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What Newspaper Editorials Are Saying About Pombo's Legislative Agenda
Rolling Stone: October 19, 2006
"No member of Congress
has worked harder to savage America's natural resources than Pombo, a Stetson-wearing
cattleman who ran for office after a nature trail
was slated to run through his family's 500-acre ranch. As chairman of the House
Resources Committee, Pombo has waged a career-long campaign to abolish the
Endangered Species Act, which he accuses of putting "rats and shellfish" before
people."
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS: November
2, 2005
"Richard Pombo, the rancher and member of Congress from Tracy, has been on a roll…He's
been rolling over the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling [and] rolling
over the notion that public lands ought to be managed for the public good.
"In general, Pombo has been using his position as chairman of the House Natural Resources committee to flatten the laws that protect the natural wonders of his home state and the rest of the states as well."
SACRAMENTO BEE: September 27, 2005
"Here's a bizarre thought: If we don't drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we have to sell off national parks to help balance the national budget.
"That grotesque notion has slithered full-grown from the dim recesses of Rep. Richard Pombo's brain. The Tracy Republican is chairman of the House Resources Committee, the most important House committee on public lands issues.
"The whirring sound you hear is Theodore Roosevelt, the founder of our national parks and national wildlife refuge system and a Republican of a different sort, spinning in his grave."
FRESNO BEE: October 31, 2005
"Since Hurricane Katrina, Pombo has been a one-man Category 5 environmental disaster zone... He is dancing to the tune of the drillers, the diggers and the property rights wackos. As resource policy goes, he has led the full House off the proverbial cliff. The nation can only pray that the Senate won't follow. "
NEW YORK TIMES: October 30, 2005
"Mr. Pombo's only idea, and it is a terrible one, is to treat this nation the way he treats his Congressional district, as if it were ripe for exploitation."
LOS ANGELES TIMES: November 19, 2005
"[A] troubling provision remains in the bill, placed there by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy)… This one would allow the government to sell off millions of acres of public land for mining, for as little as $1,000 an acre. The deal comes complete with mineral rights, which are generally worth far more than the land.
"There's little in this for the budget -- or the public. The budget would gain a minimal, one-time boost with each sale, and would suffer the permanent loss of public resources sold at rock-bottom prices."
LOS ANGELES TIMES: December 15, 2005
"Suddenly it's open season on our national parks. Not on the animals… It's open season on the parks themselves."
MODESTO BEE: December 15, 2005
"Tracy Rep. Richard Pombo, who represents much of San Joaquin County, has been stopped in his ill-conceived plan to essentially give away rights to public property… The strong public reaction came about because Americans could see that the raid on public lands was never about raising money to balance the budget. It was all about privatizing public assets."
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