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Senator McConnell's Not-So-Skinny Relief Package For Coal and Mining Special Interests Failed For A Reason
After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell carved out upwards of $184 million for coal and coal byproduct development in his 'skinny' relief package that would have potentially flowed into his home state of Kentucky, Accountable.US released details on the special interest funding that was included in the package--as well as an additional research that shows the legislation would have been a boon for uranium mining and other mining special interests.
HELENA, Montana
After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell carved out upwards of $184 million for coal and coal byproduct development in his 'skinny' relief package that would have potentially flowed into his home state of Kentucky, Accountable.US released details on the special interest funding that was included in the package--as well as an additional research that shows the legislation would have been a boon for uranium mining and other mining special interests.
"The Senate's relief bill was rightfully rejected because it turned out to be not-so-skinny after all for coal and mining special interests and was just another corporate taxpayer money grab while workers, small businesses, and state and local governments were largely ignored," said Accountable.US spokesperson Jayson O'Neill. "This package was a pork barrel special interest boon that Senator Majority Leader McConnell tried to ram through under false pretenses. Congress needs to put forth a serious relief bill immediately--one that actually puts American workers and their families ahead of corporate profits."
Accountable.US previously highlighted some of the worst previsions of the Senate package, including blanket corporate immunity, an extension of the flawed Paycheck Protection Program, and hanging public schools out to dry.
But the package specifically included handouts for coal and mining special interests. The Department of the Interior, led by former extractive resource lobbyist David Bernhardt, would have obtained $450 million in additional funding to assist mining corporations develop 'critical minerals' on public lands. Trump's Interior Department controversially included uranium on its list of non-energy critical minerals that has raised alarms about the future of public land protections around the Grand Canyonand recently proposed dropping already low royalty rates for mining corporations.
Even though coal hasn't been economical for years, taxpayer subsidies have continued to flow to the polluting industry and this failed bill would have directed another $184 million to the industry. While relief money has flowed to CEOs and top executives, reports out of Kentucky coal country highlight how workers have been left in the lurch.
McConnell's Failed Pork Package For Coal and Mining Corporations Included:
- The Bill Tried To Create A Grant Program For Colleges To Develop "Critical Mineral" And Coal Curricula. "The Secretary and the Secretary of Labor shall jointly conduct a competitive grant program under which institutions of higher education may apply for and receive 4-year grants for startup costs for newly designated faculty positions in integrated critical mineral education, research, innovation, training, and workforce development programs 7 consistent with paragraph (2)." [S.178]
- And The Bill Tried To Set Aside $184 Million To Study How To Extract Rare Earth Elements From Coal... "The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (referred to in this section as the ''Secretary''), shall carry out a program under which the Secretary shall develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts. [...] There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program described in paragraph (1) $23,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 2 through 2028." [S.178]
- ...A Field Of Study That The University Of Kentucky Already Has A $1M Federal Grant To Pursue. "Much work is ongoing to discover the highest commercial concentrations of REEs in specific coal beds and specific coal byproducts. The Department of Mining Engineering, Center for Applied Energy Research, and Kentucky Geological Survey, all at the University of Kentucky, are testing Kentucky- mined coals and coal byproducts for their REE content and concentration, and testing the potential for commercial extraction of REEs from coal and coal byproducts. Professor Rick Honaker of the Department of Mining Engineering at UK was awarded a $1 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to develop a mobile pilot plant for the recovery of REEs from coal." [University of Kentucky]
- The University Of Kentucky Has The Largest Department Of Energy (DOE) Grant For Program On Extracting Rare Earth Materials From Coal By-Products. Current DOE Grant Projects for Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Byproducts. [DOE Rare Earth Recovery Award List]
- The Senate Bill Tried To Allocate $450,000,000 For Critical Minerals."There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030." [S.178]
- The Bill Would Have Required The Interior Secretary To Revisit The Critical Mineral List Every Three Years. "The Murkowski-Manchin bill that is incorporated into the package would require the Interior Secretary to designate a mineral as critical for national security purposes. The department would be required to review and update the list every three years." [The Hill, 09/08/20]
- The Bill Would Have Mandated That The Interior Secretary Identify Ways To Speed Up Permitting, Exploration, And Development Of Minerals. "Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to Congress a report that--(A) identifies additional measures (including regulatory and legislative proposals, as appropriate) that would increase the timeliness of permitting activities for the exploration and development of domestic critical mineral." [S.178]
- The Bill Would Have Required Agencies To Compare US Mining Permitting Time To Unspecified "Other Countries." "Beginning with the first budget submission by the President under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, after publication of the performance metric required under paragraph (4), and annually thereafter, the Secretaries shall submit to Congress a report that--[...] compares the United States to other countries in terms of permitting efficiency and any other criteria relevant to the globally competitive critical minerals industry." [S.178]
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.
