From The New West Blog
Sportsmen Call for Checks on Energy Development in the West
By Matthew Frank, 7-22-08
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| Click the image to download the full report (PDF) | |
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Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development Monday released a list of recommendations that members said would allow for energy development in the West without sacrificing wildlife and water resources.
Trout Unlimited’s chief operating officer Chris Wood told Matt Joyce of the AP:
“While there is little to no relationship between the price of gasoline and development of natural gas on public lands, our rush to produce short-term energy supplies can have a profound effect on the fish and wildlife habitats and water supplies that define the West.”
The report’s primary recommendations are as follows:
- Reaffirm multiple-use management of federal lands to sustain fish, wildlife and water resources.
- Strengthen the process used to lease public lands and permit oil and gas development for the protection of fish, wildlife and water resources.
- Implement new measures for monitoring the effects of oil and gas development.
- Make comprehensive and thorough mitigation and reclamation of fish, wildlife and water resources a fixture in all leasing and development decisions.
- Remove exemptions from the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts for oil and gas development and strengthen other laws to protect key fish, wildlife and water resources.
- Use current scientific information as the basis for all decisions in energy development that affect our fish, wildlife and water resources.
- Make industry accountable for the costs of oil and gas development on our public lands.
“The sportsmen’s coalition was formed in January by the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited. Representatives of the group were in Washington, D.C., this week to pitch their recommendations to congressional leaders and the campaigns of presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama.”
Click here to download the report.
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Comments
Some of us hunters and fishermen would rather walk than buzz around on ATVs. Much to your dismay, we are waking up and realizing that we might actually have some ideology in common with "tree huggers" and "greenies" and just maybe the republicans don't always have our best interest in mind.
The thing that makes it so long of a drive for me to get to good hunting places is all the developement, sprawl, and industry. So let's go ahead and drill those wells so that hunters that use those places will have to drive even further to get to a good hunting spot. That will result in more fuel consumption and therefore provide more of an excuse to drill and thus make more money for the corporations. Brilliant logic as always!
Wait a minute. When did the natural gas powered cars and trucks hit the market? Did I miss something?