Conservation coalition calls on Obama Administration to balance drilling with wilderness protection
By John Haughey, August, 2013
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] national coalition of conservation groups has released a report that includes 16 recommendations — include raising drilling and royalty rates — to balance the development of oil and gas resources on public lands with environmental concerns and recreational needs.
The report, “A Blueprint for Balance,” was released August 6 by Equal Ground, a coalition whose members include the Center for American Progress, the Wilderness Society, the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Center for Western Priorities, and the Western Energy Project.
Unequal Findings
The report claims the sustainability of America’s energy future depends on whether the Obama administration can limit drilling to the right areas, deliver a fair return to taxpayers and local communities, and put the protection of public lands on the same priority level as drilling.
Equal Ground says the Obama Administration’s approach to public lands management is skewed toward resource development at the expense of the environment and recreation. Although the federal government has taken steps to improve leasing practices on public lands, it has also been leasing public lands for oil and gas development 2.5 times faster than it is creating parks, wilderness, and national monuments.
“The last Congress was the first since World War II to not protect a single new acre of public land as a park, national monument or wilderness area,” Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, told reporters on August 6. “There is a Gold Rush mentality right now on our public lands, and that mentality not only puts the energy boom at risk of bust, but it also has real costs to America’s recreation, tourism, and outdoor economy.”
According to Equal Ground, oil production is at its highest level in more than a decade and U.S. dependence on foreign oil has dropped. Yet federal policies continue to favor a “lopsided leasing policy” that puts oil drilling above other uses like conservation, recreation, and hunting and fishing.
“A total of 38 million acres of public lands (about the size of Florida) is already leased to the oil and gas industry, yet the industry continues to gain more access to our wildlands,” the report states.
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