What price?

I am a bit late on this post but I wanted to say something anyway.

In October during our float down Desolation Canyon we drove out to the put in late at night and ended up getting lost in a maze of roads and oil wells. There has always been oil wells in in this area as long as I can remember, but now it looks like a city with all of the new development. The first night on the river we camped at mile 20 on a broad low water beach (see the picture at the top of the page). After we had unpacked and cooked dinner I kept thinking I was hearing a motor, maybe a distant plane or somebody with a motor on their raft? It was faint enough that I thought I was just hearing things. The next morning I woke up and could still hear it, an annoying little hum. That's when I realized what it was--oil wells just on top of the rim ,out of sight , but not quite out of hearing range.

As the end of the Bush era draws to a close, no less than 4 major BLM plans were signed or will be signed in the last few months of the administration, and with the chants of "Drill baby Drill" ringing out of the Republican National Convention it is no surprise that more emphasis would be put on producing domestic energy. However, when maps came out in November of parcels that were going to be auctioned off (some actually requiring drilling through Moab's aquifer, private property and others adjacent to Arches, Canyonlands and Dinosaur National Parks, and many other wilderness quality lands--see maps below) it caused quite a stir.

Obama's transistion staff actually mentioned the leasing a few days after the election. Problem is once they are leased there is not a lot a new administration can do about it.

As usual the hyperbole was in full tilt from both sides (the invite I received to a public meeting showed a drill rig on top of Delicate Arch). To be fair to BLM there are many more restrictions in place in the new plan then there has been in past plans and in recent weeks they have "deffered" a number of the very contoversial parcels.

Most people probably think that they own the property they live on, but you normally only own the surface rights. It is very rare for private property to include what lies below the surface- the mineral rights. Which is how you end up with leases in neighborhoods (see Parcel 225). The oil companies generally can't move in a put an oil well in your back yard but maybe your neighbors are willing to let them put it in their backyard.

I am not opposed to wisely using our resources and domestically producing some of what we consume, but as a society what are we willing to sacrifice to produce what would feed our consumption for a couple of days? Are people ok with hearing the constant whine of motors in some of our most remote wild country, are we willing to risk our drinking water sources?

I hope we are not that desperate.

Not that I am a fan of golfing but come on.