Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s proposal has united the left and right – against him.

Last week, the Lee-led Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released a draft proposal, intended for inclusion in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” that would mandate the sale of between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service in the American West.

Lee has framed the proposal as a means to increase affordable housing, and emphasized that it excludes national parks, national monuments, and designated wilderness areas from being sold.

Critics have expressed skepticism that the bill would do much to mitigate the housing crisis, contending that it would only result in the public being barred from land they now enjoy.

  • Carmakazi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    84
    ·
    edit-2
    11 days ago

    The land will get sold by the thousand acre parcel to oil, mineral, and lumber interests to be ruined. “Affordable housing” my ass.

    • arrow74@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      edit-2
      11 days ago

      If this was about affordable housing you could easily utilize limited parcels of land adjacent to towns and build a few high density apartments with priority housing for federal workers, since these land management agencies typically already do have employee housing. Allow HUD to manage it for non-employees.

      Done, no need to sell anything and they’ll likely make money.

      This could be done using very little acreage and have a huge impact on affordability in rural communities. Even adding 100 new apartments could be a big help and have such a small footprint.

      There are solutions, but these people just want more fossil fuels

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      11 days ago

      Who’s to say there won’t be crappy houses built on whatever’s left after those companies are done destroying it?

      • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        11 days ago

        See, it’ll be perfect. First we clear cut the forests. We sell the rights to strip mine what we can, drill for oil and gas, then frack out what we can’t drill. Then we hire lowest bidder construction to build low quality, rental-only subdivisions and repurpose the frack wells to drinking water wells! When it’s found the water is contaminated, we charge a purification surcharge. It’s all one big, beautiful cycle to maximize wealth extraction!

        -Shithead private equity firms, probably