Congress to Giveaway 50 Million Acres of Publicly-Owned Wilderness to the Koch Brothers??

[truthwillout777]

Introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, this bill (H.R. 1581) would eliminate protection for wilderness study areas and Forest Service roadless areas -- exactly the kind of healthy, undisturbed lands that provide and safeguard clean air and water resources, supply habitat for plants and animals, and offer Americans a place to get outdoors and kayak, camp, fish, or hike. That's one reason why people in the outdoor recreation industry -- which, by the way, supports nearly 6.5 million jobs and contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy -- are among the biggest opponents of this public lands giveaway.

No one deserves the gut punch of coming home to discover that they've been burglarized. But if this "Great American Giveaway" bill becomes law, then every single American will be the victim of a brazen theft that's just as heartless. Woody was right. It's your land. Not ExxonMobil's. Not Peabody Coal's. Not Koch Industries'. These lands are our lands. Tell your member of Congress that we need to keep it that way.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/152548/congress_could_pass_a_bill_that_would_giveaway_50_million_acres_of_publicly-owned_wildlands_to_oil,_gas_and_mining_companies_?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=alternet

[Hotler]

1. k&r n/t

[TheWraith]

2. Fortunately, the House can't do anything without the Senate and the White House. nt

[Dragonfli]

4. Unless they reach a "bipartisan" agreement to only give away three fourths of it (likely) /nt

[TheWraith]

7. Or unless monkeys come flying out of my ass, which is equally likely.

No wonder people here have such a low opinion of the POTUS and Democrats in general, when there's so much made-up bullshit flung at them.

[Dragonfli]

11. Just basing it on past negotiations, like if rodents were observed flying out your ass frequently nt

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[liberal N proud]

3. This is no surprise considering who owns the most congressmen

[KansDem]

5. Sure, the Koch Bros need to keep making "cellulose"

Company Description

No fiction, GP Cellulose is a big producer of market and fluff pulp. The company's pulp mills in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama (acquired from Parsons & Whittemore in 2010) churn out millions of tons of cellulose a year. Its range of pulp grades and specialty fibers are the raw material for a myriad of products, from automotive and coffee filters to diapers, baby wipes, and tea bags. GP Cellulose's softwood pulps are integral to making fine writing, copy, and computer paper, and even stamps. Its business solutions team offers logistics, technical support, as well as product development for customers. Formerly known as Koch Cellulose, the company is a subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific, owned by Koch Industries.

Hoovers

You know, "cellulose." Also known as "sawdust," the filler found in processed food:

Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption. The USDA, which regulates meats, has set a limit of 3.5% on the use of cellulose, since fiber in meat products cannot be recognized nutritionally.

The Street

[TheWraith]

8. Actually, cellulose is mostly used for the manufacture of paper and cardboard.

And no, cellulose is not the same thing as sawdust, nor is cellulose entirely from wood pulp. It's produced universally by just about every kind of plant.

[KansDem]

10. "Wood pulp" found in cheap, processed food

What is often in shredded cheese besides cheese?

Powdered cellulose: minuscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers that coat the cheese and keep it from clumping by blocking out moisture.

Cellulose can improve the texture of packaged food products, including bottled chocolate milk shakes.
One of an array of factory-made additives, cellulose is increasingly used by the processed-food industry, producers say. Food-product makers use it to thicken or stabilize foods, replace fat and boost fiber content, and cut the need for ingredients like oil or flour, which are getting more expensive.

Cellulose products, gums and fibers allow food manufactures to offer white bread with high dietary fiber content, low-fat ice cream that still feels creamy on the tongue, and allow cooks to sprinkle cheese over their dinner without taking time to shred.

WSJ

Goody! "Wood-pulp"-based food...:9 Kinda makes you want to go back for seconds, doesn't it!

[Quantess]

23. Yes, but maybe cellulose makes you run to the toilet more often.

Some people might get a kick out of that.

[truedelphi]

14. Yep. It is a like the giant floor mat under the rotting debris

Of all the plants and brush and tree leaves out in the woods.

Very tough, too.

i sort of accidentally found out about it when digging up some plants out in the woods.

Before we had plastic bags, we had bags made of cellulose.

I assume it is more bio-degradable.

[TheWraith]

27. Paper, natural fabrics, and even many synthetic fabrics are mostly cellulose.

"Cellulose" is a nearly catch-all term for a certain class of plant matter. It's literally the most common organic compound on Earth, including half of all wood, and 90% of cotton, and it's used to manufacture everything from paper, to cloth, to glue, to cellophane (yep, cellophane is plant-derived), gunpowder, rayon, etcetera.

[truthwillout777]

6. looks like they have already been ripping US off

Senator Tom Udall And Congressman Grijalva Call For Government Investigation Into Corporate Versus Public Profits From Mineral Extraction

Last week, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking for a formal investigation into the corporate profits and public financial gain from oil, gas, and hardrock mineral extraction (gold, silver, copper, and others) on public lands. The members requested this investigation due to their suspicions that taxpayers are not reaping proper benefits from extractive activities on public lands. As Grijalva said at a press conference last week:

We also feel that there is a taxpayer responsibility that we have as elected officials. Especially in these fiscal times where we are talking so much about fiscal policy, taxpayers, and revenue for government, etc., that we are getting a fair return on our public lands. That there is indeed a net benefit and a cost benefit for the American taxpayer.

