OCR Text |
Show Letters To The Editor Continued Leavitt Needs To Take The Lead I would suggest that Governor Mike Leavitt further investigate and more thoroughly consider his position posi-tion on the school trustland issue within the Escalante Grand-Staircase Grand-Staircase National Monument. His decision not to take issue with the Federal Government over this designation des-ignation needs to be rethought. As was reported in the U. S. News and World Report Jan. 20, 1997 issue, this whole fiasco is the result of a whim of environmental strategist Katie McGinty and Interior Secretary Secre-tary Bruce Babbitt. Even the President's Presi-dent's advisors cautioned against it. The impact of this designation is devastating for our school children chil-dren as well as our rural economy. The 40 acre plot in that mass of area for mining environmentally clean coal is a little price for the environmental community to pay in exchange for the billions of dollars dol-lars of revenue it could produce for this state. Half of all of the royalties royal-ties would come directly to the State of Utah. This seems extremely ex-tremely important when the Governor Gover-nor is proposing a massive tax increase. in-crease. It is difficult to suggest that the Governor is mistaken, when his popularity rating is high, but in all good consciousness, I believe that the West is looking at Governor Leavitt to take the lead on this issue. is-sue. Certainly rural Utah is, as well as the parents of the school children in this state and the highway users facing huge fuel tax increases. Met Johnson Western States Coalition New Harmony . |