<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/20/trump-oil-drilling-world-heritage-site-new-mexico>
"The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas extraction across the US
is set to bring drilling near cherished natural and cultural sites, raising
alarm among conservationists and prompting questions from the UN’s heritage
body.
Unesco said it had received information on the administration’s plan to scrap a
drilling-free buffer zone around the Chaco Culture national historical park in
New Mexico, a world heritage site and one of the most important cultural areas
in the US. A Unesco spokesperson said it had procedures regarding “potential
threats” to a world heritage property and was awaiting a response from the
federal government as to its impact.
“The world heritage committee has consistently considered extractive activities
to be incompatible with world heritage status,” a Unesco spokesperson said.
As well as warning about the consequences of drilling within the boundaries of
world heritage sites, the spokesperson said the committee had also “emphasized
that projects proposed outside world heritage properties should not adversely
affect their outstanding universal value – which are the features of the site
that justify its inscription, and should be subject to appropriate impact
assessments before decisions are taken”.
The US has 27 world heritage sites, places protected by international treaty
for their cultural, historical or scientific significance, including parks such
as Yellowstone and Yosemite and landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty.
Several of them, however, have nearby drilling or mining projects, with Trump’s
“drill, baby, drill” approach leading to a sweeping opening up of the US’s
forests, oceans and protected landscapes to the extraction of the fossil fuels
that are dangerously overheating the planet."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
