Time for Progressives To Wedge Conservatives

You know how the conservative movement tries to wedge progressives on issue after issue? Well, it's time we start to wedge them right back, as is happening out here in the Rocky Mountain West.

As the Casper Tribune reports, private landowners - who as a constituency can trend conservative - are making a strong pro-environmental case in the face of Bush administration bullying. Specifically, landowner advocates are saying "Western states need to band together and oppose a federal move to disregard state laws protecting the rights of landowners affected by mineral development." Apparently, the Bush administration's "Bureau of Land Management [is] attempting to avoid applying a new Wyoming law to lands where it owns the mineral rights." That law "gives surface owners more bargaining power and rights when dealing with oil and gas producers seeking to extract the minerals owned by someone else under their land."

In other words, the Bush administration is trying to supercede or ignore state laws that protect landowners at the behest of its Big Oil backers. These two key constituencies of the conservative coalition - private landowners and energy interests - are in direct conflict, and the Bush administration is backing the energy interests. That opens up a very real opportunity for progressives to step up and defend landowners - a move that would wedge conservatives in a serious way.

(Hat tip to Western Democrat)

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