OPINION:
President Joe Biden’s administration just put a lock on oil, gas and mining operations on millions of acres of Alaska land, leading Interior to deny a road-building permit for those who hoped to tap into $7.5 billion worth of copper deposits — and all of America’s competitors and enemies go, yay.
If America can’t exploit its own natural resources, Americans face both financial and national security dings.
After all, it’s not as if the need for natural resources disappears. America has to get the stuff somewhere. And allowing radical environmentalists to dictate land use policies that hold potential to jeopardize all of Americans’ pocketbooks as well as the entire nation’s sovereignty and ability to self-rule is a folly that’s particular to the Democrat Party. But this Biden administration is guilty of ushering in a triple-whammy of economic and national security threats already — a) open borders; b) weak leadership; and c) surging inflation. Do we really need the added burden of setting off limits for use 13 million acres of prime, pristine, resource-rich property just so Sierra Club members can drum up more donors by claiming they’ve saved some polar bears?
“The Biden administration finalized a rule Friday which protects 13 million acres — an area larger than the state of Maryland — from oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic. The rule also establishes a process for expanding and creating new ‘special areas,’ so even more critical habitats can be conserved in the future,” EnvironmentAmerica.org wrote.
Shortly after, the Interior Department announced its intent to deny a permit Alaska officials sought to build a road through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to reach a copper deposit valued at several billions of dollars, as well as its plans to ban drilling on “more than half of the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska,” The New York Times wrote.
“Together,” the Times went on, “the two moves amount to one of the biggest efforts in history to shield Alaskan land from drilling and mining.”
Oh, boy.
“Analysts are forecasting a return to strong copper demand in 2024,” Nasdaq wrote.
Chile tops the list on copper mine production, followed by Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo, then China, then the United States, Nasdaq reported in March.
At a time when America is already falling on the international stage — thanks, Joe Biden — and fighting tooth and nail to keep communist China from spreading its collectivist rot throughout America and throughout the rest of the world, via cultural and economic influences, perhaps hamstringing U.S. natural resource producers isn’t the smartest move to make. Of course, if smarts were the standard of this White House’s politicking and policies, the brain-deadened Biden wouldn’t be at the helm. Still: the pinch Americans will feel from this land use ban will take time to materialize — so on that score, Team Biden probably sees little downside to this late-hour move, coming as it does in the last days of this administration. The Democrat logic goes like this: If Donald Trump wins in 2024 and takes over the White House, the economic disaster that includes the consequences of this land use grab becomes his problem, not Biden’s; not the Democrat Party’s. If Biden wins in 2024, then enough time will have passed between setting off limits to mining and drilling this land and the financial hits that will follow so that the American people won’t be able to directly tie their higher electricity costs to this denial of permit to access a copper deposit. Win, win. Democrats get to cast blame elsewhere.
The American people are the ones who ultimately suffer. And while court challenges by industry officials are sure to come, the fact is the judicial system moves like molasses. Consequences will still come. Whether higher prices at the pump or higher prices for building materials or higher prices for heating — it’s more of that famous Joe Biden economy that always seems to trickle to the consumer and leave the hardest working of citizens reeling, facing difficult choices each pay day on which bill to pay, which bill to float, which small bit of convenience to do without that month.
The never-ending climate change narrative must be fed.
“From safeguarding sacred lands near the Grand Canyon to protecting Alaskan treasures, my administration has conserved more than 41 million acres of lands and waters,” Biden said, in a statement about his Western Arctic rule. “But as the climate crisis imperils communities across the country, more must be done.”
Happy Earth Day.
Team Biden, putting bison before humans — walruses above national security — choosing salmon, not sovereignty.
Forget court battles. The next administration must take speedier steps and use executive action to overturn and toss the ridiculous restrictions on this parcel of land. It’s time to consider the needs of citizens in modern society and recognize that natural resources are there to serve and provide humans, and that a fish is not an equal. Make America sane again.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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