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environment
Tribes, Green Groups Applaud Biden's Creation of New National Monuments
The move stands in stark contrast with Republican President-elect Donald Trump's first-term record of shrinking national monuments and opening public lands to environmentally and culturally destructive extraction.
Jan 07, 2025
U.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign proclamations Tuesday establishing two new national monuments in California, a move the White House said will protect the environment and honor Indigenous peoples in a state where they suffered one of the worst genocides in the nation's history.
Biden's creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in the Colorado Desert and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in the Cascade Range "will protect 848,000 acres of lands in California of scientific, cultural, ecological, and historical importance," the White House said in a statement. The national monument designations—which were authorized under the Antiquities Act—mean new drilling, mining, and other development will be banned on the protected lands.
"In addition to setting the high-water mark for most lands and waters conserved in a presidential administration, establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument in southern California is President Biden's capstone action to create the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles," the White House said.
"This new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor protects wildlife habitat and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California," Biden's office added. "It is a vitally important cultural and spiritual landscape that has been inhabited and traveled by tribal nations and Indigenous peoples since time immemorial."
🌟 Historic news! President Biden designated two new national monuments—Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument —protecting over 848,000 acres of ecologically & culturally significant lands! 🏜️🌲 Read more: bit.ly/3Pral7m
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— Sierra Club (@sierraclub.bsky.social) January 7, 2025 at 8:07 AM
The Chuckwalla National Monument spans over 624,000 acres in southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and includes the ancestral homelands of the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, Serrano, and other Indigenous peoples.
The Sáttítla Highlands National Monument covers more than 224,000 acres in northern California on the ancestral lands of the Karuk, Klamath, Modoc, Pit River, Shasta, Siletz, Wintu, and Yana.
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, said in a statement Tuesday that "President Biden's action today will protect important spiritual and cultural values tied to the land and wildlife. I am so grateful that future generations will have the opportunity to experience what makes this area so unique."
Biden's designation follows calls from Indigenous tribes and green groups, and legislation introduced last April by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), then-Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), and Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) to create the monuments.
"This historic announcement accelerates our state's crucial efforts to fight the climate crisis, protect our iconic wildlife, preserve sacred tribal sites, and promote clean energy while expanding equitable access to nature for millions of Californians," Padilla said in response to the president's move.
"This designation reflects years of tireless work from tribal leaders to protect these sacred desert landscapes," he added. "President Biden has joined California leaders in championing our treasured natural wonders, and I applaud him for further cementing his strong public lands legacy."
The Tribal Council of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe said: "The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. This national monument designation cements into history our solidarity and collective vision for our peoples."
"The essence of who we are lies in the landscapes of Chuckwalla and Avi Kwa Ame," the council added. "Every trail, every living being, and every story in these places is connected to a rich history and heritage that runs in our DNA. That is why we look forward to the day when we can celebrate adding the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument for protection as well."
Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous said in a statement: "Our public lands tell the history of America. They must be protected for us to learn from, and to be enjoyed and explored, for this generation and those to come. Throughout his time in office, President Biden has not only recognized that, he has acted with urgency."
Jealous continued:
From the ecologically rich Chuckwalla deserts in the south to the primordial network of Sáttítla aquifers in the north to the fragile habitats and ecosystems of the Southwest, communities and wildlife will continue to benefit from the clean water, protected landscape, and more equitable access to nature these monuments preserve.
For years, tribes and Indigenous voices have called for these landscapes to be protected. As he has throughout his presidency, President Biden answered those calls. Each new national monument adds a chapter to the story our public lands tell. We must continue the work to expand that story, protect the lands and waters that make this country special, and preserve the historical, cultural, and spiritual connections the original stewards of these landscapes continue to have with these places.
Trust for Public Land CEO Carrie Besnette Hauser noted that "national monuments like Chuckwalla and Sáttítla play a vital role in addressing historical injustices and ensuring a fuller, more inclusive telling of America's story. They stand alongside recent landmark designations—such as the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument and Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon—as reflections of our nation's diverse heritage and shared values."
California's Indigenous peoples suffered one of the worst genocides in North America. The state's Native American population plummeted from around 150,000 in 1848—the year gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill—to roughly 16,000 at the turn of the 20th century. The second half of the 19th century was a period of state-sponsored genocidal extermination, enslavement, and dispossession of California's more than 100 Indigenous tribes.
The national monuments designation comes a day after Biden permanently banned offshore oil drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory.
Biden's national monument expansion stands in stark contrast with Republican President-elect Donald Trump's record during his first administration, which saw a major contraction of national monuments in service of opening public lands to mining, fossil fuel extraction, and other environmentally and culturally destructive intrusions.
"During his first term, Trump made his hostility toward public lands clear as he reduced national monuments and rolled back regulations on fossil fuel extraction," High Country News contributing editor Jonathan Thompson recently wrote. "This time, he promises a repeat performance, backed by a GOP-dominated Congress, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, and an army of professional ideologues who have been eagerly preparing for this moment for the last four years."
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EPA Promoting Fertilizer Full of PFAS Despite Knowing Risks
New reporting shows the EPA was warned over 20 years ago that sewage sludge contained high levels of so-called "forever chemicals."
Dec 27, 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to promote a commonly used commercial fertilizer despite being informed over 20 years ago that its key component contained high levels of so-called "forever chemicals," a New York Times investigation revealed Friday.
