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.”
