In the first of these posts I introduced the man who wants to eliminate as many natural national treasures as possible, gut as much environmental protection as he can during one lifetime, cease protecting habitat for endangered animals, birds and plants, and sell vast areas of the American west to oil, gas, and mining interests, effectively closing them off to the American people to whom they rightfully belong.
Yep, the guy who Kelpie Wilson calls "... a Republican in the DeLay mold. Oil and gas interests keep his campaign cash barrel topped up; he pays his relatives inflated salaries from those funds; he is deeply involved in the gambling-industry / Indian-casino money machine; he took thousands of dollars from DeLay's buddy, indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff." (Pombo's Poison Pills, Truthout.org) The guy of whom the blog Say No to Pombo says, "...Ideologically and financially, Richard Pombo always stands with those who view the land as an exploitable resource."
What more is there to say? Well, plenty. Another report from the Environmental Working Group, Losing Ground — Mining, oil and gas industry access to America's natural treasures, gives huge amounts of information on the potential loss of public lands if the Budget Reconciliation Bill is passed in Senate/House conference. Within the bill we have Pombo's legislation...
...Disguised as a modification to mining law, it would allow developers to purchase any public land with minerals on it for their own private use. According to the Environmental Working Group, if passed it would immediately put 5.7 million acres of public lands with existing mining claims up for sale, including more than 2 million acres inside or adjacent to national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges and other environmental and cultural treasures.
Over time, Pombo's giveaway could transfer as many as 350 million acres of public lands to private ownership. (Kelpie Wilson, op.cit.)
The EWG report, Losing Ground, is extensive, providing maps and data, recommendations, policy findings and conclusions.
Because much of the land in question rightfully belongs to American Indian tribes, they are quite involved in this legislation. This moving passage from an editorial in Indian Country Today, Take it from the Indian, sell it to the highest bidder, is worth a long quote:
The Pombo bill represents a severe approach to the selling of America to the highest bidder, particularly when much of this land rightfully belongs to American Indians. It goes beyond the pale and should not be allowed to pass. If it does, high-end developers will be allowed to purchase any public land with minerals on it and turn it into their own private property. More than two million acres inside or near national parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness-designated areas will immediately be open for sale. An additional four million acres encompass various sacred and culturally important sites, and another 20 million acres are clearly threatened.
The ''wild'' country of America will be severely reduced through large waves of untrammeled development by this legislation; many bio-productive watersheds, and many of the wonderful places Americans of all persuasions can now access, will be closed off. The natural beauty and natural wealth of places currently held in the public domain will be sold to the few.
Where the American patriot, now that he is needed? Where the feeling for natural spaces that Americans learned to have, based on their learning from Native peoples?
The centuries-old American campaign to privatize the natural world has been unrelenting. Nevertheless, traditional checks and balances, largely based in a widespread (if not always deep) appreciation for the grand beauty of valleys and forests, promoted the establishment of protected areas where more intricate understandings could emerge into ecological awareness.
In recent years, under the guise of an all-purpose ''free-market'' argument espoused by rapacious and imbalanced ideologues, the drive to open up the protected areas has greatly intensified. All manner of environmental protection has been slapped down, and a dismissive - even hateful - attitude toward natural world systems has been projected onto the public. As evidenced by the Pombo bill, the drive now is to open up huge areas where mining and other development will trump nature-oriented sensitivities.
Greed, once considered a sin, becomes the driving force
There are many places to help work to defeat Pombo, who is up for election next year. The blog I mentioned earlier, Say No to Pombo, is excellent and can use any and all donations you can make to this tremendously important cause. As you can imagine, Pombo's friends have deep pockets and will be bankrolling him to keep their interests front and center. Another group working against his reelection is Vote Pombo Out. Also on the job are the folks at the Pombo Watch (former Republicans who have now signed up with the Green Party). The Western Shoshones have a terrific site called the Western Shoshone Defense Project with alerts on this legislation and lots of other good stuff.
We all need to be on Pombo Watch, any readers in his district might want to hustle into campaign mode once his Democratic opponent has been chosen. I'll leave you with these words from Dusty Horwitt, one of the analysts who worked on the Losing Ground report for the EWG:
Regardless of whether a person views a natural treasure as a place for physical rejuvenation or spiritual renewal, a valuable vestige of America's frontier heritage, a safe deposit box for America's wildlife, or just a fabulous place to catch a fish, the inexorable decline of pristine places to mining and drilling is an irretrievable loss. When we drill and mine our natural treasures, we destroy some of the very things that make America worth cherishing and defending. As mining, oil, and gas executives grow richer, America grows poorer. It's time to reclaim the West.