The
Times' Hiroko Tabuchi reviewed thousands of pages of decades-old documents and found that scientists at chemical giant 3M discovered high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in U.S. sewage during the early 2000s. Sewage sludge is in widespread use as farm fertilizer. PFAS are called forever chemicals because they do not biodegrade and accumulate in the environment and the human body. They have myriad uses, from nonstick cookware and waterproof clothing to firefighting foam and pesticides.
Officials at 3M—whose researchers had already linked PFAS to cancer, birth defects, and other ailments—informed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its findings in 2003.
"The EPA continues to promote sewage sludge as fertilizer and doesn't require testing for PFAS."
However, as Tabuchi noted, "the EPA continues to promote sewage sludge as fertilizer and doesn't require testing for PFAS, despite the fact that whistleblowers, academics, state officials, and the agency's internal studies over the years have also raised contamination concerns."
According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS are linked to cancers of the kidneys and testicles, low infant weight, suppressed immune function, and other adverse health effects. They are found in the blood of around 99% of people around the world. EPA data show there's PFAS in the drinking water of tens of millions of Americans.
According to Tabuchi, EPA experts raised concerns about PFAS as far back as the 1990s, but their warnings went unheeded.
The
Times investigation follows reporting earlier this month led by Prism's Rebecca Barglowski showing that EPA and state officials in New Jersey have known about PFAS-contaminated water for nearly two decades.
Tabuchi noted that "the country is starting to wake up to the consequences" of PFAS' ubiquity. However, only one state—Maine—has begun systematically testing farms for PFAS. It has also banned the use of sewage sludge to fertilize fields.
At the federal level, the Biden administration in 2021 published its first "PFAS Strategic Roadmap" and designated forever chemicals "an urgent public health and environmental issue." Earlier this year, the EPA finalized a new Superfund rule meant to "help ensure that polluters pay to clean up their contamination" across the nation.
However, the chemical industry is fighting efforts to tackle PFAS, including through the use of research experts have called biased. Experts have also warned that the incoming administration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump will roll back Biden-era regulations, disempower agency specialists, and let political appointees make crucial regulatory decisions.
Even under Biden, the EPA is arguing that it cannot be sued for taking inadequate action to protect the public from PFAS contamination.
In June, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
sued the EPA on behalf of a group of farmers, ranchers, and green groups "for failing to perform its nondiscretionary duty to identify and regulate toxic pollutants in sewage sludge" used as fertilizer. In September, the EPA moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it has complete discretion regarding the identification and listing of pollutants.
"EPA seems to have lost any sense of its legal and moral obligation to protect public health," attorney and former EPA scientist Kyla Bennett said at the time. "Under the plain language of the Clean Water Act, EPA has a mandatory duty to identify and regulate substances that are a threat to human health and the environment—not just to issue a report about it."
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'A Death Sentence': Legislature Overturns El Salvador's Metal Mining Ban
One group called it "the biggest attack on water, health, and life in El Salvador," highlighting "opposition from churches, universities, social organizations, and the majority of the population."
Dec 23, 2024
In a win for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has dubbed himself "the world's coolest dictator," the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on Monday overturned the Central American country's 2017 ban on metal mining.
Bukele has fought to reverse the historic ban since taking office in 2019. Despite a prohibition in the Salvadoran Constitution, he ran for and won a second term in February, after his Nueva Ideas (New Ideas) party purged the judiciary.
Reporting on Monday's mining reversal, the Financial Timesnoted that "Bukele's party and its allies hold 57 of 60 seats in the legislature, and all 57 voted to overturn the ban while giving the Salvadoran government sole authority over mining activities."
As the British newspaper detailed:
He has claimed that El Salvador sits on gold reserves potentially worth $3 trillion, citing an undisclosed study, although that has been treated with skepticism by experts.
There has been limited exploration in El Salvador. El Dorado, the most advanced of more than two dozen exploration projects prior to the ban, was once estimated to hold 1.4 million ounces of gold, which would be worth roughly $3.6 billion today, without considering production expenses.
El Salvador's gold belt runs across its northern provinces and the watershed of the Lempa River, which is the small and densely populated country's main source of water.
In a statement earlier this month, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) warned that "El Salvador's 2017 prohibition against metallic mining is a widely popular measure and overturning it would be a death sentence for the small and densely populated country with its scarce water sources, many of which are already contaminated."
"The historic ban, passed in a unanimous 70-0 vote by El Salvador's Legislative Assembly in 2017, was the result of a decadelong campaign to value life over transnational mining corporations' pursuit of profits," IPS explained. "The campaign was ultimately supported by a wide coalition of civil society organizations, educational institutions, some business sectors, legislators and ministers from across the political spectrum, as well as two archbishops. They were all persuaded by substantial evidence of gold mining's destructive effects, and the deleterious impacts of cyanide used in gold mining."
"The struggle also cost the lives of several beloved water defender activists who stood up to the mining companies in Cabañas: Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera, student Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, and Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant when murdered, and whose 2-year-old child witnessed and was wounded in the attack," the group added.
The IPS statement came in response to a November 26 ruling that ordered a retrial for the Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES) "Santa Marta Five" water defenders—Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Teodoro Antonio Pacheco, and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega—a development the group denounced.
ADES forcefully condemned the mining ban reversal on social media Monday, calling it "the biggest attack on water, health, and life in El Salvador," and pointing to "opposition from churches, universities, social organizations, and the majority of the population."
The Salvadoran group also shared images of opponents who gathered outside the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Luis Gonzalez, one of the environmentalists outside the building,
toldReuters, "We oppose metals mining because it has been technically and scientifically proven that mining is not viable in the country."
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