April 10, 2023
Biden’s Avi Kwa Ame Monument Designation Ignores Serious Concerns
The Governor of Nevada criticized Joe Biden for locking up minerals in the creation of a new national monument in the state. Land rights activists in western states have warned for years about locking up militarily-important rare earth minerals in monuments and the increasing dependence on China it means. But Biden did not consider these national security issues in making this new designation.
Nevada Governor’s Statement
Governor Joe Lombardo issued a statement:
“The federal confiscation of 506,814 acres of Nevada land is a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come.”
House Energy Bill Recognizes Importance of Critical Minerals
- From protecting Indian ruins to locking up and shutting down America’s essential energy, economic, and military natural resources
The 1906 Antiquities Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. It authorized the president to set aside federal lands as a national monument to protect historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest, and may reserve parcels of land, “…the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected…”
The first national monument was proclaimed by President Roosevelt - the Devil’s Tower
National Monument in Wyoming on September 24, 1906. It consisted of a mere 1,347 acres. Just enough land to provide protection for the tower and its immediate site.
But like all government programs it took on a life of its own and began to grow. The land designations became larger and larger, going far beyond the smallest size necessary to protect the site - until they regularly covered 500,000 acres, a million acres, two million acres.
The first glaringly obvious example of the Antiquities Act being used to prevent America’s natural resources from being developed and used occurred with the designation of the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in southern Utah on September 18, 1996.
This was a vast area, encompassing almost 2 million acres, larger than the state of Delaware, covering much of southern Utah and including the Kaiparowits Plateau, with its vast deposits of EPA-compliant coal - not just one of the largest such deposits in the world, but the single largest in the United States. An estimated 62 billion tons of coal with an estimated value of about $1 trillion.
There had been plans to develop this vast coal deposit since the late 1950s - early1960s, first by a consortium of Arizona and southern California utility companies, who proposed a vast project with a number of open pit mines and a huge coal-fired power plant. That project was eventually abandoned in 1976 because of environmental objections and costs.
But in 1991 a Dutch-owned company Angeles Resources stepped in and acquired leases and applied for permits to proceed with development, but on a much smaller scale, and with underground coal mines. BLM spent four years developing an EIS for the project and in 1995 the Andelex project was approved, totally to the delight of Utah and totally to the outrage of the national environmental movement.
In a surprise event in the heat of the 1996 election the Clinton administration gathered to announce the proclamation of a new 2 million acre national monument which would shut down the proposed mine.
On September 18th, President Clinton, VP Al Gore, and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, all showed up to announce the designation of the new monument. And President Clinton specifically announced that he intended to stop the mine.
It’s interesting that the White House team did not make the announcement in Utah, but instead about as far away as they could safely gather, in Grand Canyon National Park on the south rim of the Grand Canyon - safe from the outraged people of Utah. Utah had overwhelmingly supported the Kaiparowits coal project, including Governor Michael Leavitt, U.S. Congressmen, including Democrat Rep. Bill Orton, the state legislature, county and local officials, and the public.
And a new and easy way to weaken America had been discovered.
Background
Biden’s Avi Kwa Ame Monument Designation Ignores Serious Concerns
The Governor of Nevada criticized Joe Biden for locking up minerals in the creation of a new national monument in the state. Land rights activists in western states have warned for years about locking up militarily-important rare earth minerals in monuments and the increasing dependence on China it means. But Biden did not consider these national security issues in making this new designation.
Nevada Governor’s Statement
Governor Joe Lombardo issued a statement:
- “Since I took office, the Biden White House has not consulted with my administration about any of the details of the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument which, given the size of the proposal, seems badly out of step. Upon learning that the president was considering unilateral action, I reached out to the White House to raise several concerns, citing the potential for terminal disruption of rare earth mineral mining projects and long-planned, bipartisan economic development efforts. While I’m still waiting for a response, I’m not surprised. This kind of ‘Washington Knows Best’ policy might win plaudits from unaccountable special interests, but it’s going to cost our state jobs and economic opportunity — all while making land more expensive and more difficult to develop for affordable housing and critical infrastructure projects.
“The federal confiscation of 506,814 acres of Nevada land is a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come.”
House Energy Bill Recognizes Importance of Critical Minerals
- H.R. 1 seeks to boost production of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt that are used in products such as electric vehicles, computers, and cellphones.
- experts are warning of the national security consequences of ceding rare earth mining and processing to the Chinese
- another national monument designated in Texas the same day formerly served as an Army artillery range and testing ground
- environmental impact not studied (including the effects on the community and the broader nontribal culture)
- no thought given to finding compromise or the extent to which competing claims could have been accommodated; this appears to be another abuse of the Antiquities Act to gobble up many more acres than the monument-proper needed (see ‘The Antiquities Act’ below).
