Comments about ‘Drilling near parks opposed’

"Salazar also said the Obama administration should not be blamed for economic problems in Utah oil country related to rescinding the auction, but the Bush administration should be for rushing the auction without fully consulting the National Park Service."

That there are problems with this whole thing, from start to finish, there is no doubt. However, let's give credit and blame where it's due.

Just like the Utah RINO's are all the time. DRILL baby DRILL, we need that oil. Our own Utah legislature is a good example. 90% of the session they goof around with the insignificant message-bills, like what's the State pan, the State Fruit, the State Dinosaur, etc. Then when there's a few days or HOURS left in the session EVERYTHING significant becomes a crisis and they finally start voting on some REAL bills. Congress is the same. They mess around and posture for the media most of the time, but if there's a crisis (hurricane or other disaster), or a contraversy (like Terry Shivo, or baseball players taking steroids), they can drop EVERYTHING and work on THAT issue 100%, but only the issues that are in crisis.

Blame Bush?

He was trying to address the supply shortage that led to 4.00 per gallon gas.

OPEC has us by the (****) and can toy with us because they virtually control the supply here in the US. The Bush administration was only doing what was prudent. People were also blaming the oil companies. Environmentalists know that all they have to do is delay a project until the next election and then the problem will go away. No wonder oil companies were not really taking these leases seriously.

Besides, almost all of Utah outside of the Wasatch Front resides near a National Park, National Monument or an Indian Reservation or some sort of Federal land. Drilling for oil or gas in any of these areas is a pipe dream at best.

the administration is lining us all up to drive little green machines that require an overnight stay for in state travel and a huge electrical grid to keep em charged up. Where are we headed folks.

the Feds own Utah, face it.

Good news!

Just blame Bush but maybe give the same advise in your last paragraph to your boss! But wait, if you slow down you might not be able to push all your socialist agendas when you loose the majority in Congress. Tick, Tock. Only about a year left.

Its funny how the first thing that comes out of a politicians mouth is who is to blame. We need to put up a stand against these idiots in office!

8 or 9 months ago Pro-Drilling folks were screaming that conservation groups were the cause of skyrocketing natural gas prices and that no one was going to be able to heat their homes because of them. What's really happened? Natural gas prices have actually fallen, enough so that Bill Barrett Corp has virtually pulled out of the Tavaputs Plateau because it is no longer profitable. So now, a few months later, it seems even more inappropriate to allow drilling in or near sensitive areas.

The good, hard working folks in the Uintah Basin need only to look back to the boom and bust they experienced in the 70's as a reminder of just how unpredictable (and unreliable) the Oil/Gas industry is for jobs.

Ben, many of these leases were for natural gas, not oil, so there's a slight hole in your argument.

Best news I've heard all day.

First of all, most of these leases are for GAS, whose price has been dropping like a rock lately. Questar is capping wells in the Uinta Basin to try to raise prices - to no avail. It's called a BUST, Vernal - it's what always follows a BOOM. Rep. Bishop - Salazar and his measly 77 leases have NOTHING to do with plummeting natural gas prices and you know it! Stop grandstanding and trying to blame responsible management for the natural boom and bust cycle. We can and will have responsible leasing without compromising wilderness or our irreplaceable National Parks.

The reason energy prices are falling is that Obama has killed the economy, and thereby the demand for energy.

Now the loony left wants to make sure we NEVER recover from this downturn, by increasing energy prices and decreasing production capacity.

Good thing they're watching out for the little guy, huh?

Thank you, Sec. Salazar.

Finally we're getting priorities set. Ken Salazar has adopted the priorities BLM should have used last year before the lease sale was held. Apparently it was Bush administration policy to lease everything possible before they left office. Salazar is doing a good job of untangling the mess.

Hey, what does it matter how many generations you are? I am too.. I have pioneer heritage and great, great grandmother who was in the CC Christiansen handcart company. I honor her. But has nothing to do with the issue of extreme environmentalism interfereing with reasonable develpment and use of our God-Given natural resources. People are part of the eco system too. The Democrats and Enviro fascists will stop at nothing to stop us from using more carbon, even though some nobel prize winning scientists in Europe have debunked the politically -correct model. We need all forms of energy--including carbon based, and to just lock-it away for ideological reasons is offensive to Utahns to have to pay higher energy prices to raise their families or run their businesses because of Salazarr and those like him in the current Administration who are ideologically driven.

If oil and gas can be safely produced in orchards, vineyards, and wildlife refuges (as it is in many places in the U.S.), why in the world can it not be safely produced in the Utah desert outside of parks? Once it's producing, you'd hardly know it's there.

Salazar's remarks are an example of political emotions trumping fact and logic.

[And yes, gas drilling in the U.S. has stopped because of low prices.]

"The Bush administration was only doing what was prudent." The US gets most its oil Canada, Venezuela and Mexico. Who did Bush try to anger here? Notice the USA doesn't interfere with the communist government in China.

WHAT????????????

"Sometimes what ends up happening is when the government does things in a rushed and wrong way, you end up having consequences to human beings like the Harrisons that you don't have when you do it the right way," Salazar said.

OH....Yeah, like HEALTH CARE...IT HAS TO BE DONE NOW!!!!!! NO TIME TO WAIT, PASS IT, PASS IT. DON'T DO IT THE RIGHT WAY, JUST PASS IT. PASS IT.

LOVE YA! BARAK OBAMA

It doesn't take much thought to see the facts, that economic problems here are not due to a cancelled lease or Salazar. Get your own emotions out of the way.

And RE: JAKE27 et all, this whole article and comments are about blame. Granted, the politician says point your finger of blame elsewhere.

Sounds like there are a lot of upset emotional people wanting to blame someone instead of seeing reality.

Salazar is a dimwit but what can you expect from the people around Obama.