Sen. Daines recently introduced legislation to require the leasing of vast amounts of public lands to the oil and gas industry. If passed, this legislation would effectively sell-off more than 200 million acres of public lands to the oil and gas industry. The legislation, “Supporting Made in America Energy,” is misleading under the guise of energy independence. This act would in actuality take away public land access from all and infringe on our right to a clean and healthful environment. This directly goes against Montana’s core values.
Montanans want public lands protected as part of any approach to energy development. We do not want unchecked oil and gas development that comes at the expense of outdoor recreation opportunities, local businesses, open land, wildlife, and clean air and water. New data from the bipartisan State of the West poll confirms that 68% of Montanans prefer that leaders place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities over maximizing the amount of land available for drilling and mining, and 71% of us support only allowing oil and gas companies the right to drill in areas where there is a high likelihood actually to produce oil and gas. That support cuts across political party lines because if there is one thing that Montanans can agree on, it is the importance of healthy public lands for our way of life here.
At the end of the day, Montana is not for sale. The federal agency tasked with ensuring Americans have places on public lands to recreate and enjoy would become nothing more than a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry. All it does is turn what is one of our most cherished points of National pride – our public lands – into a money-making scheme for a handful of folks.
Constance Webb
Whitefish