Today President Biden signed the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes a new $3 billion program to help remediate the more than 500,000 abandoned mines that have posed environmental and public health dangers for decades or centuries, mostly in the West. This program was proposed by Senators Heinrich (D-NM), Daines (R-MT), and […]
Earthworks
Posted inEnviro
Trump’s Mining Executive Order Puts Profits Before People
October 1, 2020 – Statement of Earthworks Senior Policy Counsel Aaron Mintzes: “We’ve seen proclamations from President Trump on so-called critical minerals before. This one continues this administration’s consistent attempts to weaken public input and federal oversight over mining. “What’s different now is the world’s interest in the equitable and just treatment of mining impacted […]
Posted inEnviro
Pebble Mine Will Cause Irreparable Harm to Alaska’s Bristol Bay Watershed
July 24, 2020 – Today, the Army Corps of Engineers released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) of the proposed Pebble Mine, a massive copper and gold mine that threatens the largest and most productive wild salmon fishery on earth. Alaska’s Bristol Bay salmon fishery supports 14,000 jobs a year and generates $1.5 billion in […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Aaron Miintzes | EPA: COVID is reason not to protect public health from polluters
March 27, 2020 – After industries, including oil and gas industry trade association the American Petroleum Institute, petitioned the Trump Administration requesting waivers from compliance from various federal agencies’ oversight due to the COVID crisis, on March 26, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was not penalizing violations or requiring monitoring for the indefinite […]
Posted inEnviro
Earthworks Report: 80% of Alaska Metal Mines Polluted Water
March 10, 2020 – Today Earthworks, along with four Alaska conservation, environmental health and justice organizations, released a report on the extensive record of spills and pollution violations at Alaska’s five major operating hardrock mines: Red Dog, Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington and Greens Creek. Metal mining is the leading source of toxic releases in Alaska, […]
Posted inEnviro
USFA and BLM Approve Simplot Mine Expansion Despite Ongoing Selenium Pollution
February 28, 2020 – Today the Forest Service issued a preliminary approval for another expansion of Simplot’s Smoky Canyon phosphate mine in southeast Idaho, despite the mine’s ongoing selenium pollution. The mine, which began operations in 1984, was pulled into the federal CERCLA (Superfund) program in the mid 1990s to investigate selenium pollution at the mine. Decades […]
Posted inUS
U.S. Representatives Decry Political Interference Over Controversial Idaho Mine
Washington, D.C., Jan 27 — Today U.S. Representatives Betty McCullom (D-MN) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), who serve as chair and vice-chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee with oversight of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), along with four of their House colleagues, sent a letter criticizing the USFS decision regarding British Columbia-based Midas Gold’s proposed open […]
Posted inUS
Investments in Oil & Gas Production Over Next Five Years Will Lock-In More than 1.5°C of Global Warming
Madrid, Spain December 5, 2019 – Over the coming five years, the oil and gas sector intends to invest USD 1.4 trillion developing new oil and gas extraction. This risks locking in enough carbon emissions to push warming beyond 2°C, let alone 1.5°C, according to a new report by the Global Gas and Oil Network, […]
Posted inEnviro
Texas & New Mexico communities & experts urge COP25 to defuse Permian’s carbon bomb
Madrid, Dec 4 — Today at an official COP25 side event Texas and New Mexico residents — impacted by the extraction of Permian Basin oil & gas, and by planned infrastructure to transport, process and export it — informed delegates and other attendees that catastrophic climate change is inevitable unless the Permian infrastructure expansion is […]
Posted inWorld
50+ Organizations Urge World Bank to Boost Recycling, Circular Economy & Non-Mining Solutions for a Climate Smart Agenda
Washington, D.C. May 1 2019 – As the World Bank today launches its new ‘Climate-Smart Mining’ facility, organizations from around the world are urging the financial institution to prioritize recycling, circular economy, public transit, and other non-mining solutions as the primary components of its agenda. Efforts should also be made to bolster responsible sourcing. “To […]
Posted inUS
Alaska: Northern Dynasty Minerals Misleading Investors 4 Ways About Pebble Mine
VANCOUVER, April 30, 2019 –Today the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP), on behalf of Earthworks, filed a request for a compliance investigation into Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM, NYSE American: NAK). The letters to the British Columbia Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission raise serious issues concerning misleading claims about the […]
Posted inWorld
Over 200 organizations denounce multimillion dollar suit brought by U.S. mining firm against Guatemala
April 24, 2019 – Today, a letter signed by 227 Guatemalan and international networks and organizations was delivered to Guatemalan authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. The letter denounces the US$300 million-dollar suit that the U.S. mining company Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) is bringing against the Central American country as a shameless attempt […]
Posted inWorld
Report: Clean Energy Must Not Rely on Dirty Mining
April 17, 2019 – Earthworks published new research detailing projected minerals demand to build the electric vehicles, solar arrays, wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure necessary to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and avert the most disastrous impacts of climate change. The research, conducted by the University of Technology Sydney’s […]
Posted inEnviro
Alaska: Pebble Mine enviro impact statement proves EPA right, mine incompatible with salmon
Feb. 22, 2019 – Statement of Earthworks Northwest Program Director Bonnie Gestring “The draft environmental impact statement the Army Corps of Engineers released yesterday highlights the unacceptable consequences of the proposed Pebble Mine on the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery and those that depend on it. After years of study, EPA amassed a body of […]
Posted inRegional
Trump EPA abandons safeguards protecting taxpayers from mine cleanup costs
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2017 – Bowing to industry pressure, late last Friday the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to finalize a proposed rule governing cleanup costs associated with hard-rock mining – the nation’s leading source of toxic releases according to industry self-reporting. A court settlement forced the Obama Administration to initiate rules intended […]