Saturday Under the Radar: Mining Sacred Mountains and Mismanaging Sacred Trusts

Thar's Gold! U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks will hear arguments this coming week in Reno, NV concerning the Tenabo Mountain mine project to be operated by Barrick Gold Corporation. The Western Shoshone and the Great Basin Resource Watch are seeking a temporary restraining order [Forbes] against the Cortez Project in Crescent Valley. The mountain is sacred to the Western Shoshone, and a focal point of the Newe Creation stories and worship. [WSDP] Great Basin Resource Watch asked: “Would you put an open pit mine in the Sistine Chapel?” [GBRW] The tribe and allied environmental groups argue that: “In approving the project, the BLM failed to adequately protect public and public land resources, including the religious, cultural, and environmental resources and uses at and around the project site as required by FLPMA [Federal Land Policy and Management Act], the RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act], the Trust Responsibility owed to Native Americas and the implementing regulations of these statues," the lawsuit asserted, adding that the BLM "also failed to fully evaluated the project's impacts as required by NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] and FLPMA." [MineWeb]

Bush Administration moves ahead – on oil and gas leases on public lands. The Administration will proceed with the proposed sales on about 500 square miles of public land in eastern Utah, a move opposed by environmental advocates and the National Park Service. The lease sales are due to take place in December. The incoming Obama Administration will have to decide whether to “honor the contracts, seek to undo the leases, or pay millions in taxpayer dollars to buy them back.” [WaPo]

There they go again! The appointment of Neil Barofsky to be the Treasury Department's special inspector general for the bail-out programs has been blocked by a Republican Senator. [TPMM] According to Senate Banking Committee chair Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), “The nomination was cleared by members of the Senate Banking Committee, the leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and all Democratic Senators. However, the nomination was blocked on the floor by at least one Republican member.” [...] “Unfortunately, the confirmation has been delayed by at least one Senator. That delay is regrettable and not in the best interest of American taxpayers. It is my sincere hope that those who are blocking this nomination will reconsider their actions and confirm Mr. Barofsky at the earliest opportunity.” [Dodd]

Mr. Barofsky, a Bush nominee, was the subject of concern from a few Republican Senators, as indicated by a Chronicle article back on November 13^th: “Some Republican lawmakers have said they are also concerned that Democrats may avoid acting on the nomination so that Barack Obama can choose his own special inspector general after he becomes president. But people familiar with the matter said Barofsky, the leading candidate for the position, would be palatable to the incoming administration because he supported Obama.” [HouChron/WaPo] However, it's not Democrats who are blocking confirmation. Senator Dodd has stated that the confirmation was not opposed by any Senate Democrats. [TheDeal] We can also likely assume that it's not Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) doing the blocking in light of his previous statements about the need to get a supervisor in place promptly. That leaves the list of possible confirmation blockers on the Republican side of the aisle, filled from the ranks of those who either because Mr. Barofsky supported the presidential candidacy of Senator Obama, or because of some petty turf war between Senate committees, have decided to block a confirmation vote. Meanwhile the TARP program, and Secretary Paulson's erratic handling of it, remains without adult supervision.