This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
On Jan. 13, a letter was sent to Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Rob Bishop, chairpersons of the Senate and House National Resource Committees, respectively. It reads, in part; "The American Petroleum Institute (API) has been monitoring President Obama's use of the Antiquities Act of 1906 to set aside acreage from development by designating extensive areas of public lands as national monuments. Many of our members explore for and produce oil and natural gas resources on federal offshore and onshore lands. President Obama's large designations under the Antiquities Act and suggestions of additional withdrawals before his term in office expires, present a threat to balanced management of America's non-park, non-wilderness public lands onshore and offshore."
API's PAC continues to spend millions of dollars on ads touting the oil industry agenda as patriotic responsibilities, taking up the GOP's call for American "energy independence" through increased domestic drilling. It is not a coincidence that Executive Order 13792 suggests that national monuments "create barriers to energy independence."
Bishop and the entire Utah congressional group receives a steady diet of campaign funding from this PAC and other energy interests. The question begs to be asked: Who really represents our interests?
Michael Holland
St. George