LIBERTY MATTERS NEWS SERVICE
5/19/97
…and the lights went out
The New England Electric System, responding to calls to break up utility monopolies, has opened to bid 18 of it’s northeastern power generation facilities. The sale took a serious turn when the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) surfaced as one of the bidders. CLF has announced its intention to buy and completely shut down 5 of the plants – permanently! CLF is one of the largest and most influential enviro groups in the area and has promoted turning 26 million acres in the "Northern Forest" of ME, NH, VT & NY into a "depopulated nature preserve." Enough said.
Babbitt Rewriting Mining Law
Bruce Babbitt and the Bureau of Land Management were caught rewriting bonding regulations for hardrock mining operations without gathering public comments as required by federal law. Laura Skaer of the Northwest Mining Company (NMC) said Babbitt had undertaken a "stealth" reform of mining law that "circumvents the will of the people and their elected representatives in Congress." NMC and Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit against BLM charging they arbitrarily and capriciously violated several provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.
Utah Land Grab Kept Secret
Recent documents subpoenaed by Congress confirm that the White House deliberately kept its controversial plan a secret to take, by executive fiat, the 1.7 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. The documents reveal that only a handful of Western Democrat governors and lawmakers, the Sierra Club and Robert Redford knew well in advance and were told "if word leaks out, it probably won’t happen, so take care" Doc 119 (U.S. News & World Report).
Tax on Air, Water and Soil
Based on a report presented in the journal Nature, the Earth now provides "on average $33 trillion a year" in services that include "providing water, lumber, fish, game and recreational sites, and even supplying bees and other creatures to pollinate plants." Robert Costanza, director of the Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Maryland says that estimate is too low because it doesn’t include things like "providing air to breathe or nonrenewable resources such as coal and oil." He said the value of nature’s "ecosystem services" should be taken into account in projects like building shopping malls and suggested "developers might face a tax to make up for society’s loss of the services from the land they plan to use." Be prepared to receive your first bill in the mail from Mother Nature for "services provided." (Associated Press)
ESA "Reform" Fizzles
H.R. 478, (the Flood Prevention & Family Protection Act), touted as a "major test" for reform of the ESA, was pulled from consideration by the author, Richard Pombo, after Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) blocked the bill with the help of 54 other GOP votes (so much for the Republican revolution). The action sparked a heated debate among GOP conservatives and their moderate counterparts in the House over Republican environmental policy. Conservative GOP members led by House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) declared they were fed up with Boehlert and were "ready to curb his powers." Don’t look for ESA reform any time soon. Does the word REPEAL sound familiar? Doc 122
Bills For Property Rights
Two bills, S. 709, the "Private Property Rights Act of 1997" by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and H.R. 1534, the "Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 1977" by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) were introduced this month. Both expedite the landowner’s ability to file a takings claim against the federal government.
To order copies of both bills, order documents 120, 121