The only way this administration would allow fracking on fed lands is if there was no oil or gas there.
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the amazing thing here is that the feds have even allowed any test drilling to happen given how biased the feds are against oil.
for years nevadans have talked about how the ground in those counties just stinks of oil.
A lot of wells were poked in the ground in previous decades before fracking but nothing much came up.
But for one exception.
One of the biggest producing wells in US history produced in volume for more than a decade back in the 1980’s in one of those counties in Nevada. Oil people talk about how there had to be a lot more oil locked in shale— feeding that oil pool from below.
Its very very possible imho that the size of the shale oil deposits in Nevada will rival those in the eagle ford and the baaken. In that case, being owners of the land — some serious revenues would accrue to federal accounts.
Agree with the note above that Las Vegas is trying to do a water grab for water under upstate counties similar to what Los Angeles did 100 years ago to Owens Valley. imho it would be wiser for 6 southwestern states to lobby the feds to pipe spring (March-June) flood Mississippi river water over the south pass in Wyoming. That would lower the Mississippi by 10 feet, prevent flooding and inundate the southwest with new water.
It doesn’t look like either water or oil have much to do with the Rancher issue. That just looks like the BLM being the BLM. That is, a bunch of knuckleheads. If the rationale for the whole deal is the tortoise—then the tortoise needs to go. Its just impossible that tortoises and cows can’t be friends or inhabit the same ground.
I will further state that there are two mentalities at work here: One conservative and old school and the other Liberal and Green.
The conservative/old school view is that pioneers, ranchers, farmers, factory workers, surburbanites, are the backbone of America and we should always cherish their hard work and pioneering spirit. In other words, these are the people that MADE our country great. We owe them.
But the other mentality is one of progressivism where anything human is bad, and any thing Anglo-Saxon, White, American is especially bad. That needs to be nipped n the bud! A turtle, a fly, a baitfish, whatever; all are more important than some old white racist land stealer Gaia destroyer.
“It doesn’t look like either water or oil have much to do with the Rancher issue. That just looks like the BLM being the BLM. That is, a bunch of knuckleheads. If the rationale for the whole deal is the tortoise—then the tortoise needs to go. Its just impossible that tortoises and cows can’t be friends or inhabit the same ground.”
Agree. This ranchers family has been running cattle on this piece of land for almost 100 years. And, the turtles are still there, seem to be thriving in fact. If this standoff gets out of hand and shooting starts, then this is what Obama and Holder will be spending their time on for the rest of Obama’s term.