Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

We Now Know Why Trump Was in Such a Hurry to Roll Back Bears Ears National Monument Protections

Bears Ears National Monument
National Park Service

Powerful private interests persuaded the President.

Earlier this month Donald Trump announced reducing Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument by 85% would be a great move for Americans.

But it's a Canadian based special interest that benefits far more, namely Energy Fuels Resources, a U.S. subsidiary of a Canadian mining company that lobbied for the change in the hopes of gaining access to uranium on the public land. Trump’s incoming EPA deputy secretary led their lobbying team.


A campaign by Energy Fuels Resources urged the Trump administration to dramatically reduce Bears Ears. The company reached out just months before Trump announced he was slashing the 1.35 million acre site down to 202,000 acres.

Company CEO Mark Chalmers complained in a May 25 letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that the national monument protections could “affect existing and future mill operations” of the company, which owns a mill adjacent to Bears Ears.

"There are also many other known uranium and vanadium deposits ... that could provide valuable energy and mineral resources in the future.”

Zinke insisted the President’s push to reduce national monuments is unrelated to mining special interests.

"This is not about energy. There is no mine within Bears Ears.”

But the President’s redrawn boundaries of Bears Ears now puts those uranium deposits Energy Fuels Resources referenced outside the protected area.

Energy Fuels Resources paid $30,000 to lobbying firm Faegre Baker Daniels to push for the change throughout this year, according to federal records. Andrew Wheeler, whom Trump has tapped to be deputy secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency, headed the lobbying team.

Wheeler awaits Senate confirmation. Members of the energy firm also held a private meeting about Bears Ears with Zinke advisers.

Trump blasted the national monuments as a “massive giveaway” to the public.

He ordered Zinke earlier this year to review 27 sites and make recommendations about their future.

More from News/political-news

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less