The Biden administration’s latest decision to designate the area around the Grand Canyon as a national monument is receiving backlash from trade groups and Republican lawmakers, who argue the move undermines the U.S. uranium supply and increases dependence on Russia.
President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he would designate 1.1 million acres around the Grand Canyon as a national monument, siding with tribal groups and environmentalists who have been advocating areas around the park to be protected from uranium mining, which they argue would threaten aquifers and water supplies. But several groups within the mining space decried the move as going against Biden’s promises to reduce reliance on Russian energy and putting the United States in a less competitive position against countries like China.
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“We currently purchase about a billion dollars of nuclear fuel from Russia right now from the state-owned nuclear company, Rosatom,” said Curtis Moore, a senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels and owner of the Pinyon Plain Mine, a uranium mine operating near the Grand Canyon. “And then to turn around and cut off our best uranium deposits. That just seems like pretty questionable policy to us.”
Steve Trussell, the executive director of the Arizona Mining Association, argued for mining the mineral domestically, stating that the United States only produces 5% of what it needs while importing the rest.
“Demand for minerals is increasing at an exponential rate which begs the question, why not mine it where it is done responsibly,” Trussell said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “If not, we risk inherent supply issues given global tension from countries that are controlling mineral reserves as well as the export of key minerals. Creating a National Monument in this region would directly hinder the Biden Administration’s policies on clean energy, electrification, creation of jobs and economic growth.”
According to the Energy Information Administration, most of the U.S.’s uranium imports in 2021 came from Kazakhstan, followed by Canada, Australia, and Russia.
At least eight uranium mines have operated near the park, including the Pinyon Plain Mine.
Energy Fuels, the largest producer of uranium in the U.S., issued a 26-page statement on Sunday deriding the move, arguing that the administration proceeded without their input.
“Stakeholders have not been provided with a sufficient period of time to make the case that a national monument in Northern Arizona is not justified legally, technically, scientifically, or environmentally, nor can a monument be justified in light of the Administration’s purported clean energy, environmental justice, geopolitical, national defense, and climate change policies and goals,” the statement reads.
The group also pushed back against environmental concerns, claiming that the mining of the uranium deposits in northern Arizona is geologically unique and requires little area to mine, which results in them being the “lowest-cost and lower-impact sources of uranium in the United States, making them national clean energy assets.”
Uranium is primarily used as a fuel for clean nuclear energy, which provides nearly 20% of all electricity in the country in 2022 and more than half of the country’s carbon-free electricity.
But it’s not just trade groups pushing back against the national monument designation — Republicans in Congress are slamming the decision as a slap in the face to miners and ranchers.
“Although the monument would be entirely in Arizona, it will be detrimental to ranchers in southern Utah,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). “Ranchers in Washington and Kane Counties, who graze their cattle on the public lands on the Arizona Strip, will be faced with burdensome restrictions or be prevented from using the land altogether.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, argued that Biden is hampering the U.S.’s national security interests by blocking the country’s access to the critical mineral.
“President Biden is once again helping our enemies by denying Americans access to the resources we need. We currently import three times as much uranium from Russia as we produce,” Barrasso said in a statement. “Yet, President Biden is blocking access to key deposits of American uranium and other critical minerals to satisfy his leftwing base.”
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House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) threatened to fight the decision in Congress following reports last week that Biden was expected to move on declaring the monument.
“This administration’s lack of reason knows no bounds, and their actions suggest that President Biden and his radical advisors won’t be satisfied until the entire federal estate is off limits and America is mired in dependency on our adversaries for our natural resources,” Westerman said in a press statement last Friday. “If President Biden moves forward with this insane proposal, I will fight it in Congress and advocate for responsible stewardship of our resources.”
