Per the reporting I've done for my book and for the New York Times magazine on Western populism and energy politics, check this out this story from the Associated Press [1]. Basically, the Bush Bureau of Land Management looks like it is trying to crush progressives state and local efforts to better regulate oil and gas drilling in the Rocky Mountain West.
This smells like one of those lame-duck, industry gifts that presidents try to give corporate donors on the way out of office - not sure it will work, but the shenanigans have officially started.
This is an ongoing series from the national tour for THE UPRISING. You can order The Uprising at Amazon.com [2] or through your local independent bookstore [3].
Links:
[1] http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/07/06/news/wyoming/doc486e69d742989964767186.txt
[2] http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307395634?tag=sirotablog-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0307395634&adid=1BYG4T2ZJJAZXD5JM0YF&
[3] http://www.booksense.com/product/info.jsp?isbn=0307395634