admin flaunting the law.

The auction was illegal. THATS WHY A JUDGE INVALIDATED IT.

If you are unfamiliar with the applicable laws you should keep quiet huh?

Shudn't ya? Huh?

The reason the Bush's, dad and son, never made much efforts to get america off its dependence of oil, foreign and domestic is thay are part of the oil cartel and don't want to give up their golden goose. This last ditch effort was merely to add to that golden goose cartel. There has been many studies done that shows processing oil shale in Utah too expensive and not profitable, but giving control of the land to oil barons is what this was all about. The land close to parks is prime for commercial developement, not oil production. Once they get possesion of these lands all they have to do is develope it in any manner, including commercial use and homes construction. Many of our canyons around the valley started out with mineing leases but do we see any mines? No, just commercail and residential developement. Then much of this developement in the canyons are still on a lease from the BLM to mine. It's apparent that these lands around the national parks are destined for developement purposes to capitalize on tourist, not oil or mining. That is how BLM auctions work.

Remember, the world consumes 120 million barrels of oil per DAY.What alternative energy is out there to replace that? NONE!We need to keep drilling and drilling.

I hope all you liberal Bush haters enjoy paying $5-$10 a gallon for gas and also enjoy the country being at the mercy of OPEC. Make up your minds. Do you want energy independence or do you want your pristine desert land. Obviously you have never been to a real drilling rig or seen a completed oil well. If you had you would realize most of your arguments are fruitless.

Nice job mixing a little truth with a lot of rhetoric. Everything is not a right.

Anyone else notice that every time these Green projects,
bio-fuels- shale development start gaining acceptance and funding,
The price of oil drops like a rock?

All we need to do to keep a lid on oil prices is threaten to drill off shore or make up something about a new discovery allowing a car to get 300 miles per gallon.

It seems to me that some of the things that were told to the american people about change was just more hogwash , For the last two years at least we all have been told that we half to stop our dependance on Forigen oil. So when the BLM held that lease sale. They were trying to cut down on a little bit of that dependance . I live in Utah and I am proud of the way that the BLM makes the Oil campanys reclaim the land. After thay Drill on it .I believe that if Mr Obama realy wants change for the better he should let the american people deside where they want to drill. By putting it to a VOTE. That way our fate is not decided by some Interior chief That wants to stay on the good side of some Enviromentalist group. I Believe that most americans are not on the left or the right. But that we are right down the middle. So if we all realy want change. Than let the American people decide it by Voting...

I've got a bad feeling with the Marxists in charge of our government. They scammed there way into office via George Sorros and ACORN, and now all of us get to pay the ultimate price - Freedom!

Is it any wonder we import 60% of our oil?

Why does the media keep calling them oil leases? It is natural gas that is in these lease areas.

The drilling issue has nothing to do with environmentalists like the right wingnuts continually harp about. The issue is energy efficiency. Shale oil, like ethanol, consumes more energy than it yields. I've been working with hydrocarbon based alternate energy technologies for the past 20 years, development takes time but progress is being made every day. Still, in the long run we need to greatly reduce hydrocarbon use and switch to renewables.

Aw, yes! Isn't his refreshing! Pardon the criminal Tim, further our dependance on foreign oil, trample on the state's sovereignty, advance the socialist agenda, and the list goes on.

Just the kind of "hope" and "change" we were looking for!

Conservatives can thank themselves for Obama's presidency. You kept the retarded one in office for 8 years and Obama is the American backlash. The fact that all the neocons hate him assures me he's doing a good job. Just warms your heart.