Americans Rejected ‘Drill, Baby, Drill.’ Bush Should Respect Our Choice.
By Robert Redford

Part of the change Americans just voted for in overwhelming numbers was to move away from the failed energy philosophy of “drill, baby, drill” to a more farsighted strategy, emphasized by Barack Obama, based on clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Yet on the very day that we raised our voices for change, the Bush administration dragged us in the opposite direction.

The Bureau of Land Management cynically chose November 4 to announce a last-minute plan to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in eastern Utah for oil and gas extraction one month before President-elect Obama takes office.

As its clock runs out, the Bush administration also is trying to open-up drilling all over the Rockies and Alaska, to green-light oil shale leasing, and to weaken the Endangered Species Act. Though sad, it’s no surprise, coming as it does from the same crowd that designed a misguided national energy policy in secret meetings with the oil, gas and coal industries.

The BLM didn’t just try to slip the audacious Utah lease maneuver past the American people on an historic election day, it actually hid the ball from its sister agency, the National Park Service, and then rejected the Service’s request for more time to review the scheme.

Among the 360,000 acres to be auctioned for industrial development is pristine land near Canyonlands National Park, adjacent to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. This Christmas gift to the dirty fuel industry includes parts of Desolation Canyon, named in 1869 by the explorer John Wesley Powell, which has been proposed for national park status. In fact, the BLM itself described Desolation Canyon nine years ago as “a place where a visitor can experience true solitude -- where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape.”

Words alone cannot do justice to the beauty of these places, but they do capture the absurdity of the Bush plan. Oil and gas drilling in Desolation Canyon? Industrial development along the meandering Green River? The thought makes one wince.

The Obama transition team already has signaled its opposition to the leases, and said that once in office the Obama administration will try to reverse them. Let’s hope that’s possible. Utah’s eastern expanse 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? We made our wishes about that known loudly and clearly on election day.

We voted to take control of our own destiny by breaking our addiction to dirty fuels. We voted to re-power America with clean energy from wind, solar and geothermal power. We voted to use of our greatest resource, American ingenuity, to build economic, energy and climate security, and to preserve our natural heritage. Yes we did. And yes we can.

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Robert Redford, an actor, director and environmental activist, is a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and is the founder of Sundance, in Utah.

With all the spin... the flip, the bob, the weave... the duplicitous behavior coming from the Republicans... scrapping around in campaign desperation. Blurring the facts seems to be a strategy.

But what's not a blur is that the Republican party has had it all for the last 8 years - Presidency and national administration, both houses of Congress, even, one might argue, the Supreme Court.

All of this power was completely in their hands at a period in our history when innovation and opportunity has abounded. What have they done with it? Launched a war based on lies, undermined seminal laws of the land, ran our economy into the ground; left 47 million Americans without health care, presided over massive American job loss and home foreclosures, not addressed social security or quality education or sustainability in our environmental and energy policy.

Deregulation? It's pretty much been a GOP mainstay. Let the market solve it. And look where it's gotten us. They try to rewrite history with their meanness, their lies, and their spin. But we can't buy it again, unless of course, we want more of the same. They have plunged not only America, but the world into an uncertain future on so many levels.

And so it's really quite simple. They've had their time. Look at what they've done with it. An extension of that? Are we crazy?

The choice has never been, more clear, between two futures.

- Robert Redford

Are we missing something? The simple and clear story? The real story?

To resurrect a popular campaign phrase from a while back:
Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? How about 8 years ago?

I do admire the messaging skill of the Republican machine -- simple, clear, repetitive and strong.

But wrong.

The highly skilled deception. The highly skilled distraction... from reality... and the real lives of people.

I notice the repeat of the phrase "the American people," used so many times in the rhetoric of President Bush -- who has arguably done more to hurt and undermine these very same people than anyone in modern political history. And now his party's presidential and vice presidential nominees have picked up the same mantra to push an extension of the same plans that have devastated "the American people."

It's an obvious attempt to attach their cynical message to the people. But the message and the policies it pushes couldn't have more disregard for "the American people," their dignity and the reality they face in the uncertain future designed by this crowd.

"The American people" deserve better than this.

- Robert Redford

1. What's your favorite political movie?

THE CANDIDATE, Warner Bros. 1972

2. What role do you feel art plays in politics?

Art should be above politics but rather a beacon

3. What do you think is the biggest issue for the next generation of Americans?

To elect new progressive-minded leaders for change. We cannot afford more of the politics of the last 8 years.

4. Who was the first political candidate you were excited to vote for and why?

Bobby Kennedy. Why? It speaks for itself... role of humanity and compassion in politics.

5. What factors are important to you in choosing a president?

Sense of history, foreign culture, one world, open mind, truthful.

6. What issues would you like to see politicians focus more on?

New energy policy, which truly seizes inherent economic opportunities like job creation and market growth... do the tough stuff. The environment would make huge gains.

7. Which issues would you like to see politicians focus less on?

Their own special interests

8. Which candidate's initiatives do you feel better address environmental concerns?

Obama clearly.

9. This is your soapbox - shout it out! What do you need to get off your chest?

Get rid of the current administration profile of ideologues, cronyism and incompetence.

10. Do you have any recommended links, books or movies so people can learn more about the issues you care about?

Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals.

Frank Rich's articles (New York Times)

Extra Credit: Fill in the blank. _________ for change.

A REAL CHANGE for a change.

Actor, Director and Sundance Channel founder Robert Redford shares his thoughts on politics during the 2008 election campaign.