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“President Joe Biden visited Arizona on Tuesday to tout climate investments and designate a new national monument. Nearly a million acres of land near the Grand Canyon will become Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni, or the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Thousands of cultural sites belonging to a dozen Tribal Nations will be protected, and the area will be off-limits for any future uranium mining projects.” ABC News
The right criticizes the move, arguing that uranium reserves are vital to US security.
“America spends $1 billion annually on Russian uranium. U.S. nuclear reactors use uranium that comes from the Russian nuclear company Rosatom, which also supplies missile fuel to Russia’s military… The Senate last week added an almost-unanimous amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to support domestic uranium production and enrichment…
“House Energy and Commerce Committee chairwoman Cathy Rodgers called reliance on Russian energy imports ‘one of the most urgent security threats America faces.’ Yet national security is apparently second fiddle to this monument…
“It wasn’t necessary to put all this land off-limits for mining, which has a small footprint while packing a lot of energy punch. Arizona’s now-inaccessible uranium deposits each take up a maximum of 20 acres of land and each contain enough uranium to supply the entire state with carbon-free energy for one or two years… Biden’s move is gratuitous and shows how Democrats love renewable energy, except to the extent it conflicts with their deep-seated anti-development reflexes.”
The Editors, National Review
“With five new national monuments established during his presidency, Biden has made a habit of wielding the 1906 Antiquities Act to cut off federal lands from local use and development… [The Act states that] the land to go under protection must be ‘the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.’ The one-million acres in northwest Arizona now under monument protection can hardly be considered the ‘smallest area compatible.’”
Tristan Justice, The Federalist
“Tribes claim that uranium mining could contaminate water and wildlife. But a U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found springs and wells in the region met federal drinking-water standards despite decades of uranium mining. President Biden doesn’t seem to think it’s possible to develop and protect America’s natural resources at the same time, though miners have been doing so for decades…
“Progressives want to block all mining in the U.S., including for critical minerals such as lithium and nickel that are needed to power their green-energy transition. But that means mining will occur in countries with fewer environmental protections…
“There is currently no limit to a President’s power under the Antiquities Act to remove land from development and public use. Environmental groups even argue that Presidents can’t roll back predecessors’ designation. This interpretation of one-way executive power is more sweeping than the Grand Canyon and is crying out for a legal challenge.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
The left supports the move, arguing that it is necessary to protect the environment.
The left supports the move, arguing that it is necessary to protect the environment.
“The new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument protects lands that are sacred to Native Americans, after tribes were forced off the land in 1919 when the Grand Canyon National Park was established. The land contains some of the most biodiverse habitats in the region and is home to bighorn sheep, bison, and bald eagles. Many of the streams in the area contribute to the Colorado River, a critical water source for the Southwest that is at an all-time low due to climate change…
“Tribal nations and conservationists had been calling for years to designate the land as a national monument. This is the fifth national monument Biden has designated, after Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, and Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, both of which he restored as national monuments after Donald Trump stripped their protective status.”
Tori Otten, New Republic
“Republican leaders were quick to oppose [the new designation], sending a letter to Biden claiming that the protections created for the Grand Canyon would cause the U.S. to over-rely on foreign countries like Russia for uranium. However, The Guardian reported that advocates say the region only contains some 1% of the country's uranium reserves and that uranium is best mined elsewhere…
“‘The Grand Canyon is home to life of all kinds and is an ecosystem we must protect,’ said Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren in a statement. ‘We know from firsthand experience the damage that can be caused by uranium mining and processing that contaminates our water and poisons our animals and our children.’”
Elizabeth Hlavinka, Salon
“The uranium reserves near the Canyon represent but a tiny fraction of the U.S. total. The Canyon was never going to solve the nation’s need to import uranium…
“Conservatives argue that geological studies show the Canyon is uncontaminated from years of nearby uranium mining. [But] the canyon is a ‘fractured, interconnected geology’ that is vulnerable to contamination. Environmentalists, for example, point to a 1984 flash flood that swept several tons of uranium-laced debris into tributaries of the Colorado River…
“The Grand Canyon is where the world cleaved in slow motion over millions of years to reveal its chromatic and geologic complexity. This magnificent crosscut of prehistoric time yields both scientific discovery and exquisite beauty. The largest canyon on Earth, it is 10 miles across and 277 miles in length — so massive it is visible from space… This is nature’s cut gem. We will preserve its beauty for posterity.”
Editorial Board, Arizona Republic
