Bush Tries to Kickstart U.S. Oil Shale Development

WASHINGTON, DC – The Bush administration finalized regulations to govern the commercial development of oil shale on federal lands on Monday, rebuffing concerns that the rules are premature and ignoring the serious environmental concerns about tapping the resource.

Administration officials said investors keen to unlock the nation’s vast oil shale resources need “rules of the road” even though the technology is still not commercially viable.

The rules, announced by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, provide the regulatory framework for commercial oil shale development, including royalty rates and lease sizes.

Bush, Sr., reaped huge profits from Native and federal land scams

“President George H. W. Bush, is reaping windfall profits from the transfer of title of public federal and state lands to private hands. The elder Bush, according to our sources, has a vested financial interest in land title companies that specialize in the transfer of public lands to private interests.
“The land-grabbing scheme primarily involves the transfer of federal lands, including Native American lands and national forest system lands, in the Rocky Mountain West, state lands in Texas, and both federal and state lands in California, Mississippi, and Florida to private entities. The scheme is also at the center of the scandal surrounding jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff who conspired to privatize federal lands and assets around the country to benefit his corporate clients.
“In 2004, under pressure from Abramoff and the White House, Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jim Gibbons (R-NV) shepherded the passage of the Western Shoshone Distribution Act, which was quickly signed by President George W. Bush. The act settled federal violations of the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863 with the Shoshones and compensated them a mere $135 million for 24 million acres of Shoshone land illegally seized by the federal government in Nevada, California, Utah, and Idaho. The Shoshones cried foul, saying their land is rich in gold reserves. Gibbons, who is now governor of Nevada, instantly moved legislation to privatize the former Shoshone lands. Reid, Gibbons, and Senator John Ensign (R-NV), all received lucrative
cash contributions to their campaigns from Abramoff clients.
“WMR has also learned that the Bush administration ordered a number of California and other Western state forest wildfires purposefully set with the intention of damaging and destroying federal and state forestlands, thus making them ripe for exploitation and sale to private interests.”

Bush Violates Law Protecting Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining

The Bush administration allowed Phoenix-based Neutron Energy to stake 20 new mining claims south of the Grand Canyon on August 7, in violation of an emergency Congressional resolution passed seven weeks earlier that declared off limits to mining activity approximately 1 million acres adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park.

A new Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis of records generated by the Interior department’s Bureau of Land Management unearthed evidence of Neutron Energy’s claims, filed in defiance of a Congressional resolution aimed at protecting the Canyon and the Colorado River that flows through it from a surge of uranium mining activity sparked by uranium prices escalating in anticipation of new nuclear power plant construction.

“The Bush administration’s Grand Canyon giveaway is a direct violation of the law,” said EWG Senior Analyst for Public Lands Dusty Horwitt. “This is the environmental equivalent of a subprime mortgage on the nation’s most iconic natural treasure. Mining companies get in cheap today, and the public pays tomorrow for what is certain to be a major environmental disaster.”

EWG alerted the public and Congress to the rush for mining rights around the Grand Canyon in an August 2007 report called Mining Law Threatens Grand Canyon, other Natural Treasures. This week’s updated analysis by EWG shows that as of October 1, 2008, speculators and mining interests have filed 8,568 mining claims in the area protected by the emergency resolution, compared to 110 claims in January 2003.

Bush Withholds Salmon Disaster Money As He Pushes For Corporate Bailouts

While George W. Bush wants taxpayers to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a $700 billion blank check to bail out Wall Street for its reckless speculation and greed, the administration announced last week that it would release only $100 million of the $170 million appropriated to salmon fishermen and businesses impacted by this year’s salmon fishing closure off the California and Oregon coasts and in Central Valley rivers.

Representatives Peter DeFazio (OR-04) and Mike Thompson (CA-01), along with 10 other members of Congress, wrote to President Bush on September 19 urging him to distribute the full $170 million in disaster aid to fishermen and businesses suffering from the closure of the salmon fishing season on the West Coast caused by the collapse of the Sacramento River fall run chinook salmon population.

“Playing games with the livelihood of fishers across the Pacific Northwest is yet another sign that the Bush Administration has no commitment to protect our valuable river systems, and no interest in helping the fishing communities and economies that rely on them,” the letter stated. “It is also completely unacceptable. We insist that you comply with congressional intent and immediately release the full $170 million in federal disaster aid for Pacific Northwest fishers.”

Bush Pushes for More Police Power

In his last months, President Bush is working to ensure that his successor will have the greatly expanded power of the executive branch – unprecedented in American history – that Bush instituted after 9/11. His chief enabler in this ever-increasing surveillance of American citizens is Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking minority member Arlen Specter are aware of Mukasey’s plan for new FBI guidelines that could begin national security and criminal investigations of racial and ethnic groups without any evidence of wrongdoing. They have asked Mukasey to delay implementation until Congress can review the changes. Mukasey agreed but wants the expanded surveillance to begin Oct. 1.

Pelosi to Bush: It Is Essential That You Speak Out for Human Rights During Visit to China for the Olympics

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter today to President Bush, ahead of his trip to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, urging him to make human rights and freedom of the press in China top priorities of his visit.

Your Handy-Dandy Guide To White House Corruption

Are you confused by the tangled web of criminal indictments, subpoenas and investigations going on against the White House? The hiring and firing of Justice officials, the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, the use of persuasive torture to interrogate and wiretapping? Misleading the country and Congress into going to war? Whewwww. It isn’t easy. Luckily, Slate has an interactive Venn Diagram to help you understand the crimes and who has been implicated in each.