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Letter: Warren and environmental justice

First up, federal public lands are leased, not sold, to oil and gas and coal miners — greed notwithstanding — for the common good. Cleanup requirements are extensive.

Royalties from those operations help fund government services, and they’re sources of good-paying jobs. Your proposal to ban drilling targets Utah's poorest.

I drive a car (gas). I wear a woolen sweater (sheep). I eat a hamburger (cattle). Electricity (coal or natural gas) is routed to my house via copper wires (mine). The skeleton of my house comprises wooden two-by-fours (pine trees). All from public lands. My voracious consumer lifestyle and yours require it.