Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) has offered an amendment to the upcoming Appropriations bill that would block Alaska’s Pebble Mine Project from going through its proper environmental review.
This amendment is the part of the ongoing effort from Democrats to completely shut down the Pebble Mine Project. With this amendment, Rep. Huffman would prevent the Army Corps from continuing its review process, effectively shutting down the mine.
In 2014, President Obama put in place a pre-emptive section 404(c) veto, effectively banning all mining exploration and investment in an area of Alaska the size of Ohio. Use of the pre-emptive veto was unprecedented and could provide a playbook for future administrations to block critical mineral resource projects opposed by environmentalists, if left in place. The continued implementation of the pre-emptive veto threatens to kill the project entirely as financial resources dwindle over time – the initial strategy behind the Obama EPA’s decision.
In April of this year, ATR sent a letter to President Trump urging him to lift the pre-emptive section 404(c) veto and “restore a fair, traditional, and rational process at the EPA.” The Trump administration has not yet lifted the Obama pre-emptive veto, but the mine has been allowed to move forward with its environmental review process.
Like all other proposed projects, Pebble Mine should be allowed to continue with the established review process and the final determination of the project should be based upon its environmental impacts, not the desire of radical activists. By attempting to shutdown Pebble Mine’s environmental review, Rep. Huffman has demonstrated he is opposed to mine on ideological grounds rather than facts.
ATR stands strongly opposed to the Huffman amendment and urges lawmakers to vote NO should the amendment be offered a vote.