Bruce Babbitt: On Equal Ground
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EXCERPTS: On Equal Ground: Righting the Balance between
Energy Development and Conservation on Public Lands
Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt
National Press Club
February 5, 2013
Excerpts as Prepared for Delivery
My topic today is the connection between the production of oil and gas and the imperative of enhanced conservation initiatives on our public lands. Americans expect their public lands to supply more energy for today, but they also expect more parks, wilderness and open space for tomorrow. And that balance, between development and land conservation, is not being maintained.
Today, I will propose that President Obama embrace a simple, powerful, and practical principle that will – once again – place the conservation of America’s lands on equal ground with energy development.
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On many issues, [President Obama] has already compiled an excellent record. He has negotiated tough new vehicle fuel efficiency standards, doubling average mileage to more than 50 miles per gallon. He has doubled the production of renewable energy. And he has taken historic action to regulate carbon dioxide as a threat to our planet. On the issues that are closest to my heart, the stewardship of public lands, the Administration has also made notable progress.
The President’s record on conservation to date, however, is only a beginning. In a second term, he must extend that work with the same clarity and vigor that he devoted to climate, energy, and conservation in his inaugural address.
In fact, that is precisely the President’s mandate, set by the American people when they rejected Governor Romney’s energy plan, which was – in essence – a ‘drill only’ approach.
As a candidate last year, President Obama rightly criticized Governor Romney’s proposal as being ‘written by oil executives.’ The President instead promised balanced policies that would expand energy production while also protecting our land and water. We all know which energy plan voters chose at the polls.
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Under George H.W. Bush, conservation ran neck and neck with oil and gas. Under President Clinton, conservation moved ahead. Then, under President George W. Bush, conservation fell far behind, with the oil and gas industry taking down 7.5 acres for every acre of permanent conservation.
So far, under President Obama, industry has been winning the race as it obtains more and more land for oil and gas. Over the past four years, the industry has leased more than 6 million acres, compared with only 2.6 million acres permanently protected. In the Obama era, land conservation is again falling behind. This lopsided public land administration in favor of the oil and gas industry cannot continue.
Therefore, I am proposing today that the President adopt a common-sense principle: for every acre of land leased to the oil and gas industry during his tenure, one acre must be permanently protected for future generations. It’s that simple: one to one.
This ‘One-to-One principle’ will ensure that the conservation of our public lands is on equal ground with energy development. The principle will ensure that tourism, hunting, fishing are on equal ground with the interests of oil and gas companies. And it will ensure that our responsibility to future generations and to the climate is on equal ground with the pressures and needs of today.
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Is it possible for the President to achieve a one-to-one balance of development and conservation by the end of his second term? He starts with one significant handicap: unlike his predecessors, he cannot count on even minimal cooperation from a Congress that is more interested in throwing itself off metaphorical cliffs than protecting any real ones.
To meet this challenge, the President will have to make vigorous use of his executive powers beginning with the Antiquities Act in the manner of many of his predecessors.
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Let us next consider the question of wilderness and land conservation legislation. The 112th Congress, recently departed, was the first Congress since World War II not to protect a single new acre of public land as a park, wilderness area, or national monument.
President Obama should turn his attention to the wilderness, parks, and conservation area bills pending in Congress. In this way – bill by bill, place by place – the President can help advance deserving proposals on which Congress is failing to act.
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Now, I expect the usual suspects will oppose this plan from the outset. The oil and gas industry will be insulted by the suggestion that the public’s use of public land should be on equal ground with their profits. Right-wing Republicans in the House will take up Big Oil’s cause, and will again call for a fire-sale of public lands for corporate use.
However, if you asked most Americans whether they think we should set aside as much land for parks and open space as we are leasing to oil and gas companies, I believe you would hear a resounding ‘yes!’ That’s because there is a clear logic to connecting energy extraction with land conservation.
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