Groups sue to stop Utah oil and gas drilling

Source: Associated Press

Bush administration plans leases near parks, ancient rock panels
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Bush administration's last-minute sale of oil-and-gas drilling leases in Utah near national parks and ancient rock art panels.

The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled an auction Friday to sell drilling leases covering more than 100,000 acres of wild land in eastern Utah.

Actor Robert Redford, a longtime environmental activist, called the lease sale "morally criminal." Redford, who owns a home in Utah and hosts the annual Sundance Film Festival there, said the leasing issue is emotional for him, since he has spent much of his adult life in southern Utah, on foot and horseback.

"These lands do not belong to Bush and Cheney. It's our land — public lands — and the BLM is supposed to be protecting lands on our behalf," Redford said via satellite from Los Angeles during a news conference in Washington.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28283620/

I am reposting my reply to your original post..
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k & r
This mirrors every decision Bush has made since his selection in 2000.

Robert Redford was on a news station talking about the slim hope that the environmental groups stated above, may be able to halt the sale on Friday.
He was upset by the last ditch move by Bush to steal away the lands that were intended for the public use. He said the sad thing is that once the leases are sold they cannot be given back. The lease holder will own them.

To me, this is just more evidence of the real reason Bush was ever selected as President. It was indeed a coup by the oil industry and the likes of Bush Sr, Cheney and the players in the Middle East.

I hope the sale can be stalled, but it is unlikely.
Thanks for this post.

the door. Obama can reverse some of the shat, but maybe he cannot reverse a sale, unless there is some kind of collusion. Or can he?

These ARE Public Lands!! I used to live in (non-Mormon) Utah too, and this is truly sacred land... I hope this lawsuit stalls this criminal privatization and plunder of OUR land.

...and other places you don't live where this has been going on. But glad you're on board.