New Environmental Manifesto “A Blue Print For Disaster”

U.S. Rep. Don Young

Washington, D.C. – Hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs would be lost and more than 60 billion barrels of domestic oil would be locked up if the incoming Obama Administration accepts a new environmental manifesto released by the national environmental community, U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) said today.

Young, the Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee, was critical of “the anti-job and anti-energy manifesto” approved by the environmental community as their agenda demands for President-elect Obama.

“This 391-page wish list from the national environmental organizations focuses primarily on permanently locking up U.S. domestic energy supplies, forfeiting hundreds of thousands of new American jobs, and abusing the court system to bypassing Congress in order to achieve unpopular and extreme environmental policies,” Young said.

“This report is nothing more than a blueprint for disaster. It proves once again that these so-called environmental organizations simply don’t understand or care what the American people need in these troubling times – economic certainty.

“This extreme blueprint hits energy consumers during a time of need. It will make it increasingly harder to build transmission for all forms of electricity and fails to protect and promote clean, renewable and affordable emissions free hydropower.

“President-elect Obama has rightly focused on turning our economy around, and he should reject these poorly-conceived environmental demands as an economy killer.

America’s Ailing Economy Would Lose Hundreds Of Thousands of New Jobs & Billions In Federal Revenues

“This agenda would permanently lock up 45 billion barrels of oil in Alaska and 18 billion barrels off the outer continental shelf of the Lower 48.

“A Wharton Economic Forecasting study estimated that developing ANWR’s 10.4 billion barrels would create 735,000 new American jobs. Expanded OCS energy production would further increase the number of new jobs throughout the nation.

Second Coming Of “The War On The West”

“Instead of accepting all these demands, I’m hopeful that President-elect Obama and his Cabinet will exercise common sense and respect for State sovereignty, property rights, and wise use of public lands.

“However, I’m extremely concerned that these environmental groups are commencing another ‘War on the West’ and relying on central planners in Washington, D.C.,to determine what lifestyles those who live in the ‘federal lands’ states may be allowed to pursue.

“Being from the West and having worked on these issues for 35 years, I can clearly see that under this environmental manifesto, we will clearly suffer from several specific ramifications from this plan – higher energy prices, less domestic energy production, more forests burning, lost jobs, more dependence on metals and minerals from foreign countries, and higher power rates for consumers.”

Using Lawsuits To Bypass Congress

The environmental manifesto states: “The new Administration should immediately begin a review of ongoing litigation and seek to settle cases in those instances where it believes that its interpretation of the law is similar to that of a given set of plaintiffs.”

“What they’re saying is the Obama Administration should immediately surrender on all federal cases where the environmentalists are losing, or may lose, to achieve their means,” Young said. “This would set a new precend of establishing new law through court settlements.

“These environmental groups wish to use litigation and forum shop for like-minded judges to thwart the will of Congress and the people. While claiming they want to use sound science in the decision-making process, environmentalists want to do just the opposite – the only science acceptable to them is when it is biased to reflect their political agenda. The ‘spotted owl’ and ‘lynx’ fiascos are just a couple examples of how environmentalists are willing to twist and sometimes falsify ‘science’ to attain their ends.

“In addition, the combine of groups that drafted this agenda includes a number of groups which have taken environmental litigation to a new level. This wave of litigation by environmental groups has tied agencies hands and diverted the regulatory agencies from addressing environmental problems and focusing scant resources on preparing for lawsuits and trials.

“This was true during the Clinton Administration as well when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) stopped listing new species on the Endangered Species Act endangered list due to litigation over critical habitat designations.

Forcing Federal Government To Take Advantage Of Financially Strapped Land Owners

In their report, the environmentalist highlight the opportunity to take advantage of land owners due to the ailing economy and housing market: “The recent economic downturn has also led to a spike in willing sellers during a time when home and land equity is comparatively low. Though not an ideal situation for private land owners nationwide, these factors present an opportunity for the land management agencies to acquire previously unavailable tracts of land for less money than in previous years.”

“Basically, the national environmental organizations are saying now that Americans are hurting and having financial problems the government should jump in and take their lands,” Young said. “This is the kind direct assault on our constituents and the people of the West that we were expecting.

“This environmental scheme to take advantage of financially strapped land owners is appalling. Yet, these environmentalists instead label it ‘an opportunity’.”

For more information, access the Committee on Natural Resources’ Minority website at:

http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/default.aspx