President Joe Biden may soon be facing a political headache involving uranium and Russian President Vladimir Putin after his decision to protect land around the Grand Canyon from mining.
Biden declared almost one million acres of land around the Grand Canyon in Arizona a national monument, called the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni- Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, on Tuesday in a move that has been criticized by mining firms and some conservatives.
The area around the canyon is rich in uranium deposits which cannot now be extracted, while the United States continues to import uranium. A ban on importing fossil fuels from Russia is in effect.
About 14 percent of total U.S. uranium imports came from Russia in 2021, with 35 percent coming from Kazakhstan, 15 percent from Canada and another 14 percent from Australia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Overall, the U.S. imports 95 percent of its uranium from a number of countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. Russia is the third largest source of imported uranium.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board slammed the president's decision on Tuesday, calling the move a "gift to Putin" and pointing out that U.S. nuclear plants rely on Russian uranium for 12 percent of their fuel.
"The new national monument—the fifth of the Biden Presidency—will make it that much harder for the U.S. to replace Russian uranium. Vladimir Putin sends his thanks," The Wall Street Journal's editorial said.
The newspaper is one of several media properties controlled by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family. Others include The New York Post and Fox News. The editors of the conservative National Review framed Biden's decision in similar terms, writing on Wednesday that the president's decision was a "grand gift to Putin."
Mining companies are opposed to Biden's move as are some locals in areas that might benefit from uranium mining. There are currently no uranium mines operating in Arizona.
"We need uranium for the security of our country," Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, told Fortune. "We're out of the game."
Republican Criticism
In a sign that Biden's decision could become a political flashpoint, Utah Senator Mitt Romney strongly criticized the new national monument designation in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Arizona Strip is one of the most productive uranium mining districts in the country," Romney said. "By eliminating this important source of uranium, President Biden has increased both our dependence on Russia and China and our ultimate carbon footprint, while decreasing our energy efficiency."
"It is disappointing that with this proclamation, the President has once again ignored the concerns of those who live closest to the land," the senator said.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Arizona Representative Andy Biggs said: "Biden's proposed monument in Arizona lacks common sense and is meant to appease radical environmentalists. This designation will lock up our largest uranium deposit without cause and force further dependence on Russia for energy supplies. It's time for Biden to put America First."
A Stick to Beat Biden
The president's decision could give fuel to his critics, according to Mark Shanahan, an associate professor in politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, co-editor of The Trump Presidency: From Campaign Trail to World Stage, but that criticism couldn't be proven wrong.
"Joe Biden's decision to create a new Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Northern Arizona once again raises the specter of a conflict between largely Republican-backed corporate mining interests and progressives determined to protect indigenous homelands and conserve the natural environment," Shanahan told Newsweek.
"On the surface, the president may have handed critics a mighty stick to beat him with, with the uranium mining lobby claiming it will force more imports of the mineral from Putin's Russia since the area covered by the new national monument is home to one of the U.S.'s richest uranium deposits. But as is often the case, that argument is an overly-simplistic binary," he said.
Shanahan said that existing mining rights will remain "allowing for uranium extraction within the Ancestral Footprints area."
"It's only new applications that will be denied. Also, Wyoming's Powder River Basin remains the primary U.S. area for uranium extraction—and anyway, domestic uranium mining accounts for only 5 percent of U.S. needs," he said.
Thomas Gift, founding director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek that Republicans "will latch onto Biden's decision to ban uranium mining in the Grand Canyon as a victory for fringe environmentalists."
"While the decision itself is unlikely to play a central role in 2024, it all fits into a broader accusation that Democrats are trading off economic growth and energy independence in service of an ideological agenda," Gift said.
Uranium Imports
Shanahan also pointed to the fact that over a third of U.S. uranium "is imported from Kazakhstan, which, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine is cautiously navigating political change both domestically and in foreign policy as it looks to strengthen relations with the EU and U.S."
"The U.S. also imports around 30 percent of its uranium from Canada and Australia with just 14 percent coming from Russia," he said. "U.S. policy is to reduce this level of import from Russia further. So the mining lobby's rhetoric and reality are actually some way apart."
"Biden is not shutting the door to uranium extraction in Arizona but has a delicate balancing act between progressives whose focus is on environmental protection and historical fairness versus a domestic industry providing jobs and reducing import reliance," Shanahan said.
"For now, the president has made an astute call and the argument against him is creating more heat than light."
Newsweek