** Manchin pledges to block mining royalty
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Friday October 15, 2021
Democrat Joe Manchin is the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. Third Way Think Tank, ([link removed]) F ([link removed]) lickr ([link removed])

A staffer for Joe Manchin told Reuters yesterday ([link removed]) that the lawmaker, who chairs the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources committee,plans to block a proposed royalty on minerals in the reconciliation package.

Manchin's position may seem obvious—since he represents coal country—but there is already a royalty levied on coal extracted from federal lands. This proposal would place a similar tax on hardrock mining, which includes minerals like gold, silver and lithium. Thanks to the 1872 Mining Law, companies currently pay nothing to extract these minerals from federal lands.

Up until the 1970s, operators could extract hardrock minerals and abandon the mines without reclaiming them. The federal government catalogued around 140,000 abandoned mines and spent around $3 billion from 2008 to 2017 to address hazards at those sites, according to the Government Accountability Office ([link removed]) , and addressing them all could cost millions ([link removed]) more.

“Every day that goes by without a hard rock royalty in place means more toxic metals in our western watersheds,” said Senator Martin Heinrich ([link removed]) , a New Mexico Democrat, who supports a royalty on hardrock mining. Royalties would support the cleanup of thousands of abandoned mines, he added.

It's imperative that Congress imposes a royalty on hardrock mining, as many of the minerals needed to build clean energy infrastructure are covered by the 1872 Mining Law. Going green in the energy sector shouldn't come at the expense of taxpayers and our public lands.


**
Return of the Humpback Chub
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially downgraded ([link removed]) the status of the humpback chub from endangered to threatened, "due to substantial improvements in the species’ overall status since its original listing as endangered in 1974."

The fish, which lives in the Colorado River Basin, has made a slow recovery, thanks to a number of factors, including "new dam release schedules that return the river to a more natural flow, the removal of predator fish and efforts to move populations of humpback chubs to new areas," according to Cronkite News ([link removed]) .

But scientists say the humpback chub, along with other native species found in the Colorado River Basin, may never be able to thrive ([link removed]) without human intervention, thanks to dams that have significantly altered their natural habitat.
Quick hits


** Westerners are buying electric cars but they need more chargers
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D ([link removed]) eseret News ([link removed])


** Scientists and activists are clashing over forest thinning in California
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Sacramento Bee ([link removed])


** Manchin says he'll block a proposed royalty on hard rock mining
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R ([link removed]) euters ([link removed])


** Lawmakers probe safety of offshore drilling in oversight hearing
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Bloomberg ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Indigenous people in Nevada are asking Biden to protect Avi Kwa Ame
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W ([link removed]) yoming Public Media ([link removed])


** Yellowstone breaks its yearly visitation record—with months to spare
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed])


** New ski lift "fast pass" option upsets locals, senator
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O ([link removed]) utside ([link removed])


** New Mexico methane cloud spotted from space
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B ([link removed]) loomberg ([link removed])
Quote of the day
This goal of conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030 is more than a number – it is building on the nation’s best conservation traditions."
— Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Washington Post ([link removed])
Picture this


** @ForestServiceNW ([link removed])
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Mt. Hood showing off its #fall ([link removed]) twilight colors this evening.

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