The Salt Lake Tribune
Monday, January 12, 2009
"Bidder 70" goes international
The story of Tim DeChristopher, the U. of Utah student who became an instant environmental activist when he bid on southern Utah oil and gas leases, is going global.

The Times of London profiled DeChristopher in its Sunday editions - and paint him the economics student as an accidental folk hero.

Here's a bit of the story:
He decided to go inside and cause a bit of disruption. Instead, something unexpected happened. An official approached him and said: "Hi, are you here for the auction?" He thought for a second. "Er, yes. I am."

"Are you a bidder?" she asked, smiling. "Well, er, yes I am."

DeChristopher found himself handing over his driving licence and a minute later had signed up. He took his bidding paddle, number 70, and sat down.

In the interview, DeChristopher gave a harsh assessment of the establishment environmental movement: "Their basic approach is that environmentalists should sign petitions and send donations. They want to make change one concession at a time, which gives them a seat at the table of power."

Labels: ,

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Redford takes on the BLM
Robert Redford has put his considerable celebrity behind a federal lawsuit to stop the lame-duck Bush administration from selling off oil and gas leases near Utah's red-rock national parks.

As reported by Matt Canham, one of The Salt Lake Tribune's Washington correspondents, the lawsuit - announced in a D.C. press conference Wednesday - challenges 80 leases that go up for sale Friday.

Redford - participating in the press conference via satellite from L.A. - called the Bush administration "morally criminal" for announcing the sale on Election Day, a day Americans voted to reject Bush policies.

"No place on earth can speak to the balance of beauty and nature like these areas," Redford said.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Redford on MSNBC
A cause with a celebrity attached will usually get further than a cause without one. Environmentalists who are fighting a sneaky Bureau of Land Management plan to sell oil-drilling leases near Utah's national parks are getting a boost from a local celebrity: Robert Redford.

After writing a scathing criticism of the BLM plan on The Huffington Post last week, the Sundance Kid appeared Monday night on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" to rail against the BLM and the Bush administration even further. Here's the clip:



Maddow was excited to have Redford on her show, even if via satellite. In her intro, she said, "Yes, the Robert Redford - Mom, get the camera."

The publicity over the BLM's sale plans - announced on Nov. 4, when the nation was busy paying attention to that election thingee - apparently is working. According to the Tribune's Patty Henetz, the BLM and the National Park Service are having high-level talks to smooth over BLM's end-around of the Park Service when it decided which parcels would be sold off.

Labels: , ,

Feedback
   If you have any hot tips - interesting art exhibits, weird experiences at the theater, unusual billboards, sightings of “High School Musical” stars at Crown Burger, whatever - send them along to me at vulture@sltrib.com.