Members of Congress have been right on at supporting bad energy policies while dismissing the good ones. For all their rhetoric about supporting the development of natural resources, energy independence and the creation of jobs, in practice policymakers oppose American energy independence because they persistently oppose tapping American natural resources—oil, most regularly, but most recently uranium too.
In March Virginia bureaucrats have decided to prohibit land owners from even studying the viability of uranium mining on what is known to be the nation’s largest deposit. Here’s another case and this Member is pulling out all the stops.
A House Natural Resources Committee resolution by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) employs rarely used powers to block uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. It’s a law that would bypass any further Congressional action by declaring an environmental emergency in which Interior Sec. Dirk Kempthorne would be forced to ban new mining claims on 1 million acres adjacent to Grand Canyon.
Uranium is a naturally occurring substance which is mined from the earth in the same way as granite or gold. The fact is that uranium is safely mined not only throughout the world, but also in several states here in America. Why do our domestic politicians continually frustrate new energy development? As Heritage scholars Jack Spencer and Nick Loris write:
Despite rising energy prices, government at all levels continues to deny Americans access to significant portions of the nation’s energy resources. These legislative, bureaucratic, and procedural barriers are even more bizarre considering growing calls for energy independence.”
I encourage anyone reading this short opinion article to research the negative health effects and incredibly high cancer rates provoked by decades of uranium mining within the Navajo reservation in my state. The US has spent millions of dollars in Superfund money cleaning up the poison left behind by this "safe" industry. The idea that uranium mining is safe begs more logical research from the writer of the above.
In observing the left for the past 40 yrs, I've
come to this conclusion; the Democrat party is
desperately trying to fulfill Kruschev's prophecy
of not having to fire a shot to defeat us, but will bury us from within.
Starting with the " great society" and the beginning of the welfare state, they have destroyed
several generations of African Americans while somehow managing to make them think they were helping them.
It seams the next stage of their plan is to destroy the American economy by whatever means possible.Soon we won't have the capacity produce
enough electricity and we will all be walking or
riding bikes.Maybe We should get our well regulated malitias together and entice the left
wing wackos to disconnect their electric and scrap
all of their fossil fuel burning vehicles,
including boats, cars,jet skis,snowmobiles,motor-
cycles,and ALGORES airplane.
BILL FOWLER
Any legitimate journalist or anyone with research skills can point you to numerous reasons why uranium mining and milling should not occur in populated areas, with private wells, in places prone to severe weather. One simply can't turn their heads at the horrific, monumental cleanup costs of uranium mining and milling. Check out http://www.wise-uranium.org to find some examples across the globe. Did you know the process also uses excessive amounts of water, which would be a major hit to areas suffering from droughts. And I'd bet you wouldn't want your children or grandchildren living next door to a huge open pit uranium mining and milling operation like they hope to build in southside Virginia. You can't put a price on clean land & water.