Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumGOP Platform Proposes To Get Rid Of National Parks And National Forests
Disposal of national parks, wilderness, forests, and other public lands is not the only way the GOP platform addresses conservation issues. Delegates also approved an amendment aimed at curbing the Antiquities Act of 1906, a law which has protected national monuments ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the Grand Canyon. The amendment requires the approval of the state where the national monument is designated or a national park is proposed, which would severely limit the Presidents ability to protect at-risk places.
The delegates also passed language specifying that the Republican Party believes that the sage grouse, prairie chicken, and the gray wolf should be exempt from the protections of the Endangered Species Act. This not only gets into the weeds of local issues, but cuts corners in scientific species and conservation management regulations.
Party delegates will vote to adopt the draft document at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/15/3798652/gop-platform-national-parks/
UnFettered
(79 posts)In things like this leave me
calimary
(80,693 posts)This pisses me off royally, too. That's ALL our heritage, not just that of the oil companies!
RKP5637
(67,030 posts)recklessness and STUPIDITY!
Wanna join STUPID, join the GOP, the epicenter of stupidity in the US!
Motley13
(3,867 posts)nt
bucolic_frolic
(42,660 posts)Timber, Baby, Timber
Mine, Baby, Mine
Coal, Baby, Coal
Copper, Baby, Copper
Gold, Baby, Gold
Silver, Baby, Silver
McMansions, Baby, McMansions
Hotels, Baby, Hotels
That last one give a hint why Trump is the nominee?
barbtries
(28,702 posts)not only to defeat trump, but to unseat enough republicans to actually effect some good for a change.
gawd i hate republicans.
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)hamsterjill
(15,214 posts)I never get a straight answer. This breaks my heart:
"The delegates also passed language specifying that the Republican Party believes that the sage grouse, prairie chicken, and the gray wolf should be exempt from the protections of the Endangered Species Act. This not only gets into the weeds of local issues, but cuts corners in scientific species and conservation management regulations."
klook
(12,134 posts)as well as those of other wannabe Ben Cartwrights.
red dog 1
(27,647 posts)These bastards are going to try to steal this election, using proven electronic voting machine tampering methods to "flip" votes from Democratic candidates to Republicans.
This cannot be allowed to happen again!
DemoTex
(25,370 posts)[url=https://flic.kr/p/Ddwvs2][img][/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Ddwvs2]
Get the doziers in. Knock down the flora. Put up a magnificent Ritz-Carlton resort. Build a runway capable of handling a business jet. Gate-out the riffraff. Make a fortune!
Photo by DemoTex
Toroweap - North Rim
Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona
2015
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)Why oh why are there always residents in places we want for OURselves??
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Motley13
(3,867 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)Some people dont like public land. They say it should be taken back by private owners. They fail to note that federal open space in the West was always public land. After the Native Americans, it belonged to the federal government. Following a 40-year frenzy of free giveaways under the Homestead Act, colored by colossal fraud, Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Teddy Roosevelt set aside some of the remaining federal land as national forests.
Proposals to transfer land from federal stewardship to state or county governments are thinly disguised attempts to facilitate private ownership or unfettered development by extraction industries.
The principal organization pushing for liquidation of federal public land is the American Legislative Exchange Council, receiving 98 percent of its funding from large corporations like Exxon Mobil, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.
Those who prefer more private land and freer reins on development have a lot of America to choose from. Even in my rural county in Oregon, where more than half the land is public, the private land that remains would accommodate many times todays total population under current zoning.
Nationwide, two-thirds of all the land is private. If the grand open and public spaces of Wyoming or Oregon are not your cup of tea, then maybe the private expanses of Illinois, New Jersey, or any one of 38 states with nominal public land would be a better fit.
The national forests, along with other federal property, are the birthright and heritage of every American, now and yet to come.
Those who want to dismantle this extraordinary estate and take it for their own fail to recognize that this land serves us all. They fail to recognize that when they talk about taking our federal land away, theyre talking about taking my land away from me, and away from every single one of us
ThoughtCriminal
(14,009 posts)Who complain that the the Federal Government (aka Obama) won't let them ride their noisy, stinky, land destroying machines anywhere they damn well please. It's getting hard to find places where I don't have to listen to those obnoxious engines as they blast through trails at unsafe speeds. Never mind thousands of miles of BLM/national Forest land where they can ride anytime for free - they can't stand it that there are vehicle restricted trails and areas.
These imbeciles think that if the land was privatized, all the restrictions would be lifted and they could go anywhere. Never occurs to them and they seem to be unable to comprehend that all they would see is fences and "No Trespassing" signs.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)They don't realize the "people" ain't THEM.
And these are the people who accuse US of being "useful idiots".
pamela
(3,469 posts)That probably seems superficial, compared to things like war, the economy, etc., but the National Parks and federal lands are my favorite part of America. I absolutely believe they are "America's best idea."
Beartracks
(12,761 posts)But states' track records of public land ownership show a heavy tilt towards timber and energy extraction, NOT conservation and preservation.
Check out The Disappearing West:
https://www.disappearingwest.org/
Divesting Federal public lands -- even to States where it is still purportedly "public" -- is just another give-away to corporate interests. Not really a surprise, given that this plank is in the REPUBLICAN platform.
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