Bush-era energy drilling leases in Utah canceled

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Interior Department to review whether to open those federal lands

In its first action to overturn Bush administration policies on energy, the Obama administration on Wednesday said it will cancel oil drilling leases on more than 130,000 acres near two national parks and other protected areas in Utah."In the last weeks in office, the Bush administration rushed ahead to sell oil and gas leases near some of our nation's most precious landscapes in Utah," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters. "“We need to responsibly develop our oil and gas supplies to help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but we must do so in a thoughtful and balanced way that allows us to protect our signature landscapes and cultural resources."

"We will take time and a fresh look at these 77 parcels to see if they are appropriate for oil and gas development," he said, adding that the Bureau of Land Management will return the $6 million in bids from an auction last December.

The 77 leases were for areas near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon, which is sometimes called the world's longest art gallery for its collection of ancient rock-art panels.

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"At best these lands will produce only 1.5 hours of the oil we use in a whole year," Robin Cooley, an Earthjustice attorney who represented the conservation groups in court, said in Wednesday's statement. "The oil industry will profit, not America."

wtf oil

what retards are still on that bandwagon?