House GOP: Grand Canyon Should Be a Uranium Mine

[demmiblue]

Source: Mother Jones




Last month, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar cheered environmentalists and fans of the great outdoors with his extension of a moratorium on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon for another six months. But now House Republicans are aiming to use the Interior Department appropriations bill to try to reopen the areas around the park to mining interests.

Salazar announced in June that he was extending the prohibition on mining on roughly 1 million acres of land near the canyon through the end of the year, a moratorium he put in place in 2009. Salazar said he prefers to set a 20-year moratorium—the longest allowable under the current hard rock mining law—but will await the outcome of an environmental analysis to make a decision on that.

The appropriations measure, from Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, would reverse Salazar's decision and again make it possible to mine near the park. It's one of dozens of anti-environmental riders tacked onto the Environment and Interior appropriations bill that the House is debating this week.

In years before the moratorium, mining interests staked more than 10,000 claims in near park. Those would still be allowed to go forward, as the moratorium only applies to new claims. But uranium mining in the region raises concerns not just about damage to an iconic national park, but risks to water resources and health in the region, too. It's also an economic concern. As Jessica Goad, manager of research and outreach with the public lands project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund recently pointed out, the Grand Canyon is an economically valuable resource:


Read more: http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/07/house-gop-uranium-mining-grand-canyon

[SpiralHawk]

1. Republicons Would Frack for Oil at Niagara Falls - anything for $$$$$

[Angry Dragon]

2. But never in their backyard, can't have that

[hobbit709]

3. He's got the right name for this-FLAKE.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. Let's turn Yellowstone, Yosemite, et al. into country clubs.

We could sell condos in the parks and offer golf, safari trips, and other amusements for the wealthy. Just think how many jobs it would create. We would have to keep the commoners out, however, except for the ones who serve the 'guests.'

[liberalmuse]

5. Well, you've got to admit...

Mother Earth is asking for it. It's all her fault for dressing so provocatively, flaunting her wares in front of a bunch of greedy men.

[Gregorian]

6. Genius! We need to start a thread for "great" conservative ideas.

Let's see how far we can drag our society back from civility. Let's see how much we can destroy and plunder the planet in the name of some unnecessary project. Let's see how much suffering we can inflict in the name of profit.

It would be entertaining if they were on their own planet, and we were simply watching. But WE live here too. Dumbshits.

[Raksha]

7. That's what these death-wish economic policies the Republicans are putting forth

are really all about: Forcing the privatization of absolutely EVERYTHING, including national parks. Any kind of asset a nation can sell off to pay creditors, including infrastructure and national parks, would be fair game in a depression. I've even heard the Koch brothers want to privatize Lake Michigan or at least a big chunk of it, and that's the reason behind a lot of Rick Scott's madness.