- part of the area was already under federal protected habitat designation and, thus, the monument designation is overkill. It continues Washington’s propensity to layer one restrictive land use designation on top of another
- the national monument designations are part of the Biden administration’s ill-advised 30 x 30 plan to lock up 30 percent of the U.S. land mass by 2030 to fight the illusory specter of ‘climate change’
- Even a committed Democrat like California Governor Gavin Newsom agrees economic considerations are important. He is pressing ahead with lithium mining and processing near the Salton Sea.
- From protecting Indian ruins to locking up and shutting down America’s essential energy, economic, and military natural resources
The 1906 Antiquities Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. It authorized the president to set aside federal lands as a national monument to protect historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest, and may reserve parcels of land, “…the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected…”
The first national monument was proclaimed by President Roosevelt - the Devil’s Tower
National Monument in Wyoming on September 24, 1906. It consisted of a mere 1,347 acres. Just enough land to provide protection for the tower and its immediate site.
But like all government programs it took on a life of its own and began to grow. The land designations became larger and larger, going far beyond the smallest size necessary to protect the site - until they regularly covered 500,000 acres, a million acres, two million acres.
The first glaringly obvious example of the Antiquities Act being used to prevent America’s natural resources from being developed and used occurred with the designation of the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in southern Utah on September 18, 1996.
This was a vast area, encompassing almost 2 million acres, larger than the state of Delaware, covering much of southern Utah and including the Kaiparowits Plateau, with its vast deposits of EPA-compliant coal - not just one of the largest such deposits in the world, but the single largest in the United States. An estimated 62 billion tons of coal with an estimated value of about $1 trillion.
There had been plans to develop this vast coal deposit since the late 1950s - early1960s, first by a consortium of Arizona and southern California utility companies, who proposed a vast project with a number of open pit mines and a huge coal-fired power plant. That project was eventually abandoned in 1976 because of environmental objections and costs.
But in 1991 a Dutch-owned company Angeles Resources stepped in and acquired leases and applied for permits to proceed with development, but on a much smaller scale, and with underground coal mines. BLM spent four years developing an EIS for the project and in 1995 the Andelex project was approved, totally to the delight of Utah and totally to the outrage of the national environmental movement.
In a surprise event in the heat of the 1996 election the Clinton administration gathered to announce the proclamation of a new 2 million acre national monument which would shut down the proposed mine.
On September 18th, President Clinton, VP Al Gore, and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, all showed up to announce the designation of the new monument. And President Clinton specifically announced that he intended to stop the mine.
It’s interesting that the White House team did not make the announcement in Utah, but instead about as far away as they could safely gather, in Grand Canyon National Park on the south rim of the Grand Canyon - safe from the outraged people of Utah. Utah had overwhelmingly supported the Kaiparowits coal project, including Governor Michael Leavitt, U.S. Congressmen, including Democrat Rep. Bill Orton, the state legislature, county and local officials, and the public.
And a new and easy way to weaken America had been discovered.
Background
- There are 50 critical minerals listed in the 2022 Critical Mineral List pursuant to the Energy Act of 2020.
- Source Federal Register Notice U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior:
https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/media/files/2022%20Final%20List%20of%20Critical%20Minerals%20Federal%20Register%20Notice_2222022-F.pdf
- Source Federal Register Notice U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior:
- Hypocrite Biden blocks mineral mining his clean-energy goals require
- “We believe it’s hypocrisy across the board. It’s illogical across the board, and it’s harming Alaska and the United States. Not everybody is buying their story that they’re really wanting to produce critical minerals,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy told me by phone.
- “I’d be the first one to praise the Biden administration if I did see it, but all we see are a continual series of actions against Alaska’s ability to develop its resources, including minerals.”
- Mark Mills at the Manhattan Institute examined the underreported realities behind Biden’s ambitious environmental goals, reviewing a 2021 International Energy Agency report on wind, solar and battery technologies. Mills notes, “The IEA finds that with a global energy transition like the one President Biden envisions, demand for key minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel and rare-earth metals would explode, rising by 4,200%, 2,500%, 1,900% and 700%, respectively, by 2040.”
- Greg Todd, Utah Office of Energy Development director, told me that 73% of Utah’s mining districts are on federal lands, and the state hosts at least 40 of the federally recognized critical minerals, among other resources. “It’s difficult to understand an administration that both intentionally complicates the permitting processes and throws millions of dollars in funds towards developing those same resources,” Todd said. “A benign administration is critical to our work in the state, and the resources we can extract on federal lands have implications nationwide, including for energy security.”
- Mark Mills – Manhattan Institute
- Greg Todd – Utah Office of Energy Development