Environmentalists file 11th-hour lawsuit to block proposed lease sales in Utah

[cal04]

They contend that the Bush administration, in its haste, failed to comply with regulations requiring it to consider the sales' effect on air quality and other environmental factors.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drilling-utah18-2008dec18,0,3382731.story?track=rss

Reporting from Denver -- Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday as a last-ditch effort to block the sale of leases for 110,000 acres of federal land in Utah that the Bush administration plans to auction off on Friday.

Critics say the proposed lease sales are an 11th-hour attempt by the administration to leave its mark on the striking, energy-rich red rock landscape of southern and eastern Utah.

The auction was announced late on election day. The National Park Service, which is routinely consulted before such announcements, was taken by surprise. The park service later objected to dozens of the sales, but the Bureau of Land Management moved ahead with plans to sell the majority of them.

The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the National Resource Defense Council and five other environmental groups, contends that the Bush administration failed to comply with regulations requiring it to consider the sales' effect on air quality and other environmental factors.

[Blaze Diem]

1. k & r This mirrors evey 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.