Today is a very busy day for me. My 8 yr old is having her first slumber party for her birthday (which was last week) and I have a list of chores a mile long. Never-the-less, my friend just called me to call attention to an editorial from the Arizona Republic that calls attention to yet another power/money/resource grab by bushCo.
This time, it's the Grand Canyon that is at risk. Can you believe it? One of the 7 Wonders of the World could be opened up to uranium miners! There is no bottom for bushCo. If there's a buck to be made, then the consequences be damned. They're out of control with their greed, and it is up to us to stop them! And we are literally in the 11th hour right now!
Details below the fold:
Starting at the beginning of this article, it appears that due to increases in the price of uranium, there has been a renewed interest in the mineral; and the Colorado Plateau has been pegged as a resource rich area. Of course, the power-hungry and greedy parasites have known this for years and have quite adeptly poised themselves to jump on their chance very soon...as early as this Monday!
There are more than 10,000 hard-rock mining claims near Grand Canyon National Park already, and 3,000 uranium-mining claims. Then late last year, the administration authorized a permit for exploratory uranium drilling on federal land just 2 miles from Grand Canyon - risking this national treasure.
Of course bushCo authorized a permit! Anything they can do to relax regulations to be able to siphon off as many resources as they can before they have their accountability moment(s)!
Snark aside, however, this is very alarming to me! I'm not only an Arizona resident, but I am an American too, dammit! The Grand Canyon is a Global Treasure that bushCo are more than happy to ruin, squelch, desecrate, and basically rape just so they can further enrich themselves! Never mind the fact that the Native American Tribes consider this area Sacred Ground. Never mind the fact that the Grand Canyon is one of the closest things we have to "God's Country", and I believe that the area should be preserved for all eternity (or at least until Earth is no longer!). Never mind the health impacts that mining always inflicts on local residents....
Nope! Not for bushCo. This is yet another oportunity for them to line their pockets with more money at an extremely high expense to the rest of us. But we have a fighter in Arizona Democrat, Rep. Grijalva, of Tucson.
He introduced legislation that was filled with protections for the Grand Canyon. It was a piece of legislation that was overwhelmingly endorsed by conservation groups, Native Tribes, and sane people everywhere. Of course, what do "laws" mean to an out-of-control, power-hungry cabal like bushCo? Not so much! So the astute Representative, most aware of this fact, did what he could to ensure the Canyon's preservation:
Recognizing the urgency of the threat to the Grand Canyon and the reality of a logjammed Congress, Rep. Grijalva then introduced a little-used resolution, authorized in the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act - Section 204(e), which instructs the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw federal lands from potential mining if the appropriate Congressional committee deems that an emergency exists and that extraordinary measures need to be taken.
This is great! Way to go Grijalva!
...Congress handily passed the resolution in June, yet since that time, the Interior Department has given every indication it would not comply.
...Of course, there is that...
Now, folks, here's the kicker. BushCo are taking advantage of the financial meltdown to pull yet another P.O.S. con against us!
on a Friday afternoon earlier this month, with everyone's attention diverted by the global financial crisis, the Interior Department proposed a rule change to eliminate Section 204(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act - essentially weakening the authority of Congress to provide oversight of public lands, and undermining the recent congressional action to protect the Grand Canyon from mining operations. The administration then offered the public a meager 15 days to learn of the rule change and comment on it.
We canNOT let them get away with this! Thing is, I'm not sure very many people are aware of this going on way under the radar! We have too much interest in the backwards B, voter registration shenanigans, and election stuff. I'm very concerned about this, however! This is equally as bad as mountain top removal is to the Appalachian region of our Country!
BushCO may only have a few months before they slinker away (for good, I hope!). But they are NOT resting! At this time, they are acting as if they're trying to loot as much treasure from the Titanic as she sinks...but their actions are only going to leave the Country (as a whole) in worse and worse shape!
Please help out on this one! Please take action!
if we don't challenge this perverse effort to ravage our national treasures in the name of resource extraction. Please mail written comments to the Director, Bureau of Land Management, 1620 L Street, NW, Room 401, Washington, D.C. 20036, Attention: RIN 1004-AE05, or visit www.regulations.gov (type RIN 1004-AE05 to find the proposed regulation) and offer your opinion before the close of the public comment period on Monday.
I thank you in advance for your support on this. It is very important. Please also note that this was an opinion piece inside today's Arizona Republic. I tried to only take excerpts from the piece. If I have violated the copyright laws, please let me know and I'll try to trim it down further.
A bit of info about the author of this Call to Action:
David Nimkin is southwest regional director of the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association. Since 1919, the non-partisan NPCA has worked to protect and enhance our National Park System.
Based on this bit of his resume, I'm inclined to think that he knows of what he speaks.
Thank you for your help in this most important matter! SAVE THE GRAND CANYON!!!