Big news, and good news: Obama administration protects Grand Canyon from uranium mining. "The Obama administration said it intended to place a 20-year ban on new mining claims on 1 million acres of land bordering the Grand Canyon, moving to protect an area that is a crucial water supply to the Southwest and where uranium mining claims have jumped 2,000% over the last seven years."
Environmentalists and Representative Raul Grijalva are delighted. Grijalva, a progressive who's not afraid to criticize the President, cheers this news:
"I couldn’t be happier with this announcement, and I thank Secretary Salazar for making a far-sighted recommendation today,” said Grijalva, who was present at today’s announcement at the Grand Canyon. “The Grand Canyon is one of the most recognizable and spectacular natural wonders in the entire world. This is the right decision for today, for tomorrow and for the future of our country.”
Uranium mining claims around national parks and other great places of the West have skyrocketed in the last few years as material prices increase. The Mining Law of 1872 practically begs businesses to stake claims. Under that law, a claim can be staked on any Western public land not otherwise designated (i.e., national parks and wilderness are off limits) for the price of $2.50 to $5 per acre. No royalties or extraction fees are paid on gold, silver, uranium, or other valuable resources. These figures were set in 1872 and have not changed at all. The law has left behind a legacy of riches and ruin. Efforts to reform it have died in the Senate; perhaps a deficit-hawk-minded Senate might think those 1872 prices need to be adjusted just a little?
Even if Congress won't take on the broad effort to reform a law badly in need of reform, the Administration can shield national parks from the worst impacts of mining. And that's exactly what has been done. On Saturday at Netroots Nation 2011, Rep. Grijalva told me that he'd been invited to the Administration's Monday announcement, was assured that the news would be good, but didn't know the size of the zone to be protected - 250,000 acres or 1,000,000 acres? Salazar announced that the buffer zone would be the full 1,000,000 acres without compromise on a smaller zone.
Some here may note other examples in which the Administration's commitment to environmental issues is less than sunny. Others may note that public pressure on the Administration - from scathing editorials on Obama's conservation record to a Buce Babbitt speech decrying munchkins in the White House to a Pew Environment Group report - may have worked in a grand way. For now, let's simply applaud the Administration for doing the right thing.