The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Donna Robert
President Biden on Tuesday will designate a national monument in Arizona that protects nearly 1 million acres of sacred tribal land from uranium mining in the Grand Canyon.
The White House said establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument will further Mr. Biden’s conservation goals and his desire to protect indigenous peoples and their lands.
The first part of the monument’s name means “where Indigenous peoples roam” in the Havasupai language, while i’tah kukveni means “our ancestral footprints” in the Hopi language.
The Havasupai tribe lives in the Grand Canyon and has lobbied to protect its lands from uranium mining, saying it would damage their ancestral home and the Colorado River watershed.
“For generations we have been at the forefront, working to permanently protect our homelands from uranium mining, which has disproportionately harmed and sickened Indigenous people across northern Arizona,” the tribe says on its website.
While there isn’t active uranium mining close to the site, the tribe is worried about encroachment as the world taps into nuclear power and other sources of energy that do not produce carbon emissions.
Former President Barack Obama had placed a moratorium on uranium in the area, though it was set to expire in 2032.
“The mining is off-limits for future development in that area,” White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters Monday on Air Force One.
It is the fifth national monument created by Mr. Biden.
There has been pushback to the designation. Energy Fuels Resources, which owns the only uranium mine in development in the Grand Canyon, told National Public Radio that it is important not to limit U.S. production given that Russia and former Soviet republics supply a great amount of U.S. nuclear fuel.
The company also said uranium mining has advanced and it can do it responsibly without hurting the Grand Canyon.
Mr. Biden is sealing off the acreage as part of a three-state swing that also includes New Mexico and Utah.
He is trying to highlight policy wins such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which invested heavily in green initiatives, while appealing to key constituencies such as American Indians, military veterans and young people who are concerned about the climate.
Environmental advocates were furious when Mr. Biden allowed the Willow drilling project to proceed in Alaska. A recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found 57% of Americans disapprove of his handling of climate change.
The White House said it is confident about Mr. Biden’s standing.
“We know that polls don’t tell the entire story. That’s just a fact, right? It doesn’t,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “This president is in a stronger place than he was during the midterms.”
