Collier Resources is the primary holder of the oil and gas rights beneath the Everglades, which are estimated to hold about 40 million barrels of oil - enough to power the U.S. at current rates of consumption for two days. In 2002 Collier filed plans to explore and drill in beneath Big Cypress National Preserve, and the National Park Service gave its initial approval to the plan. In 2002, President Bush announced plans to spend $120 million to buy oil and gas rights on 390,396 acres of federally protected land in the Everglades to safeguard them from drilling. The decision came as the president's brother, then-Gov. Jeb Bush was seeking re-election and amid plans for a major expansion of drilling operations on the western edge of the Everglades. Members of the Collier family contributed more than $121,000 to Republican candidates in the last election cycle, including at least $5,000 to Jeb Bush, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. The buyout failed, and in 2006 Collier Resources began a search for new oil reserves beneath the Big Cypress National Preserve. The exploration plans call for dropping 5-pound explosives into 5,600 holes across 72 square miles. See: www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/apr/29/namesake_family_back_hunt_new_oil_reserves/?local_news
[6] The Cajun language is a mixture of French, Indian, African , and English.
[7] The French/Indian War was the result of most native tribes siding with the French settlers, with the exception of the Iroquois Indians who sided with the British. The first refugees from the French and Indian War were Acadian French deported by British authorities from Nova Scotia. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used this exile as the background for his poem Evangeline.
[8] In November Congress gave Bush the first veto defeat of his presidency, and the Senate approved the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act, WRDA, by a wide majority. The House of Representatives also voted overwhelmingly to override Bush’s veto. Bush had termed the Water Act a “pork barrel” with no merit. This statement is also noteworthy when one examines the no-bid contracts that were given to Bush cronies in the aftermath of Katrina. The 79 senators voting to override Bush's veto, included 34 Republicans who broke ranks with their party.
Note: The other members of the Voice of the Wetlands All Stars are: Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Dr. John, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich.
keith harmon snow is an independent war correspondent, photo journalist and human rights investigator. He has received three Project Censored awards for his Africa reportage and has recently worked in Central Africa and Afghanistan. His work can be seen at www.allthingspass.com and he is a member of the Asiana Press Agency (www.asiana-press-agency.com)
NEXT: Baghdad on the Bayou Redux:
Disaster Capitalism and the War on Equality
Part Two:
New Oil Liens & the Sham of Peak Oil
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