Trump taps well of protest with calls for more drilling in national parks
Source: Reuters
11 JAN 2017 AT 08:51 ET
President-elect Donald Trump aims to open up federal lands to more energy development, tapping into a long-running and contentious debate over how best to manage America’s remaining wilderness.
The U.S. government holds title to about 500 million acres of land across the country, including national parks and forests, wildlife refuges and tribal territories stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. They overlay billions of barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas, coal, and uranium.
With Trump poised to take office on Jan. 20, energy companies and their lobbyists are eyeing a new gusher of federal drilling and mining leases after a period of stagnation under the administration of Barack Obama.
Oil output on federal land made up about a fifth of the national total in 2015 – down from more than a third in 2010 – while the number of onshore drilling leases fell about 15 percent, according to federal data.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/trump-taps-well-of-protest-with-calls-for-more-drilling-in-national-parks/
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Not acceptable under any circumstances. Sierra Club---start preparing the lawsuits! I'll sign every petition out there, but they don't matter a damn to these people. The only thing that will work is tying it up in the courts. These lands are held in trust for US.