From the information that we get, we hope that this debate continues forward. We’ve asked GAO to give us a financial perspective—how much has the taxpayer lost, how much is this land really worth, and what should be the parameters in the future in order to collect a fair return for the American taxpayer.

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/09/27/329701/senator-tom-udall-and-congressman-grijalva-call-for-government-investigation-into-corporate-versus-public-profits-from-mineral-extraction/

[Scuba]

9. Ask yourself why Norway negotiated oil royalties 4X the rate the US gets. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. Unrec for distortion

The areas in question were set aside to be evaluated for wilderness protection in 1976. Govt scientists rejected them all as legitimate wilderness. Since then, they've been in limbo awaiting congressional action to release them from the study area classification so they can return to their previous status.

HR 1581 has flaws, but putting these lands back into their appropriate classification will increase public access and rational management, and yes, increase jobs.

Managing public lands appropriately is a different question than whether lands should be simply placed in administrative limbo for 35 years.

[Luminous Animal]

15. So, you are backing a Republican bill, eh?

I love my BLM administrative limbo land. Some of the most amazing land to backpack and camp in.

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. Working public forests aren't a giveaway.

And no, the best lands to hike and backpack in are (or would qualify as) wilderness.

Do I support this bill? Probably not, because I don't trust Utah to manage the portions within their state appropriately, but getting these lands out of limbo should have happened long ago.

[Kolesar]

19. We have enough land that is developed already

Trees should only be taken from private plantations from now on. Roads just cut up watersheds, ruin streams and ruin habitat, thus decreasing biological diversity.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. No, management of public lands is better and benefits the public. nt

[Luminous Animal]

24. Most people aren't arguing against management, they, like the Obama admin

are arguing that this specific bill is the wrong way to go.

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/07/26/26greenwire-obama-officials-strongly-oppose-roadless-relea-47112.html

"Obama Officials 'Strongly' Oppose Roadless Release Bill
By PHIL TAYLOR of Greenwire

The Obama administration today roundly denounced a proposal by Republican lawmakers that would release several million acres of protected public lands into local management plans, potentially opening them to timber harvests, oil and gas development, motorized recreation and other uses.

Bob Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, compared the legislation from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to shooting a small rabbit with a large gun, leaving almost no meat on the bone.

"H.R. 1581 is a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach, that fails to reflect local conditions and community-based interests," Abbey told the House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee. "

[lumberjack_jeff]

26. I agree with this.

Now that it's been known for 30 years that these lands are not suitable as wilderness, I want the lands returned to their appropriate use under prudent stewardship.

But I'm not clear about Abbey's concern. Is it because the lands won't be managed in a way that "reflects local conditions and community based interests" or that they would "be released into local management plans"?

I think they should be returned to the use and access status they held in 1976 when they were set aside, under the stewardship of the BLM.

[Kolesar]

29. You are advocating to destroy wildlife habit...eom

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. No. And I daresay I know more about habitat AND my motivations. n/t

[lonestarnot]

13. K & R!

[hwmnbn]

16. K&R

[Generic Other]

17. Those pics are beautiful!

How dare they give anyone the right to despoil these places with sweet deals that allow them to pay a pittance for our natural resources. Leave our wilderness areas wild!!!

[BeHereNow]

20. Sounds like the Koch Bros. want to do some fracking on those lands.

To hell with nature- there's money to be made.
The Koch brothers are despicable, greedy people.

BHN

[county worker]

21. This is what this thinking leads to. Read about something that happened in Kevin McCarty's area.

I use to live there when it happened. The BLM under Bush wanted to give the land away and Marlene Braun tried to fight that.

BLM SUICIDE UNDERSCORES BUREAUCRATIC INHUMANITY — Inspector General Reports and Workplace Survey
Show Imploding Interior Morale

Washington, DC — Bureaucratic indifference and official callousness contributed to a suicide by a Bureau of Land Management national monument manager, according to an internal investigation report released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At the same time, workplace surveys show deepening distrust and plummeting morale within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other agencies within the Interior Department.

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=849


It is a tale of an abusive work environment (akin to the traditional profile of bullying cases described at this website) that Marlene described as her inescapable hell caused by her tormenter, bully boss Ron Huntsinger, coupled with dramatic reversals in conservation policies by the federal government executed by Huntsinger and BLM as mandated by the anti-Clinton, anti-environment Bush administration. Huntsinger was promoted in the aftermath of her suicide in the spirit of "heckuva job brownie" incompetence rising.

http://www.workplacebullying.org/individuals/impact/marlene-braun-memorial/

[McCamy Taylor]

25. Kochs already get free trees for Georgia Pacific and free range for their cattle.

I hope to God the Senate just says no on this one.

[Quantess]

30. K & R