I was happy yesterday to learn that Emmanuel Macron was the new President-elect of France, even though the young man was born three years after I graduated from high school, and while I was still in college...
I missed the first hour of the JFK Profiles in Courage Award presentation last night, but Caroline Kennedy's speech made me laugh and cry. Then her son, Jack Schlossberg, made me cry. And, finally, President Obama made me laugh and cry. I don't know about the first half of the program, but the last hour was truly incredible and extremely moving. I want to thank everyone involved in that presentation.
The count of new foals on the southern end of Assateague reached 28 Sunday. And each and every foal is remarkably good-looking. One little girl is a little over at the knees, but I'm pretty certain that will straighten out... And it looks like Surf Queen is pregnant this year. After the death of Surfer Dude, and the birth of Surfer Princess, she did not have a 2016 foal. I'm glad she took at least one year off from reproducing. The thing is, she was running around with almost every stallion on the north end last summer and fall, and then was leading an all girl gang - so who's the daddy? She is currently with Hoppy...
Forty-five and his cronies had a little beer party celebration in the White House Rose Garden to celebrate the House of Representatives passing of a "new health care bill" by three (3 !) votes. Has America forgotten that the bill now has to go to the Senate for voting, and then to the joint committees, and then back to the House, and again to the Senate, for approval before the tangerine tyrant can sign it into law? What the heck were they celebrating? It's something that would equal the weight of a mosquito - and it's just as squashable.
The orange and yellow pricktator spoke in New York City Friday and was greeted with thousands of protesters. He didn't even visit his wife or youngest son. He stayed the weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, and tweeted that it was "saving the country money." If he'd stayed in the White House, it would have cost a hell of a lot less, but it was $1.5 million less than a trip to Florida...
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has spent the weekend visiting two National Monuments in Utah - Bears Ears and the Grand Stairway-Escalante - to decide on whether or not he'll recommend to rescind the National Monument protection for those two areas. There is an very rich and large coal deposit in the middle of Grand Staircase- Escalante; and there are multiple oil and natural gas deposits inside Bears Ears. I bet he'll advocate for mining and drilling - raping the earth, instead of preserving it.
I am looking forward to Sally Yates testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee this morning about her visit to the White House regarding ex-staffer Michael Flynn. I hope to hear new and impeachable things from the previous Attorney General.
I had thought that the antics of the family members of 45 could no longer surprise me - but learning that a few weeks ago, and this weekend too, of the Kushner family's presentations to monied peoples of Beijing, China and Shanghai threw me for a loop. If any of these people with a great deal of money invested in the Kushner real estate businesses in those cities, they could get a special visa (an EB-5) to come to America. Of course, one must invest $500,000 for each visa received. To me, that smacks of buying the right to a visa - not applying for one.
And, finally, it was announced last night that the new Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt, has decided to replace half of the current members of the 18 member Board of Scientific Counselors, which advises EPA's scientific arm on whether the research it does has sufficient rigor and upstanding integrity. All of the members being dismissed are at the end of serving at least one three-year term, although these are often renewed and not terminated. And all of those being dismissed had been told in February that their terms would be renewed. Pruitt says that this is to ensure "a clean break with the Obama administration." The Republican party and the Koch brothers are trying their best to kill Mother Earth - and she is not replaceable.
Showing posts with label national monuments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national monuments. Show all posts
Monday, May 8, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Reviews of United States National Monuments
As a person, and as an American, I love our park system - local, state, and national. Along with National Parks, there are National Seashores, National Forests, National Marine Reserve area, and National Monuments. All areas designated as National property are protected from being sold, from development, from mining, from drilling, from having the bones of the earth removed, defaced, or desecrated. Many National Monuments contain sites that are sacred to Native Americans, and, at times, multiple tribes and peoples have worked together to produce an agreement regarding the saving of ancient grounds.
Most areas of land east of the Mississippi River in our country are heavily inhabited and developed and there is very little space left that can be saved and preserved, as it is now, or as it was in the past. This is not true of the western part of the United States. The west still has wide open spaces, where the land is not good for intensive farming, where there are deserts and mountains where one cannot produce enough food to feed oneself. There are many amazing things that can be seen - the geysers of Yellowstone Park, the tremendous height of the Rocky Mountains, ancient Native American rock art and petroglyphs, cave systems, coral reefs, and many other delights for the eye and mind.
Yesterday, the circus peanut signed an executive order to allow national monument designations to be completely rescinded or to reduce the size of these sites, in order to allow the federal government to open those lands for oil and gas drilling, for mining, and for other types of development. This order is an effort to reverse environmental protections from three previous Presidents that the current administration claims is hobbling economic growth.
This executive order will allow 45's appointed Secretary of the Interior, Zinke, to pick and choose where he feels the government can make a profit from the land. Industry is cheering this order, but conservationists are outraged.
The Antiquities Act was passed by Congress in 1906 and gives the sitting President the authority to create National Monuments from federal lands in order to protect and save significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. There is no wording in the Act regarding rescinding a previous designation. So far in our history no President has ever rescinded a national monument designation. (However, in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson did reduce the acreage in the Mount Olympus National Monument, arguing that the United States was in need of the timber.) Many legal actions by environmental groups are anticipated to fight this executive order.
In announcing this order, the tangerine tyrant stated that President Obama's use of the 1906 Antiquities Act to create national monuments was an "egregious abuse of federal power" that allowed the federal government to "lock up" millions of acres of land and water. "Today we're putting the states back in charge," he said. He also added that each state should decide which land is protected and which is open for development.
