We basically knew that the Trump administration was going to attack precious preserved wilderness in the United States when they said they were going to "review" a number of national monuments. That they would do so was undeniable, but the scale of their attack was unknown. Now we have a better idea. And it's looking bad.
In addition to reviving the idea of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, now Zinke has acquiesced to the pressure put on the Administration by vested interests in Utah -- but Native Americans don't appear to be one of those interests. They've announced that they're going to scale back the recently established Bears Ears National Monument, and by "scaling back" they really mean reduce it to a much diminished, nearly unrecognizable status.
Who cares if they are important Native American heritage sites all over the place in Bears Ears? Particularly, why would they care? Instead, they are listening to the opinions of gnarly old white guy Orrin Hatch and all the business interests that stuff money in his back pocket and his campaign coffers. Sickening.
Well, read the story, and try not to choke on the sheer audacity of it.
Trump's 'Review' Of Utah Monument Was Over Before It Started
"There is no legal precedent that establishes the president’s authority to abolish, shrink or otherwise weaken national monuments. Congress, not the president, has sole legal power to rescind or weaken protections for monuments designated under the Antiquities Act, four legal scholars concluded in June. Area tribes and other groups have vowed to sue if and when Trump makes an official announcement.
Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, did not mince words about Trump’s looming decision on Bears Ears: “It should be clear this ‘review’ was a sham designed to let rich companies get richer off our public lands and settle grudges against Presidents Obama and Clinton,” he said in a statement Friday."
So it goes.
