Show Drill baby drill Jennifer Henke Contributing Writer In the past eight years President Bush has emphasized the importance of morals and making the right decision Highly admired in his first firs t term Ws W's popularity circled the drain as his last term came to a close sinking further these last months as the economy has faltered On a note that makes the term morality seem blasphemous the his administration issued last- last ditch death warrants to 11 million acres of Utah soil in favor of oil companies and access bothof bothof both bothof of which would change the previously protected land opening it to private sale Six resource management plans detail the policy changes that if enacted would be in effect for decades to come With r the minute last-minute timing the window for forthe forthe forthe the public and incoming administration to reverse the measures is small small- but SUWA the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is muscling with all its might to prevent this slam on some of Americas America's most scenic land from ITom becoming permanent t. t Their efforts combined with public outcry and the ushering in of a more environmentally positive tone in Washington have stalled but not eliminated the threat to Utah's wild wild lands The red rock de desert ert of Southern Utah is a work of natural art Anyone who has walked a moonlit night on Slickrock stared at the majestic spires of Bryce Canyon felt the rush I of Colorado River i water knows that this state is home to some spectacular natural features Evidence 1 of those who came before us 1 speak from the walls of our i ca canyons I pictographs and j petro petro glyphs that illustrate j. j life before our time of t 1 g grocery o ery sores t resi highways t flight and processed food I With gas prices at a alow alow alow low that many students haven't seen since driving with learners learner's permits sacrificing our own backyard in favor of boosting the warm luke-warm oil commodity seems ridiculous If oil is so so priceless and demand is s so high prices should reflect that Were the crisis being addressed pro proactively actively and not that mock the Bush administration has come t to champion actual fuel standards would be in place for commuters The idea of oil sucked from the neighborhood of national parks and monuments while commuter x's beefy off- off road truck gets a whopping 7 miles to the gall gallon n is sickeningly amoral But like all things caring for the environment is largely a matter of perspective We are polarized a line drawn between the fictitious images of heart bleeding-heart stupidly sympathetic environmentalists and oil slurping carbon-belching carbon off There isn't a human among us who doesn't depend on the clean water and living produce of the earth for their existence The environment is not some crazy old uncle we can shut in a broom closet and ignore we are the environment we belong to it in our every breath As a a collective our society lives within the walls of i offices spends whole days and years in the digital i realm But in visions of our rugged lands in feeling the desert sand beneath our feet and hearing its wind in our ears there is identification with nature validation of Df our presence in a real living universe Lets Let's hope that experience is available to 0 coming coming g. g genera generations s i without the i t. t is IC pounding or oI p refe al presence of oil oil- drills drills' tt iq t e background K t 1 ag r Ij a |