American Stewards | 1.1 Million Acre Uranium Mineral Withdrawal in Build Back Better Act

The $2.1 Trillion Build Back Better Act Democrats in Congress are pushing to get passed this week is full of socialist driven programs, including the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps, increased funding for federal conservation programs, and many provisions designed to end fossil fuel use.

It also includes a 1.1 million acre rare earth mineral withdrawal environmentalists have been trying to achieve for nearly two decades.  Section 70204(b) reads: 

“(b) Withdrawal.–In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Bureau of Land Management for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,500,000, to remain available until September 30, 2026, to carry out, subject to valid rights in existence on the date of enactment of this section, the withdrawal of the Grand Canyon Protection Area from all forms of disposal, location, entry, and patent.”

Situated outside the Grand Canyon, the area is well known for its extensive uranium reserves.  In 2009, the Director of Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, Dr. Madan M. Singh, testified before Congress against an earlier attempt to lock-up the land noting it holds enough uranium to “replace all the power generated by coal plants in the United States for a decade.”  

Seems counterproductive to prevent the extraction of these rare earth minerals, 90 percent of which we currently import from China and Europe, if the true goal is to build a better America.

This is the same mineral withdrawal Congress included in the House passed bill, H.R. 803, last February, which the White House supported in order to help achieve their 30 x 30 agenda.