05 Jan 2009 Land Grab Bill to Be Reintroduced?

Rumor has it that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is re-introducing his massive federal land control bill.

The National Center for Public Policy Research polled African-Americans on the legislation. 52% oppose the legislation while only 37% support it.

As our vice president, David Ridenour, noted when the poll was released:

This is a key test of whether liberal politicians listen to African-Americans who cast 95% of their votes for Barack Obama and accounted for nearly one-quarter of all of President-elect Obama’s votes. Black Americans don’t want more land locked up if it means restricting energy development and home construction, driving up the price of both. And that’s precisely what this bill would do.

The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, an amalgamation of more than 100 bills that would place new restrictions on energy exploration, home construction, and business activity, has been scheduled by Harry Reid (D-NV) for a vote during this week’s special lame duck session of the Senate.

The bill would restrict use of millions of additional acres of land, both public and private, through the creation of new National Heritage Areas (a program creating de facto federal zoning), new wilderness area designations, and management practices that would clear the way for special protections for so-called “view scapes,” “sound scapes,” and even “smell scapes.”

The National Center also helped Americans for Tax Reform gather signatures for a coalition letter to the U.S. Senate on this issue that ATR spearheaded, a PDF of which can be found here.

Addendum, January 12, 2009: The bill was brought to the Senate floor Sunday, January 11, and adopted 66-12.
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Labels: Business, Congress, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Liberals, Regulation