Joe Biden wants to cut off America’s best uranium resources with a new national monument, even though the U.S. is dependent on foreign entities for uranium. Russia controls almost half of the uranium used in U.S. reactors, and even though Biden has touted his support for domestic mining and reduced reliance on Russian imports, the president may soon authorize the 1.1 million-acre mining ban.
Read National Review’s report on the situation in Arizona:
“This land contains some of the most valuable uranium deposits in the United States,” said Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development for uranium producer Energy Fuels Resources. “Over the last, probably, 45 years, the area has extracted uranium that would provide fuel for 50 reactor years. These are the highest grade uranium deposits in the United States. For every tonne of ore you pull out, this rock has more uranium than any other deposits in the United States.”
Energy companies stress uranium’s importance to a carbon-free nuclear-powered future: The area under consideration for a national monument has enough deposits for many 20-acre-maximum mines, each of which contain enough uranium to supply the State of Arizona with carbon-free energy for one to two years, Steve Trussell, executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association and the Arizona Mining Association told National Review.
Government officials met with stakeholders this month, a sign that Biden will probably designate the monument by the end of the year, which is bad news for the area’s hundreds of unclaimed uranium deposits. An intense amount of regulation, permitting, and litigation is already required to consider mining in this area. So why, if Biden claims to support clean energy, is he thwarting our best domestic resources?
Trussell said it best: “It is surprising that there is a focus on critical and strategic minerals but little effort to protect domestic mining in a state that ranks No. 1 in production of non-fuel minerals.”
Activist groups likely play a role in the administration’s rush to declare the national monument — groups like the Sierra Club have pushed an anti-nuclear campaign in Arizona for decades. Mining holds up in court, which is why Biden’s expedition of the process via executive decree would be even more appalling: The notoriously liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals defended mining permits in the area (twice), as did Barack Obama and Donald Trump’s administrations. It’s also an example of pandering to minority groups without discussing implications, as Native American tribes claim the 1.1 million acres as sacred ground.
Uranium mining was harmful to Native Americans when it was understudied and under-regulated — the time when miners would smoke underground and work without safety precautions. The process has since been deemed safe by many government entities.
America spends almost $1 billion on Russian uranium imports. If Biden believes what he says about mining, he should support domestic uranium producers and assure them that America won’t revert to Russian supply.