Federally owned land is overseen by five agencies - the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Department of Defense. (The DoD owns 11.4 million acres.) The United States government owns only 4% of the land east of the Mississippi, but, overall, it owns 27.9% of land in the United States. The states with the least amount of federal land are Connecticut and Iowa (0.03 %) and Kansas with 0.05 %. The federal government owns 9.9 % of Virginia. Out west, the federal government owns 85 % of Nevada, 69 % of Alaska, 57 % of Utah, 52 % of Oregon, 45 % of California, and 35.9 % of Colorado.
The executive order signed yesterday is aimed specifically at 24 National Monuments created since January of 1996 that are larger than 100,000 acres in size. The three Presidents who designated these monuments were Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Eyes are trained on the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in Utah that has a large vein of high-grade coal running through it, and the Bears Ears National Monument, also in Utah, for which five Native American tribes worked together to have the plans approved. Bears Ears is a site that has drawn intense interest from oil companies who wish to drill there.
Here is a listing of the twenty four National Monuments targeted by 45 and his plunder-monkey minions:
1. Grand Staircase - Escalante in Utah
2. Grand Canyon - Parashant in Arizona
3. Grand Sequoia in California
4. Vermillion Cliffs in Arizona
5. Handford Reach in Washington
6. Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado
7. Ironwood Forest in Arizona
8. Sonoran Desert in Arizona
9. Upper Missouri River Breaks in Montana
10. Carrizo Plain in California
11. Papahanaumokuakea Marine in Pacific Ocean
12. Marianas Trench Marine in Pacific Ocean
13. Pacific Remote Islands Marine in Pacific Ocean
14. Rose Atoll Marine in American Samoa
15. Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico
16. Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks in New Mexico
17. Basin and Range in Nevada
18. Berryessa Snow Mountain in California
19. Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine in Atlantic Ocean
20. Mojave Trail in California
21. Bears Ears in Colorado
22. Gold Butte in Nevada
23. Sand to Snow in California
24. San Gabriel Mountains in Cakifornia
Most areas of land east of the Mississippi River in our country are heavily inhabited and developed and there is very little space left that can be saved and preserved, as it is now, or as it was in the past. This is not true of the western part of the United States. The west still has wide open spaces, where the land is not good for intensive farming, where there are deserts and mountains where one cannot produce enough food to feed oneself. There are many amazing things that can be seen - the geysers of Yellowstone Park, the tremendous height of the Rocky Mountains, ancient Native American rock art and petroglyphs, cave systems, coral reefs, and many other delights for the eye and mind.
Yesterday, the circus peanut signed an executive order to allow national monument designations to be completely rescinded or to reduce the size of these sites, in order to allow the federal government to open those lands for oil and gas drilling, for mining, and for other types of development. This order is an effort to reverse environmental protections from three previous Presidents that the current administration claims is hobbling economic growth.
This executive order will allow 45's appointed Secretary of the Interior, Zinke, to pick and choose where he feels the government can make a profit from the land. Industry is cheering this order, but conservationists are outraged.
The Antiquities Act was passed by Congress in 1906 and gives the sitting President the authority to create National Monuments from federal lands in order to protect and save significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. There is no wording in the Act regarding rescinding a previous designation. So far in our history no President has ever rescinded a national monument designation. (However, in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson did reduce the acreage in the Mount Olympus National Monument, arguing that the United States was in need of the timber.) Many legal actions by environmental groups are anticipated to fight this executive order.
In announcing this order, the tangerine tyrant stated that President Obama's use of the 1906 Antiquities Act to create national monuments was an "egregious abuse of federal power" that allowed the federal government to "lock up" millions of acres of land and water. "Today we're putting the states back in charge," he said. He also added that each state should decide which land is protected and which is open for development.
Federally owned land is overseen by five agencies - the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Department of Defense. (The DoD owns 11.4 million acres.) The United States government owns only 4% of the land east of the Mississippi, but, overall, it owns 27.9% of land in the United States. The states with the least amount of federal land are Connecticut and Iowa (0.03 %) and Kansas with 0.05 %. The federal government owns 9.9 % of Virginia. Out west, the federal government owns 85 % of Nevada, 69 % of Alaska, 57 % of Utah, 52 % of Oregon, 45 % of California, and 35.9 % of Colorado.
The executive order signed yesterday is aimed specifically at 24 National Monuments created since January of 1996 that are larger than 100,000 acres in size. The three Presidents who designated these monuments were Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Eyes are trained on the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in Utah that has a large vein of high-grade coal running through it, and the Bears Ears National Monument, also in Utah, for which five Native American tribes worked together to have the plans approved. Bears Ears is a site that has drawn intense interest from oil companies who wish to drill there.
Here is a listing of the twenty four National Monuments targeted by 45 and his plunder-monkey minions:
1. Grand Staircase - Escalante in Utah
2. Grand Canyon - Parashant in Arizona
3. Grand Sequoia in California
4. Vermillion Cliffs in Arizona
5. Handford Reach in Washington
6. Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado
7. Ironwood Forest in Arizona
8. Sonoran Desert in Arizona
9. Upper Missouri River Breaks in Montana
10. Carrizo Plain in California
11. Papahanaumokuakea Marine in Pacific Ocean
12. Marianas Trench Marine in Pacific Ocean
13. Pacific Remote Islands Marine in Pacific Ocean
14. Rose Atoll Marine in American Samoa
15. Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico
16. Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks in New Mexico
17. Basin and Range in Nevada
18. Berryessa Snow Mountain in California
19. Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine in Atlantic Ocean
20. Mojave Trail in California
21. Bears Ears in Colorado
22. Gold Butte in Nevada
23. Sand to Snow in California
24. San Gabriel Mountains in Cakifornia
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