Latest news with #CommitteeonNaturalResources
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is the push to sell public land a solution or a risk to conservation?
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's denial earlier this year to take up Utah's federal lands case, Republican members of Congress are advocating for the sale of several parcels of public lands to address housing and development challenges. Close to midnight in the Committee on Natural Resources meeting last week, Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, proposed and passed an amendment to the 2025 fiscal year reconciliation bill that would market multiple parcels of public land in both states. Nevada and Utah have the largest amount of federally owned land in the country, and Maloy argued during the committee meeting that not all federally owned land holds the same value. It would be best used by the public in other ways. 'Some should not be available for disposal. We all agree on that,' she said. Her district includes some of the state's most famous landmarks and national parks — areas such as Washington County, which encompasses parts of Zion National Park. It also includes St. George, one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation. Overall, her district consists of 82% federally managed land. 'The high percentage of federal lands impacts the local government's ability to work on economic and transportation development, manage natural resources and fully take advantage of recreational activities,' she added, further explaining that the amendment would target 60 regional parcels totaling over 10,000 acres 'to be conveyed to the water district, the city of St. George and Washington County at fair market value.' Despite the amendment passing the House committee 23-18, environmental groups and recreation advocates have been vocal in opposing developmental pressures in the name of public land conservation. Steve Bloch, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's legal director, cautioned that this could impact the American West as we know it. 'There's a right and a wrong way to identify tracks of land for disposal. The right way is working through the processes that the Bureau of Land Management has for identifying very discrete tracts of land that might be suitable for things like affordable housing or for other purposes,' he told the Deseret News. Bloch said that the organization felt Maloy and Amodei had not taken this route because they introduced the 33-page amendment 'at the 13th hour of a 13-hour hearing, literally at 11 o'clock at night.' Bloch was among close to 50 protesters that attended a field hearing on Monday to show public opposition to Maloy's public lands amendment during a House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in Cedar City. 'These are places that Utahns hunt and fish and recreate on, you know, enjoy with their families, and all of that's at risk,' he said. The fear is that though it's generally a small amount of land, eventually more and more federal land will be sold off too. None of the public land resides in a national park; a few parcels (11, 19, and 3) border Zion National Park. In her statements before the committee, Maloy stated that the land totals one-third of one percent of the federal land in the state. Bloch said that what he thinks it comes down to is 'Republican legislators who don't appreciate the value of federally public lands. They think of it as simply numbers in a ledger, to sell off some tracts of land and to use it as a part of a tax cut plan for billionaires, and (it's) so out of touch with how Utahns and Westerners and Americans think about federal lands.' However, Maloy has been very vocal about the fact that the public lands amendment requires that the Utah land be conveyed at fair market value to public entities, and it will be conveyed directly to the counties, water district, and St. George. She told Deseret News, 'It's not a money grab. It's a revenue source for the federal government' that will bring revenue to the country and ultimately reduce the nation's deficit. It is also 'ensuring a strong economy for Utah, which is good for everybody.'
National Post
29-04-2025
- Business
- National Post
Testimony of Impossible Metals CEO and Co-Founder Oliver Gunasekara Before the House Natural Resources Committee on "Exploring the Potential of Deep-Sea Mining to Expand American Mineral Production"
Article content Gunasekara calls on the Committee to accelerate deep-sea mineral exploration and processing so that the United States can lead in this critical new global industry. Article content Article content WASHINGTON — Today, Impossible Metals CEO and Co-Founder Oliver Gunasekara is testifying before the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, at the hearing, 'Exploring the Potential of Deep-Sea Mining to Expand American Mineral Production.' Article content In his testimony, Gunasekara will emphasize the urgent need for the United States to secure critical minerals to maintain economic prosperity, national security, and global leadership. He will explain that recycling, substitution, and demand reduction are not sufficient to meet future demands. Gunasekara advocates for responsible deep-sea mining as a faster, cheaper, and less environmentally disruptive alternative to land-based mining. Impossible Metals has developed AI-driven underwater robots to selectively harvest mineral-rich nodules, picking up nodules individually while avoiding all visible life and leaving 60% of the nodules untouched to preserve marine biodiversity. Article content 'We can deliver critical minerals at commercial scale in three years—10x faster, 10x cheaper, and 10x lower impact, without relying on China,' said Oliver Gunasekara, CEO & Co-Founder of Impossible Metals. Article content Deep-sea mining is the inevitable future of global mineral production, and the United States must lead in protecting its economic and national security interests, ensuring environmental responsibility, and defending human rights. Gunasekara urges Congress to unlock domestic deep-sea resources, support leasing in U.S. waters, and invest in mineral processing and innovation, stressing that seizing this opportunity could create over 100,000 jobs and generate $300 billion in economic output over the next decade. Article content Watch Oliver Gunasekara's full testimony on YouTube. Article content About Impossible Metals. Impossible Metals' (YC W22, Public Benefit Corporation) vision is accelerating clean energy by delivering responsible critical metals. We are developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to harvest critical metals from the seabed while protecting the environment. Headquartered in California and with a robotics lab in Canada, Impossible Metals is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
