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WASHINGTON - The Interior Department said Monday it will begin delaying some new oil and gas drilling projects until the effects on wildlife are studied more thoroughly.
But environmentalists said they were skeptical, since the department has routinely ignored its power to defer energy leases for the sake of wildlife. "Actions speak louder," said Peter Aengst, an energy policy analyst for The Wilderness Society in Bozeman, Mont. "I haven't yet seen where they're doing that. It's always been full speed ahead with energy development — lease, lease, lease."
Assistant Interior Secretary Rebecca Watson described the new policy as a response to American Wildlife Conservation Partners, a coalition of groups ranging from Ducks Unlimited to the National Rifle Association. She said it would apply to all 262 million acres — about one of every 10 in the United States — managed by Interior's Bureau of Land Management (news - web sites). "We value them because we think they're the experts on wildlife," Watson said.
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Watson said she told BLM managers to "use your power to temporarily defer leasing" for oil and gas drilling. "What this does is let the BLM managers hold back some areas while the new plans are being developed," she said. Watson said 22 of the new plans are "time-sensitive" because they respond to lawsuits, apply to new national monuments without old plans or speed energy development in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana."
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"We value them because we think they're the experts . . . " Condescending little tool, isn't she?
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