Interior Secretary Cancels Leases on Federal Land in Utah

[Raine1967]

Source: Washington Post

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is canceling oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land in Utah, according to sources familiar with the decision, ending a fierce battle over whether to allow energy exploration in the environmentally sensitive area.

The Bush administration conducted the lease sale in December, but environmental groups went to court to block the winning bids encompassing roughly 110,000 acres near pristine areas such as Nine Mile Canyon, Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument.

Just before Bush left office last month, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina issued a restraining order on the lease sales, postponing the final transactions until he could hear arguments on the merits of the case.

An Interior spokesman declined to comment on the matter, but several sources familiar with the decision said Salazar planned to announce it today, adding that he can reject the winning bids without a penalty because the transactions had not become final and the department has the discretion to accept or reject lease bids that prevail at a public auction.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020401785.html

[aquart]

1. I thank Judge Urbina for the restraining order.

It seems he made this possible.

[pleah]

2. K&R

[livetohike]

3. K & R for some of the most beautiful land in the U.S.A.

:kick:

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Somewhere, a Texas Oil millionaire is cursing.

The Bush administration's Wilderness to Super Fund Site development program is given a serious blow, and somewhere a Texas Oil millionaire is cursing.

[rpannier]

37. If that millionaire is DUH-bya

then he`s mispronouncing the words so no one knows what he is saying

[Zorra]

5. Humans defeat Troglodytes 1 - 0. n/t

[Optical.Catalyst]

36. Smack Down for the Bushites

I hope President Obama has more where that came from.

I hope he has a lot more.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. !

:bounce: :headbang: :applause:

[acmavm]

7. This is just fantastic.

[TheWraith]

8. See folks? Salazar's one of the good guys after all. nt

[bobbolink]

49. .....

:rofl:

[doodadem]

9. Robert Redford

Will be very happy! So will that college kid that went into this sale and posed as a bidder.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Thank God for this step toward sanity. Thanks for the news, Raine1967. n/t

[Metta]

11. Mazel freaking tov. I didn't expect Ken S. to go against his oil and gas buddies.

Perhaps, his tenure will be less awful than I fear and better than I expect.

[GentryDixon]

12. My back yard.

The Utah delegation, 3 Repugs, 1 Blue Dog will be very sad.:rofl:

[Kitty Herder]

25. Mine, too.

This makes me very happy. Oh, and our congressional delegation can fuck themselves.

[humbled_opinion]

13. So the Land Actually does

Belong to the people. WOW! excellent move by the Interior Secretary.
Now we will watch the idiots like those that supported Palin, heads explode can't Drill Baby Drill in Utah anyway. :spank:

[jberryhill]

14. Does this get that kid with the fake winning bids off the hook? /nt

[EFerrari]

19. It better! That was a great kid and a great story.

:)

[The Doctor.]

50. Oh... please do share!

This sounds like 'innocence and integrity meet courage'.

Am I right?

[8 track mind]

15. Ok now let's hope

that they do not pursue uranium mining at and in the Grand Canyon

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. Oh my - the Bush Gang and PNAC crowd are gonna be missed SOOOOOOOO Much . . .

.
.
.

like a pimple on your nose . . .

now

let's prosecute the fuc*ers . . .

[Vattel]

17. Thank you President Obama.

[scytherius]

18. We aren't getting everything (expected) but we sure as hell are getting alot. n/t

nt

[MH1]

52. It's not just what we are getting, it is what we are NOT getting.

(we are not getting the further f*cking over that we'd be getting if we were in the third Bush term)

[derby378]

20. Oh my freakin' GAWD!

Now that is change I can believe in. Seriously. :applause:

[mckara]

21. Good Job! Secretary Ken Salazar!

Those frickin' drillers have been contaminating ground water throughout Western Colorado. Thank goodness they stopped the drilling in Utah's most sacred areas!

[quidam56]

22. Praise The Lord !

http://www.wisecountyissues.com STOP THE BOMBING IN APPALACHIA !

[Kitty Herder]

23. Hooray! Three cheers for Salazar!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

(P.S. I hope no one I know is reading this. People around hear feel that it's their God-given right to rape and pillage the earth and they hate environmentalists. They'd even sacrifice our beloved Nine Mile. I usually have to hide my true feelings on environmental matters. )

[eowyn_of_rohan]

24. Woo-HOOOO!

What a relief.

[Javaman]

26. So what happens to that guy who bid on the land to disrupt the auctions? Is he in the clear now?

I hope so.

[Redneck Socialist]

27. I wasn't crazy about Salazar, but this is a good start. n/t

[sutz12]

28. Now watch for them to jack up the gas prices again...

and blame it on this.

Sorry. I'm just paranoid after what we've been through.

:shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Thrill baby, thrill.

I couldn't be happier. :)

[Politicalboi]

30. Great news

Here is the story about the guy who fucked up their auction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/tim-dechristopher-throws-_n_152661.html

[pnorman]

31. This Land Is OUR Land!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YlLtmMV8zs

I hope some of you "doubtful about Obama" ankle-biters will begin cutting him some slack, and quit agonizing over his appointments! So far, they're performing quite well!

pnoorman

[blaze]

32. Wow!! This is great news!! n/t

[Jefferson23]

33. GREAT NEWS!!!!!! Nice job there Judge Urbina, way to go.

[dbonds]

34. Woot - sanity rules sometimes.

[NJCher]

35. this makes me so happy

This is like the reverse of the bush occupation, when every day these announcements were a kick in the stomach.



Cher

[Autumn]

38. I am so shocked, thank you

Ken Salazar.Crappy Senator, damn good Interior Secretary.

[pjt7]

39. Nice to preserve some

of our most beautifull Country.

[Autumn]

42. Yes it is

and I love that area . So beautiful

[MetaTrope]

40. Now how about taking away the sweetheart deal George HW Bush gave Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold

on rich gold-bearing land in Nevada...before he left office and joined their board of directors?

[Skink]

41. We needed that. It's been a rough week.

:beer:

[Hotler]

43. Do you think Ken did this because deep in his soul he feels..

that it's right and just, or did he do it because the boss told him to do it????? Remember he voted for immunity for the telecoms and just about everything else the neocons wanted.

[demo dutch]

44. Great!

[MadMaddie]

45. It's been only 2 weeks and look at what's been accomplished

If they keep going at this rate...we won't be able to keep up.

K & R

[L. Coyote]

46. Whoop, whoop, and a loooooong HOWL of approval! REC

[Dumak]

47. Excellent News!

Now let's remove all evidence of humanity from Guantanamo Bay, turn it into a wildlife refuge, and hand it back to the Cubans.

[whistle]

48. great to hear that, was BushCo turning over Zion National Park for crude oil drilling?

[glitch]

51. No wonder Cheney crawled out of his spidey hole and started throwing threats around again.

Good for Salazar, I didn't expect this of him.

[crikkett]

53. How many parcels of land actually went up for auction?

This is the auction where an activist bid against energy execs and actually won a huge number of lots, and drove up the price on other lots won by energy execs...

So I'm interested to see which sales were cancelled and which were allowed to go through.

[glitch]

56. 138, so roughly half have been withdrawn.

Not quite as great as it first sounded, but better than allowing them all to proceed.

[glinda]

54. Wonderful!!!!!!!!

:fistbump: :applause: :fistbump: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :applause: :fistbump:

[Bette Noir]

55. Bravo, Salazar.

That's some beautiful land you just protected.

[No Elephants]

57. Saw this too late to recommend, but I can sure kick it.