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Years ago, I lived in Utah’s oil and gas country. Those two products formed the majority of the regional economy. Most of the activity took place in an area known as the Book Cliffs. To be fair, parts of the Book Cliffs are absolutely breathtaking. But there is also a substantial amount of land out there that is empty space, scrub brush, and rocks.
Starting in the Obama administration, there was a quasi-steady stream of protests from environmentalists who were angry, aghast, and appalled at the oil and gas rigs. Some of it was over the role fossil fuels play in climate change. The other point of contention was the effect drilling would have on the environment, including the plant and animal species, the view shed, etc.
I did some work down there when I was in firefighting. I did a little suppression but mostly fuels management. There isn’t much down there, but the environmental groups, some of whom had substantial lobbying power, went all out to shut down the energy industry. The word on the street was that the activists were planning to plant rebar in the roads to wreck the trucks, which, if true, could have killed someone.
I suppose environmental outrage is contingent on who is doing the building and why. Consider the irony of this story highlighted by KUTV.
Leeds, Utah, is located on the southern end of the state. There is quite a bit of open space in southern Utah, along with some spectacular national parks. It is well worth a trip to the region. Pam Johnson’s family had a grazing permit in the Leeds area.
