Wade opines on what would be an otherwise appropriate target .... the WH occupants, in confronting their pro-corporation, anti-environmentalist, climate change-denying legacy before President-elect Biden is inaugurated and they are making moves to allow mining of natural resources on federally-protected lands, the New York Times‘ Eric Lipton reports, BUT, we need the copper the helium. the uranium, and the lithium. Wade is taking the position that every thing the WH touches is bad (and that is generally true), but not in terms of the current WH support for natural resource development in the U.S., less oil and gas, and coal, of course. This is a case where a topic smells just becasue the WH happens to support it; the underlying reasons of who is being "paid off" would need to be to evaluated but not to the extent of throwing out the baby (mining) with the dirty bathwater (current WH) before all is known about the issues.
In the last days in office, that previous president moved forward on projects in numerous states that would grant energy firms access to lands that were previously off limits. One project in Arizona would transfer federally-protected forest land to build a gigantic copper mine. Local Apache tribes considered the land chosen for the project as sacred, as they believe it is “a place of profound religious, spiritual, and cultural importance,” according to the National Register of Historic Places.[Note: any approvals can easily be undone by Biden, after they review the details]
In Twin Bridges, located in Utah, that previous president's administration wanted to open up wilderness land for a helium drilling project. A coalition of environmental groups is now suing the administration to block leasing of the land to a drilling company. [Note: any approvals can easily be undone by Biden, after they review the details]
[What about the uranium all over the west?]
“It’s truly stunning how brazen that the previous president's administration was during their four years in serving up our pristine, iconic landscapes to industry,” Josh Axelrod, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Salt Lake Tribune. “Its race to secure this project’s approval for the helium industry’s benefit is flatly illegal, and we’ll defend this special area at every turn.” [Such BS out of NRDF, who BTW receives $ from the oil and gas industry, but we still need the helium]
Another project in northern Nevada, which is close to obtaining final approval, is planned to build an open-pit lithium mine near the site of a prehistoric volcano. And the administration wants to build a natural gas pipeline through Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. [Note: any approvals can easily be undone by Biden, after they review the details. But U.S. needs the lithium]
And there are more, including a uranium mine in South Dakota. The Oglala Lakota Nation is suing to stop that from moving forward, as they claim the land was illegally taken from the Sioux tribe by the United States government. [Such BS out of native tribes since the case has already been litigated, but we still need the uranium]
Signaling he will move in a different direction, Biden has selected Native American Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as his Interior Secretary nominee. And thankfully, Biden will have the power to stop at least some of the Trump administration’s last-minute attempts. But, the Times reports, other projects like the Nevada lithium mine might not be reversible.[After Biden people investigate the matter, but we need the resources]
While in office, that previous president all but declared war on our public protected lands, shrinking national parks by record amounts. As a former San Carlos Apache tribal leader told the Times of the Arizona copper mine project, “This is a disaster.” [We must keep things in perspective ...no such disaster!]
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