Ecorazzi

Almost as soon as election night concluded, President Bush was setting in motion plans to auction off more than 100,000 acres of pristine wilderness in Utah for oil and gas extraction. Some of those parcels would be alongside or within view of Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks and landmarks. As we chronicled before, Robert Redford is less than pleased with the Bush administration’s devious environmental attacks. In a new update from his blog on The Huffington Post, he continues to voice his displeasure:

“As I’ve written previously, words alone cannot do justice to the beauty of these places, but they do capture the absurdity of the Bush plan,” he says. “Oil and gas drilling in Desolation Canyon? Industrial development along the meandering Green River? The thought makes one wince. Utah’s Red Rock country is one of America’s few remaining wilderness treasures. It’s our land, it’s our legacy, but will it still be here for our children and grandchildren?”

Redford does share one bright spot of news: The NRDC and a coalition of environmental and preservation groups filed an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management that will not delay the auction — but will temporarily suspend the issuing of leases for 30 days. This is great news, since it will give some time for the federal courts to hear the lawsuits brought against the Bush Administration’s plans.

Not to mention giving Obama the time he needs to toss this administration into the fires of Mount Doom and get inaugarated. Keep holding them off, Redford. Only a couple more weeks to go!