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Nathaniel Hutch of Denver writes:

In Reference to Bill Scanlon’s Article “DeGette Unveils Plan to Designate 1.6 Million Acres as Wilderness" Scanlon quotes Meg Collins, President of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, as saying it would be “troubling” if the wilderness that Representative Diana DeGettes’s plan would designate were to include areas “having great potential to extract oil and gas I a way that doesn’t hurt the land.” What seems more troubling to me is the prospect of continuing battles with the Oil and Gas Industry over what will or will not hurt the land. Given the Bush Administration’s constant pressure to open more and more National Parks to drilling, such battles seem likely to end in victory for Oil and Gas companies which, as usual, will probably get what they desire.
Who after all, is to decide what it means to hurt the land? If we are to judge by past experience of the Bush Administration’s attitude toward corporate regulation, we can only assume that it is the Oil and Gas companies themselves who will decide.
Coloradians will therefore be left to trust our state’s awesome and irreplaceable natural beauty to companies who can only see anything that in anyway adversely affects their bottom lines as “troubling”

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

With all the "animals" and urchins living in the Civic Center, let her start by designating that as "wilderness."

Awww yes, the evil power and gas companies trying to find local sources of oil and gas.... as the OP types away on his pc, unaware that it is powered by the same natural gas that he decries. Aww yes, but in his case, he can use resources, just not you. YOU should conserve! Darnit and not worry about where the magical fuel comes from. It will be there and we won't have to drill on our land and magical fairies will make things okey dokey.

Nimbyhood at it's finest.

Why are some people so focused on using up all the natural resources in our country first? Why not use all we can from other countries while we can and save the resources here for when we truly need them?

Even if we mined and drilled every inch of available land and seabed, I seriously doubt that we will be "energy independent".

Diana DeGette is almost as stupid as Pat Schroeder was and just as ugly. They should take her out in the wilderness she worships and drill a hole in her head(It's called a lobotomy) and let some of that foul air or gas out and hopefully she will get a clue.

Too bad that mug of hers is going to take a bit more surgery.

Not Hank: Following your logic is why we're fighting a war in Iraq you vehemently disagree with.

And just how do you know anything about what I agree or disagree with?

At least you have the spine to admit that this war is about oil--regardless of whether it is just or not.

Now, 3:02, why are you a member of the rape America first crowd?

So Nathaniel and "Not Hank" 2:25, exactly where are we supposed to get the resources that our citizens use currently to heat their homes and fuel their cars?

Why don't we use Nuclear power for lighting our homes, businesses and highways, oh wait, all of the greenie nuts won't have that.
How about more dams on rivers for hydro electric power? More greenie obstructionists.
Drilling off the gulf of mexico coast and the pacific? More greenie obstructions.
Drilling on the Roan for natural gas? Oh yeah Tax Ritter had a "vision". (if Republican had said that, the outcry over separation would be deafening - story for another day)
Drilling in ANWR? more obstructions.

How about the wind turbine project that was or is being nixed in the Cape Cod/Nantucket sound area because the likes of Robert F.Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry could not have that eyesore there behind their second and third homes? NIMBYism at its best.
Why in the world do we limit these functions when alot of our energy needs are coming from countries that are our enemies?
We cannot even use our coal reserves to the extent they are because of some grandiose "theory" called "global warming" by some of the very same characters listed above! They are only for global warming solutions that do not affect themselves or their own lifestyles. Hypocrisy.

They want energy independance yet they don't want any of the solutions currently availbale to work towards that. Why is that Hank and Nathaniel?

Never mind the fact that the earth has heated and cooled itself for many millions of years prior to our arrival, yet we humans and more specifically US citizens are being blamed and eventually will be taxed for this "fact".
How then do you suggest this country become energy independent if we don't at least do some of these things? Instead democrats by and large are the first to halt most of these projects or ideas due to environmental concerns. Yet they are the ones screaming the loudest about wanting and needing energy independance.

I like Not Hank's logic. We should continue to buy foreign oil and keep America beautiful, and bountiful.

"I like Not Hank's logic. We should continue to buy foreign oil and keep America beautiful, and bountiful."

Of course...blood's cheaper than oil; and it's a biologically renewable source.

You tree huggers are a pathetic mix of environmental advocates, war haters and war mongers all tied up in one ball of slime.

I want a pc that runs on natural gas. I live in bean country.

Dianna DeGoat's idea of a wilderness is a party without a five-star caterer. If we could harness her hot air, we could power a number of homes for years.

the only wilderness diane degette knows about is the wilderness between her ears.

Wilderness is nice in some areas, but access is nice too.
Look folks it is not that complicated; if you want to hike an area 2/MPH +/- a little bit is all you can do. That means if you want to actually do something like hunt or fish, hiking 3 hrs to fish for 3 hrs to hike 3hrs limits you at max to a day trip. That is 6 mi max. An overnight trip somewhat furtther, but the point is most of wilderness area is essencially off-limits. The purpose of locking up land is what?

GG

Hey Diana, why stop there? Let's put everything out of bounds, give it all back to the Indians and move back to Old Europe. Better yet, let's have all of humanity move back into Jurassic Park. We can all become environmentally correct cave-men until one of us screws things up by inventing the wheel and discovers how to use fire. Then we can start all over again.

P. S. Just watch Diana start screaming as soon as she and Ritter and Salazar realize that putting the Vermillion and Roan "out of bounds" also put the very tax receipts "out of bounds" that could have funded some of their cancelled moonbat socialist programs.

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