The Biden administration thinks Americans have too many jobs available.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley pressed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on a leaked memo from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Tuesday that shows the Biden administration prioritizing climate change over energy security.
In March, internal records from the Department of the Interior revealed the administration sacrificing proactive resource development with higher royalties on leases to promote a left-wing climate agenda.
After outlining China’s dominance in refining critical minerals, the Missouri senator charged the pre-eminent federal lands agency of choking off domestic development of American natural resources.
“Your decision to trade off our energy security in favor of a radical climate change agenda is making us more and more dependent on China,” Hawley said. “At the same time, you are denying mining, blocking mining, blocking permits for mines in this country that would allow us to develop nickel and copper and cobalt.”
Haaland clarified that Senator Hawley was making reference to the department’s recent move to block the Twin Metals Project in Minnesota from moving forward. In January, the Biden administration withdrew more than 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest from leasing consideration for the Duluth Complex. The underground reserves maintain 95 percent of the nation’s nickel supply and 88 percent of American cobalt.
“Why block the development of these resources in our own nation in favor of making us dependent on China?” Hawley asked.
Haaland responded by claiming the agency moved to protect the delicate ecosystem in northern Minnesota for
