Personal profiteering from wilderness preserves « Thread Started on May 23, 2004, 12:11am »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Personal profiteering from wilderness preserves to the highest bidder -- syndication, 02:35:40 03/02/04 Tue Personal profiteering from wilderness preserves to the highest bidderWhen it comes down to a decision between the environment and the financial interests of Bush/Cheney campaign contributors, you can always rely on this administration to make the wrong choice.The Bush administration has moved ahead with its plan to auction oil and gas leases on environmentally sensitive lands in Utah, reaping millions of dollars from broad swaths of lands near a national monument.…In many cases, the leases were purchased by contributors to President Bush's reelection campaign.President Bush removed protections that were previously in place on wilderness habitats on federal lands in order to lease the lands to people who made contributions to his political campaigns.What's more, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group, those same contributors got the land at a steal:The environmental group also calculated, based on federal lease sales in 2000, that the land leased to oil and gas companies in Utah would yield average revenue of $80 an acre a year, raising questions about whether the government got enough value from leases that sold for an average price of $20 an acre for the first year, with a subsequent payment of $2 an acre each year afterward.Contributing to the Bush/Cheney campaign isn't a political act; it's a business investment. And for many big special interests, it's an extremely lucrative one.When a financial benefactor of the president benefits so much from a contract involving the federal government, it's time to demand a criminal investigation.