US Congressman calls for energy exploration at monuments
Date: 28-Mar-01
Country: USA
Author: Christopher Doering
The U.S. Geological Agency (USGS), which helps estimate the country's oil and gas reserves, released a study last Friday on the fuel potential in lands designated as national monuments by former President Clinton between 1996 and this year.
Environmental groups are worried the study could help a Republican effort focused on rolling back sound policy decisions made by Clinton, and are calling for development of alternative energy sources and conservation to help meet U.S. energy needs.
The USGS was commissioned to do the study by the House Resources Committee, headed by Utah Republican and Clinton administration critic James Hansen. Hansen said the report shows the national monuments could provide energy to "indefinitely" solve what some say is a nascent U.S. energy crisis.
MONUMENTS COULD HELP U.S. ENERGY PROBLEMS
Clinton's national monument designations, some of them made at the last minute, have drawn sharp criticism from many Republicans who would like to use the sites for energy exploration and other activities such as logging.
"A foolish Clinton administration locked up these lands, under protest from Republican and Democratic Members of Congress," Hansen said in a statement he released on Friday.
Hansen added that the USGS findings of likely oil and gas resources in national monuments - including two in California - was "ironic" as that state battles a chronic shortage of electricity.
"Californians are enduring shortages and price spikes while large reserves of both oil and natural gas sit in the heart of their state," he added.
The USGS rankings were based on identifying specific rocks and environmental conditions typically found to generate petroleum. The study did not give quantitative data projecting how much oil, gas and coal reserves may exist in the monuments.
The agency's study said five of 21 national monuments were ranked as having a "high" or "moderate" likelihood of oil and gas reserves.
One of the monuments, the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument in Utah, has a "high" likelihood of deposits of clean-burning coal and coal-bed gas, the study said.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS REMAIN CONCERNED
Environmental groups, however, are worried that by undoing Clinton era measures, the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers will be giving energy companies access to areas that have much to offer besides hydrocarbon energy deposits.
Green groups say the United States should work toward establishing long-term energy solutions with renewable sources like wind, biomass, solar and geothermal energy. They also encourage the administration to develop policies promoting energy conservation.
"When we look at these lands, we need to look at all of their values other than oil, gas and coal such as archeological resources, wildlife habitats, paleontology, all kinds of recreational and scenic values," said Pamela Eaton, regional director for the Wilderness Society's office in Colorado.
"When we look at solving our energy issues, the last place we should look are places that have high values for other things like the monuments," she said.
Former President Clinton used the 1906 Antiquities Act to create nearly two dozen national monuments on existing federal lands without consulting Congress, a move that infuriated some western Republicans. The law allows the president to designate national monuments to protect objects of scientific and historic interest.
The Clinton administration declared nearly 2 million acres of land as national monuments, making them off limits to commercial development.
The USGS, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, identified the following monuments as likely containing oil, gas and coal reserves. Each also was ranked as having small, medium or large amounts of reserves.
* California Coastal National Monument - high probability of small amount of oil.
* Canyons of the Ancients (Colorado) - high probability of medium amount of oil.
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