Statement of Rodger Schlickeisen, President, Defenders of Wildlife on President Bush's Energy Plan

(05/17/2001) - With regard to the President’s energy plan’s implications for public lands, I think former Interior Secretary James Watt said it best when he recently noted that this is essentially the same proposals he made 20 years ago. In that sense, nothing much has changed. The oil and coal interests want to raid the public lands to increase their profits, and their supporters are trying to help them do so, using whatever arguments are available. John Kennedy once warned that "each generation must deal anew with the raiders, with the scramble to use public resources for private profits...." Now it is this generation’s turn. But unfortunately this time the raiders who want to weaken the laws that protect our federal public lands have powerful allies in the White House and the federal agencies, especially the Department of the Interior.

The President’s plan includes as one of its chief features proposals that would result in a massive opening of the public lands to oil and gas exploration and development.

It calls again for drilling in the biological heart of our most magnificent wildlife sanctuary, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something that former president Jimmy Carter just today said would be an environmental atrocity.

But his plans extend well beyond the Arctic Refuge, to the point of proposing that his pro-exploitation Interior Secretary study all the lands for development potential, and that any "impediments" that discourage oil and gas development on our public lands be eliminated. Besides Alaska, he seems particularly interested in federal lands in the Rocky Mountains. And he proposes taking administrative action to overturn the existing processes for deciding when and where to exploit the public lands for oil and gas, so that he can expedite the approval process for energy projects. There is no "balance" in this kind of proposal.

The fact is that there is essentially nothing in the President’s plan, including his proposal to exploit the public lands, that would do anything meaningful to help solve current energy problems. They acknowledge that they are dealing with the long-term future. Why then - if it is not just an excuse to favor the oil and gas industry - is there a need to short-circuit the laws that have been put in place to protect our public lands from the special raiders and unnecessary and unsustainable exploitation?

The fact is that the vast majority of our public lands are already open to energy development, particularly in the places where oil and gas are most likely to be found. For example, on BLM lands in the five key states in the Overthrust Belt of the Rocky Mountains, about 110 million acres are available for leasing, while only about 5 million are not. The special interests have access to 95% of the energy-rich areas, but they want it all. If industry wants to argue that some of the small amount of remaining restricted land is needed - say for natural gas development - then their arguments can and should be examined in the normal way.

The additional fact is that new development activities are already taking place on BLM lands in response to the upward spike in energy prices, and that existing laws and regulations are not impeding worthwhile projects. BLM reports, for example, that in 2000 there were 3,496 applications for permits to drill that were approved, versus 1,923 in 1999.

The further fact is that even if we exploited ALL of the oil and gas reserves in the public lands - not just the reserves that can be sustainably exploited - it would not solve our energy problems. We would not be measurably less dependent upon foreign oil, and the extra exploitation would not have a measurable impact on gasoline prices. The Bush Administration wants to exploit the roadless areas of our national forests in six Rocky Mountain states, but those areas are believed to contain only 0.4% of the total U.S. oil resources and only 0.6% of total U.S. gas resources.

These realities and facts relating to energy and the public lands are being lost in the White House’s political rush to assist its friends in the oil and gas industry. The public lands are more than chunks of ordinary real estate. They are a part of our shared heritage that this generation must now once again fight to protect against the special interest raiders. Earlier generations have had to fight the same battles. As the President’s energy plan makes clear, none of the victories to preserve them can guarantee permanent protection – there’s always another raider in industry, in Congress, or in the White House. So the attempted raids persist. This is only the latest example.

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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading non-profit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 440,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.

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Contact(s):

Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270