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USA exempting uranium mining on federal lands from environmental reviews

Republicans push through mining deregulation bill http://www.nuclearfreeplanet.org/articles/republicans-push-through-mining-deregulation-bill.html  7-13-2012   Joined by only 22 Democrats, Republicans successfully pushed through a bill allowing uranium mining on federal lands to be exempted from “formal environmental reviews. Also included in the exemption would be copper, silver, and gold. Rep. Ed Markey (Dem-MA) accused the Republicans  of “actually appear[ing] to be trying to usher in a new stone age,” saying the bill was “a pretext for gutting environmental protections relating to virtually all mining operations” and “a GOP giveaway game show here on the House floor.”
Rep. Rush Holt, Democrat- NJ joined Ed Markey in saying: “It has almost nothing to do with national strategic critical minerals production… Make no mistake, this is a giveaway… It is free mining, no royalties, no protection of public interest, exemption from royalty payments, near exemption from environmental regulations, near exemption from legal enforcement of the protections.”

July 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, politics, Uranium, USA