The Obama administration's about-face on a policy that would allow temporary protection of pristine federally owned land is disappointing, particularly here in Colorado, where residents so clearly value wilderness. In a memo Wednesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his agency would not designate U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands as "wild lands," which would safeguard them while lawmakers mull whether to permanently protect them. The move ostensibly was due to Republican maneuvers to cut the program's funding. But surely there was more at work. In times of high gas prices, the policy could have been a political liability as President Obama sought re-election. We have to wonder whether the 180-degree turn has anything to do with wooing voters in important Western states during next year's presidential election. It would be easy for opponents to craft an ad, pointing sourly to $4-a-gallon gasoline, and accusing the Obama administration of obstructing energy development. Backtracking on the wild lands policy neutralizes that criticism, and gets rid of a pesky lawsuit. Unfortunately, it also leaves many beautiful places without protection...more
No, the Denver Post is wrong. Everything the Obama Interior Dept. does is based on "science."
I guess that includes political science.
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