Republicans vote to repeal restrictions on mining

Republicans in Congress voted in favor of repealing the restrictions imposed on MiningDrilling and other development work in three western states is progressing President Donald Trump Ambitions for expansion Energy production from public lands.

Senators voted 50-46 on Thursday to repeal a land management plan for a large swath of land under Which was adopted in recent weeks of Democratic President Joe Biden administration. Lawmakers voted to back away from similar plans for the lands Montana and North Dakota Earlier this week.

The timing of Biden’s actions made the plans vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to terminate rules that are finalized near the end of a president’s term. Resolutions require a simple majority in each chamber and take effect upon the president’s signature.

the house The cancellations were approved last month In votes largely along party lines. Trump is expected to sign the measures that will Enhancing a proposed 211-mile route through the Alaskan wilderness To allow the mining of copper, cobalt, gold and other minerals.

Trump ordered approval of the Ambler Road project earlier this week, saying it would open access to copper, cobalt and other critical minerals the United States needs to compete with China in artificial intelligence and other resource development. Copper is used in the production of cars, electronics and even renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines.

The road was approved in Trump’s first term, but was later approved It was blocked by Biden After the analysis determined that the project would threaten caribou and other wildlife and harm Alaska Native tribes that depend on hunting and fishing.

The restrictions imposed under Biden also included a ban New mining leases In the country’s most productive coal-producing region, the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. The Trump administration on Monday held the largest coal sale in that region in more than a decade, attracting a single bid of $186,000 for 167.5 million tons of coal, or about One tenth of a fils per ton.

Trump has largely ignored Biden’s goal of reducing global warming emissions from burning coal Coal and other fossil fuels extracted from federal lands. Instead, he and Republicans in Congress moved to open more taxpayer-owned land to fossil fuel development, hoping to create more jobs and revenue. The Republican administration also pushed for the development of important minerals, including copper, cobalt, gold, and zinc.

The decision on whether to accept the latest offer from Navajo Transitional Energy Co. is still pending. Pending, the lease cannot be issued until the Montana land plan is changed. The extremely cheap value reflects declining industry interest in coal despite Trump’s efforts. Many utilities have turned to cheaper natural gas or renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

Administration officials expressed disappointment that they did not receive “stronger participation” in the Montana sale. In a statement, Interior Department spokeswoman Aubrey Spady blamed the “decades-long war on coal” waged by Biden and the former Democratic president. Barack Obama.

Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana said repealing his state’s land management plan “puts an end to the disastrous Biden-era regulations that have put our resource economy on life support.”

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska called the Biden-era plan for 13 million acres in the Central Yukon Territory “a clear case of federal overreach that locks up Alaskan lands, ignores the voices of Alaska Natives… and denies access to critical energy, gravel and mineral resources.”

Sullivan said in a statement that the GOP legislation “restores balance and strengthens energy and mineral security in the United States and supports the law.”

Democrats have urged rejection of the repeals, arguing that Trump’s fossil-fuel-friendly agenda is driving up energy prices because renewables are being marginalized even as the technology industry’s efforts are ramping up. Energy requirements rise For data centers and other projects.

“We are seeing significant increases in energy prices for American consumers and businesses and cuts to American jobs, so Donald Trump can give an easy pass to the fossil fuel industry,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

Last week the administration Nearly $8 billion was cancelled In grants for clean energy projects in 16 states won by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections.

Republicans are unleashing an “all-out attack on America’s public lands,” said Ashley Nunes, a public lands specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. Using the Congressional Review Act to erase land management plans “will sow chaos across the country and turn our most treasured places into playgrounds for coal barons and industrial polluters,” she said.