Romney to give Mormon State our Federal Land and Oil

Mitt Romney’s proposed energy blueprint, which he says will wean America off foreign oil in seven years, dovetails with what Utah Republicans have wanted: empowering states to control the permitting of oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

Mitt Romney unveiled an energy plan that is heavy on oil and low on regulations.

CBS News: "Romney predicted that his administration would be able to increase the amount of oil barrels produced per day from 15 million to 28 million, by increasing drilling - offshore, in Alaska, and through hydro-fracking - as well as boosting the production of natural gas and bio-fuels and importing more energy from neighboring Canada with the pipeline.

His campaign released a 21-page white paper outlining his energy strategy, which was broken into six steps. In addition to giving states control over energy development on federal lands within their borders and expanding off-shore drilling on the coasts, a Romney administration will pursue a North American energy partnership that will include the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. They also plan to overhaul the permitting and regulation process and promote private-sector energy development through investments in research."

The federal government owns vast portions of states like New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Alaska. Giving states control over the energy resources on millions of acres of federal lands would be a radical shift from decades of policies under both Democratic and Republican presidents, dating all the way to Theodore Roosevelt.

Salt Lake Tribune: "The Utah Legislature is already several steps ahead of Romney in trying to wrangle control of federal lands, which make up some 60 percent of the state. Lawmakers passed a law this year directing the federal government to hand over most lands, except national parks, to the state by 2014 — and the state is prepared to take the battle to court if federal officials balk."

It's all part of the Romney Covenant.