Notes From A Blasphemer: Why I Oppose the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

I am a mountain biker and I oppose the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act. That may strike some people as being heretical but hear me out.

The Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act is co-sponsored by two Utah Republican Senators, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee.

Orrin Hatch has a terrible environmental history and has repeatedly voted against environmental protection and had even chastised for voting to ban uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. 

Co-sponsor Mike Lee is a Tea Party darling that voted against sending federal relief to help elevate Flint Michigan’s led contaminated water system.

Not to be outdone by Senator Hatch, Mike Lee also voiced his displeasure for a ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

Lee also introduced S. 2279, a bill to repeal tax credits for alcohol fuels, biodiesel, alternative fuels, alternative motor vehicles, plug-in electric motor vehicles, enhanced oil recovery, producing oil and gas from stripper wells, producing electricity from nuclear power facilities, carbon dioxide sequestration, investment in energy property, and investment in qualifying advanced coal projects.

Lee also sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Subcommittee on Energy, Public Lands and Forests, and the Subcommittee on Water and Power.

Hatch has voted in favor of the Keystone Pipeline, voted against “cap and trade” legislation and against Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. 

Lee has also:

•    Drill ANWR; lease shale oil lands; develop clean coal. (Jul 2010)
•    Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gasses. (Apr 2011)
•    Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by AFP. (Nov 2010)
•    Cap-and-trade has no impact on global temperatures. (Jul 2010)
•    Explore proven energy reserves & keep energy prices low. (Jul 2010)
•    Let states lease energy rights on federal lands. (Jun 2013)

I know that some people will view my unwillingness to support the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act as a betrayal because I have publically supported the Sustainable Trails Coalition’s efforts to amend the 1964 Wilderness Act and the subsequent amendment to ban mountain bikes in 1984.

Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee are both hostile towards meaningful environmental legislation. 

More on Hatch. 

Note: Between 2011 and 2015 Mike Lee has taken at least $322,030 from oil and gas contributors.

While writing this I was contacted by one of my Twitter followers because I urged a no vote on the Human-Powered Travel because I said the bill was a Tea Party Trojan Horse. He said, “Nonsense, vote YES. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.”

I sent him a copy of Hatch’s environmental voting record and he responded by saying, “Agree they are horrible. But none of the reps I usually side with would dare back this out of fear. So what to do?”

Obviously, if mountain bikes are to be allowed access to wilderness we shouldn’t be so blinded by that goal we’ll get into bed with the first people to draft any favorable legislation to that goal because the Hatch and Lee partnership will surely bite everyone in the ass.

This is what I propose:

•    Urge a no vote for the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act
•    Find someone else to sponsor the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act
•    Ask Sustainable Trails Coalition for an alternative
•    Amend the bill before it is put to a vote in order to ensure the continued ban on motorized vehicles in the wilderness

While this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don’t want the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act to become a petard that blows the door open for mining, timber, oil, and cattle in the backcountry.