Richard Pombo Goes Down on the Mining Industry

Every time you think Richard Pombo (R-Cal.) has already dreamed up every possible method for raping the environment, he dreams up another one. So far he’s invented 690 sensuous positions for raping our national heritage, and now he’s come up with position number 691.

There’s a rumor that Hustler Magazine has a special issue just for Richard Pombo. Instead of pictures of women, it has sexy photos of canyons, forests and pristine meadows to stimulate Pombo’s kinkiest fantasies.

His latest wetdream? He wants to change an 1872 mining law to allow mining companies to stake claims on public lands. This could affect up to 20 million acres nationwide, including millions of acres in national parks and national forests.

After a mining company has purchased this parkland and extracted all the minerals, the company could sell the land to a developer. Our national parks could become full of golf courses, ski resorts, luxury hotels, you name it.

He wants to rape our national heritage.

As usual, he’s using his favorite slippery cowardly tactic with this new law: it’s an amendment to a budget bill.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.VA, said the mining provision “is one of the many ways the Republican leadership acts on behalf of special interests instead of in the best interest of the taxpayer.”

The Environmental Working Group said Pombo’s bill “could become one of the largest land giveaways in U.S. history.” See, Republicans don’t have anything against government giveaways; they only object when poor people are the recipients.

The Environmental Working Group also said “Pombo wants to sell the American West to foreign mining corporations and anyone else who can pay a fraction of the market value for this land. If Pombo’s bill passes, America’s treasured national heritage will be for sale to anyone who wants to buy it.”

A Democrat on the House Resources Committee said “they want to give away the taxpayers’ gold.”

Richard Pombo — where’s Lee Harvey Oswald when we really need him?