Jennifer Krill, the Executive Director of EarthWorks, has written an excellent open let to President Obama. In it she explains why reforming the antiquated Mining Law of 1872 is good for the budget, good for jobs and good for clean water. She explains that HR3446, the Fair Payment for Energy and Mineral Production on Public Lands Act, is a step in the right direction towards reform.
After 140 years under the 1872 Mining Law, we have:
- given away more than $300 billion in minerals, royalty-free,
- “sold” off public lands equivalent in size to the state of Connecticut — for no more than $5/acre, and
- taken on a $50 billion tab for abandoned mine cleanup.
HR3446, the Fair Payment for Energy and Mineral Production on Public Lands Act would:
- generate $6 billion to reduce the deficit and help clean up abandoned mines
- generate thousands of mine cleanup jobs at the more than 250,000 abandoned mines around the country (as your own administration decided during the 2009 fiscal stimulus), and
- help provide clean water — more than 40% of the headwaters of western watersheds are polluted by mining.
You can view this bill and show your support through our Relevant Legislation page.
She also explains why S1113/HR4402, the Critical Minerals Policy Act, is bad for communities and bad for the environment. Did you know that this bill considers altering the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to limit public input in mine permitting? This would muffle or silence community and environmental concerns when new mines are proposed. Worse yet, the definition of “critical minerals” could be so broad that traditional hardrock minerals like copper could be considered for fast tracking the permit process.
You can oppose this bill by simply signing and sending this letter we’ve written.
Read more of the details in Jennifer’s letter HERE.
