No drill for you! Few Bush-era energy leases are valid

By GottaLaff

Undoing the ugly, toxic BushCo stain:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday that only 17 of 77 oil and gas leases on Utah public lands that the Bush administration auctioned off in December were valid and that his agency would prevent development on the remaining parcels, at least in the near future. [...]

Environmentalists contended that the auction of drilling rights on 100,000 acres of federal land in southeastern Utah were a last-minute giveaway to the energy industry. The environmentalists won a restraining order from a federal judge halting the sales.

Salazar revoked most of the leases upon entering office and said his staff would study which were appropriate. On Thursday, he said the review found that few were.

"There was a headlong rush to leasing in the prior administration," Salazar said. "There were areas that should not have been leased." [...]

Energy groups said the findings continued a troubling trend -- a hesitancy in the Obama administration to foster American energy sources. Salazar has also reversed a Bush administration effort to open swathes of Western land to oil shale development. [...]

Environmental groups hailed the report's findings but cautioned that even if the Obama administration wanted to rebid the 17 leases it found appropriate, it would need to follow procedures laid down by the federal judge.

"The report is a resounding rejection of the 'drill here, drill now' approach of the Bush administration," said Steve Bloch of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

But remember: President Obama has no real accomplishments to speak of. Nope. None.