Monday, January 26, 2015

Foreign-owned mines operate royalty-free under outdated US law | Reveal



Let’s say you own 245 million acres. And underneath that land are billions of dollars’ worth of minerals – gold, silver, copper, uranium and more. Would you let foreign companies in to tear up your land, put your water at risk and take those minerals without paying royalties? 

You already are. That’s the amount of public surface land controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the federal government’s biggest landholder. And companies that mine these lands are exempt from federal royalty payments. And it’s happening right now. Take, for example, the Dewey Burdock uranium project in South Dakota. It encompasses 240 acres of public surface land, plus more than 4,000 subsurface acres of uranium-rich earth.

 As of two months ago, a Hong Kong-based company had secured the right to mine and profit off that uranium, used to replenish nuclear power plants around the world, particularly in China. In November, Hong Kong’s Azarga Resources merged with Powertech to become Azarga Uranium and manage the Dewey Burdock project...

MORE: Foreign-owned mines operate royalty-free under outdated US law | Reveal


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Keystone XL Vote Planned for Friday in the House | EcoWatch




McConnellBoehner
Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner think that building the Keystone XL pipeline is American’s top priority. Photo credit: MSNBC’s The Ed Show



With Congress back in session, Republican leadership is putting at the top of its agenda an item that probably isn’t at the top of most Americans’ agenda: approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

READ: Keystone XL Vote Planned for Friday in the House | EcoWatch

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Debunking 8 discredited talking points pushed by Keystone XL proponents in Senate debate | Anthony Swift's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC





As the Senate debates the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, proponents of the Keystone XL tar pipeline are pushing discredited talking points. The move would skip over the essential executive permitting process of determining whether the project is in the national interest in the first place. During the first half of the Senate debate this morning, Senator Pat Robertson, Senator Manchin, Senator Thune and Senator Landrieu pushed eight talking that unsupported by the facts.
Let’s update these talking points with the facts.

READ: Debunking 8 discredited talking points pushed by Keystone XL proponents in Senate debate | Anthony Swift's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC


more from NRDC –


SIGN THE PETITION
Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Project | NRDC

Why it is time to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline


The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would carry some of the world's dirtiest oil from under Canada's Boreal forests to the Gulf Coast for export to overseas markets. It is all risk and no reward for America. Yet, Senate Republican leadership has made it clear that approving the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is top of their agenda. Members of Congress should hold strong and allow the ongoing presidential permit process to continue. And the President should follow the reasons he has laid out, not only to veto any bill that does attempt to approve Keystone XL, but also to reject this dirty energy project. The President has the information he needs to deny the permit for the tar sands pipeline as a danger to our climate and waters.
 more: Why it is time to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline | Susan Casey-Lefkowitz's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC



Saturday, January 3, 2015

Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Project | NRDC Petition



The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would transport raw, toxic tar sands oil right through the American heartland — from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Texas — and threatens to wreak environmental havoc on both sides of the border.


SIGN THE PETITION! Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Project | NRDC