Overreaching federal government makes strong men weak

Long before Obama, the federal government had been conducting a war against farmers and ranchers in the West. Every new action under the Endangered Species Act, every land grab (aka National Monument designation), every effort to introduce predators into lands used for decades, even centuries, to support human activity, is an assault by rich and powerful bullies who despise the simple lifestyle these hard-working people lead. But who will stop this war against the American West?

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|2014-07-01T17:27:27-04:00July 1st, 2014|3 Comments

Obama: Stealing America one national monument at a time

Against the wishes of local ranchers and off-road vehicle users, President Obama once again violated policy by designating 500,000 acres in New Mexico as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. As Rep. Steve Pearce, who represents the affected area, explained, monuments created under the Antiquities Act are supposed to cover only the "smallest area compatible" with the designation. He addedd, "This single action has erased 6 years of work" by local residents to develop a collaborative plan for the Organ Mountains "that would have preserved the natural resource and still provided futgure economic opportunities." So what else is new? President Obama killing more American jobs.

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|2014-06-17T15:24:04-04:00June 17th, 2014|Comments Off on Obama: Stealing America one national monument at a time

Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs grapple with “smart growth”

Voters in northern Virginia are thinking twice about spending unlimited sums for "smart growth" features like streetcars, "super stops" for buses, and even bicycle lanes -- especially bike lanes that "sharrow" lanes with automobiles. Talk about a revolution, when the people who make a living out of quite often wastefully spending other people's money balk at wastefully spending their own money.

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|2014-05-29T17:57:20-04:00May 29th, 2014|Comments Off on Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs grapple with “smart growth”

Obama Administration hides its use of bad science

Marita Noon excoriates the Obama Administration for its stonewalling on Freedom of Information Act requests -- and for its chutzpah in ignoring the law in using the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Clean Air Act to restrict access to public and private lands for farming, ranching, and energy development, and reduce the availability of affordable electricity—making essential food and power costs ever-increasing. To stop this unlawful onslaught, Noon urges citizens to utilize the Information Quality Act

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|2014-05-27T13:30:40-04:00May 27th, 2014|2 Comments

The Plantocracy has big plans for the Twin Cities

The "plantocracy" [plan-tocracy] is a new term CFACT coined to describe the woes about to be unleashed upon American citizens through the grand designs of unelected bureaucrats hell bent on massive social engineering schemes, regardless of the cost to or convenience of -- or even the willingness of -- local citizens of all persuasions. Worse, this Frankensteinian, corporatized nonsense is being paid for by the very citizens who are going to be harmed by it.

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|2014-05-21T14:59:34-04:00May 21st, 2014|33 Comments

Environmental shakedown through bastardized application of science, policy, and education

Marita Noon explains how the Center for Biological Diversity, a group founded by fired federal employees, has misused the Endangered Species Act to stop development and pocket millions of dollars - and the compliant federal government is not even keeping track of tyhe money it has doled out in legal fees who file friendly lawsuits that are quickly settled to the detriment of citizens.

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|2014-05-14T14:59:43-04:00May 14th, 2014|1 Comment

Was stopping Nevada’s fracking rush behind the Bundy Showdown?

There are a lot of theories as to the real reason the Bureau of Land Management has chosen this time to try to seize Cliven Bundy's cattle and shut down his ranch. The most easily disproven theory is that the cattle are threatening the desert tortoise. Others suggest that Senator Harry Reid, whose lieutenant now runs the BLM, has a secret deal with the Chinese to build a huge solar array on the property. Marita Noon believes she has uncovered a third possibility -- that the BLM wants to control the mineral rights to oil and natural gas in the area.

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|2014-04-15T12:31:47-04:00April 15th, 2014|1 Comment

Big Green’s “sue-and-settle” strategy draws pushback from states, Congress

When the lesser prairie chicken was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species, it was the last straw for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. The State of Oklahoma, and likely several other states, has filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department for collusion in violating federal law. Meanwhile, four separate bills have been filed in Congress to limit attorney fees for endangered species litigants and address three other ESA concerns.

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|2014-04-02T01:56:10-04:00April 2nd, 2014|Comments Off on Big Green’s “sue-and-settle” strategy draws pushback from states, Congress

Job creators sue the federal government over “sue and settle”

For years environmentalists have usurped individual private property rights and thwarted economic development. Now, thanks to Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, it appears that the job creators may have finally learned something from the extreme tactics of groups, like the Wild Earth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which have been using the courts to their advantage by filing lawsuits against the federal government.

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|2014-03-26T17:15:19-04:00March 25th, 2014|Comments Off on Job creators sue the federal government over “sue and settle”

Landowner fights Virginia county over right to host overnight hunting guest

In yet another example of a busy-body local government harassing a law-abiding citizen, officials in Isle of Wight County, Virginia are trying to prohibit a farmer from allowing a disabled friend to stay overnight on his property in an RV.

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|2014-02-14T11:23:23-05:00January 22nd, 2014|Comments Off on Landowner fights Virginia county over right to host overnight hunting guest

Ethanol mandate fueling habitat loss

In 2007, Congress passed a law requiring oil companies to blend billions of gallons of ethanol into gasoline. This so-called “ethanol mandate” wiped out millions of acres of conservation land and destroyed wildlife habitat.

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|2014-04-08T17:23:00-04:00December 24th, 2013|Comments Off on Ethanol mandate fueling habitat loss

Colorado monument designation would quash mining claims

Yet another effort to take away the mineral wealth of the United States in looming in Colorado, thanks to Sen. Mark Udall. Even worse, the Obama Administration could just speak the Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness Area into being, just as President Clinton robbed Utah of much of its mineral wealth via the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

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|2013-12-21T12:13:03-05:00December 21st, 2013|2 Comments

The fracking fight escalates

So a few cities in Colorado and far-left Oberlin, Ohio, have passed fracking bans -- but do they dare pass bans on the sale and use of gasoline made from fracked oil, or of natural gas recovered via this controversial process? Thank goodness existing law protects citizens of single towns from being hoodwinked by activists into at least some very bad policy decisions. Yeah, we once got people to sign a petition banning dihydrogen monoxide as a dangerous substance!

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|2013-11-19T10:11:16-05:00November 19th, 2013|Comments Off on The fracking fight escalates

“Trumping” a golf course over PEC-adillos in northern Virginia?

The Piedmont Environmental Council sees itself as the guardians -- and also the lords -- of Virginia's rural landscape. Their thirst for power has been whetted by a proposal by a Donald Trump enterprise to expand a nine-hole golf course to 18 holes, hardly an environmentally devastating development. PEC built its reputation by stopping a Disney theme park, so this attempt to "trump" this development is no surprise.

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|2013-11-05T16:15:18-05:00November 5th, 2013|2 Comments

Mining policy designed to benefit our own: Mighty rare

With China controlling 85% of the world's production of rare earth elements, the rest of the world -- and in particular, the U.S. economy -- is beholden to China for its own natioanl security and the future of its high-tech economy. This could change with a determined effort to overcome environmentalist objections and reinvigorate U.S. production of many of these valuable minerals. But will enough politicians decide that jobs and security are more valuable than keeping minerals-bearing domestic lands "pristine"?

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|2013-11-05T15:41:00-05:00November 5th, 2013|1 Comment
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