State Rep. Carl Wimmer (R) of the PatrickHenryCaucus.com (Utah Legislature) on the bills that Gov. Herbert has signed seizing federal lands. I do believe that America is now awake.
Salt Lake City – Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert has signed two bills authorizing the state to use eminent domain to seize some of the federal government’s most valuable land.
Supporters hope the bills, which the Republican governor signed Saturday, will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West and, eventually, a Supreme Court battle that they hope to win — against long odds.
More than 60% of Utah is owned by the U.S. government, and policymakers complain that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools. Governments use eminent domain to take private property for public use.
March 31 (Bloomberg) — Kit Juckes, chief economist at ECU Group Plc, talks with Bloomberg’s Linzie Janis about the outlook for Ireland’s banks after the government set out plans to revive the country’s financial system.
Ireland is right behind Greece and Spain, and even though they have instituted an ‘Austerity Package’, it was on the ‘backend’ of a ever worsening economy.
“If doing the right thing is this bad, how difficult could it be elsewhere?”
Excuse me if I am skeptical about Obama’s motivations for changing his mind about drilling off shore. Making peace with the republicans isn’t on the list since this news was released a couple of days after Bahana comes back from a secret trip to the Middle East Afghanistan. How are your math skills? Wouldn’t we all like to know what is really going on with the shadow players…
(Reuters) – The Obama administration is expected to announce by Wednesday its updated plan for oil and natural gas drilling in U.S. waters, including whether to allow exploration for the first time along the U.S. East Coast.
The plan could pave the way for a significant new domestic source of energy, helping to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports and boost supplies of natural gas used to displace coal in power plants as the country works to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.
Last month, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he wanted to release the updated drilling plan by the end of March.
Two industry sources said on Monday President Barack Obama was expected to give a speech about energy security on Wednesday, which could include his views on expansion of offshore drilling.
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But Obama, who wants Congress to move a stalled climate change bill, has sought to reach out to Republicans by signaling he is open to allowing offshore drilling, providing coastlines are protected.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the U.S. Atlantic coast waters may hold 37 trillion cubic feet of gas and nearly 4 billion barrels of oil, while the Pacific Coast has 10.5 billion barrels of oil and 18 trillion cubic feet of gas.
To put that in context, the United States imports about 2 billion barrels of oil a year from OPEC nations and is expected to import 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from all sources this year, according to the Energy Department.
Obama on the campaign trail, 6.26.2008: “In Washington speak, what that means is that it polls well.”
And just for fun – ‘Inflate your tires instead of drilling’ and more mocking of republicans.
WASHINGTON (AP) – In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia’s shorelines. At the same time, he is rejecting some new drilling sites that had been planned in Alaska.
Obama’s plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nation’s shores. Hinted at for months, the plan modifies a ban that for more than 20 years has limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.