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The country's largest Muslim civil rights group on Thursday called for added protections for U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar after Florida state Sen. Randy Fine issued an apparent threat against the two Muslim lawmakers.
Fine, who has the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump in his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, called himself the "Hebrew Hammer" in a post on X on Tuesday and suggested Reps. Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Omar (D-Minn.) should leave office for their own safety.
"Bombs away," he added.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has spoken out previously about anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim statements by Fine (R-19), called the lawmaker an "unhinged anti-Muslim bigot."
His apparent threat of violence "must be investigated by state and federal law enforcement authorities and condemned by both Democratic and Republican Party leadership," said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy executive director of CAIR. "President-elect Donald Trump, in particular, should denounce Mr. Fine's remarks and the Florida Republican Party should expel him."
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Fine was held in contempt of court in Florida earlier this year for making obscene gestures and mouthing curse words at a hearing. He is running in a special election set for April 1, 2025, due to Trump's appointment of Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to be national security adviser.
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"'Thanksgiving' is a white-washed holiday designed to conceal its true origins of violence, genocide, land theft, and forced assimilation," said the Indigenous Environmental Network.
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In contrast with Thanksgiving celebrations across the United States on Thursday, Native Americans held a National Day of Mourning, promoted accurate history, and championed Indigenous voices and struggles.
Despite rainy conditions, the United American Indians of New England held its 55th annual National Day of Mourning at Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Kisha James, who is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and also Oglala Lakota, shared how her grandfather founded the event in 1970 and pledged to continue to "tear down the Thanksgiving mythology."
"The past influences the present" and "the settler project" continues with racism, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, James told the crowd. "The Pilgrims are not ancient history."
James took aim at fossil fuel pipelines, oil rigs, skyscrapers, corporations, the U.S. military, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of immigrants, and declared that "no one is illegal on stolen on land."
Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston who helped organize this year's gathering, toldUSA Today that "while we are mourning some tragic history but also contemporary issues, we are also expressing gratitude for each [other] and building this community space."
"Coming together as a community for a feast and to express gratitude—that's not something that was imported to this continent because of colonization," Pierite said. "Indigenous peoples have had these practices going back beyond, beyond colonial contact."
This year's event in Plymouth included speeches about the suffering of Palestinians—as Israel wages a U.S. government-backed war on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 44,330 people, injured 104,933, and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—and of people impacted by extractive industries.
"The message from Indigenous peoples internationally has been consistent: that we need to center the development of traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, and move away from fossil fuel extractive economies," said Pierite. "At this time the world needs Indigenous peoples."
In New York City, police
arrested 21 pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route.
According toABC 7:
For the second year in a row, the group ran in front of the Ronald McDonald float to briefly stop the parade.
This year, they jumped the barricades at West 55th Street just after 9:30 am.
Many sat on the ground, locking arms and chanting "Free, free Palestine!"
Others held a banner behind them, reading "Don't celebrate genocide! Arms embargo now."
Video footage shared on social media shows members of the New York Police Department grabbing protesters and their banner, and throwing at least one person face-first into the road.
Multiple Indigenous groups circulated messages about Thanksgiving on social media Thursday.
NDN Collective said that "as Indigenous peoples, we reject colonial holidays rooted in the genocidal erasure of our existence. We demand #LANDBACK to reclaim sovereignty, repair ties with Mother Earth, and protect Indigenous ways of life—honoring them for generations to come."
The Indigenous Environmental Network similarly
highlighted that "'Thanksgiving' is a white-washed holiday designed to conceal its true origins of violence, genocide, land theft, and forced assimilation."
"We must re-evaluate what we've been taught about the history of this land and recognize that genocide, extraction, and exploitation of our lands and communities continue today," the group argued.
Brenda Beyal, an enrolled member of the Diné Nation and program coordinator of the Brigham Young University ARTS Partnership's Native American Curriculum Initiative, wrote about the history of Thanksgiving on Wednesday for The Salt Lake Tribune.
"Our history books mark 'the first Thanksgiving' in 1621 when at least 90 Wampanoag men, led by Massasoit, walked in on a Puritan harvest feast," Beyal detailed. "Approximately 150 years later, all 13 colonies celebrated a day of solemn Thanksgiving to celebrate the win of the Battle of Saratoga in December of 1777. [U.S. President] George Washington called for a day of thanksgiving and prayer in 1789 to give gratitude for the end of the Revolutionary War."
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"In my book Standoff: Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands, which was published after Trump's first term, I delved into the settler colonial mindset that the Pilgrims landed with on these shores, and contrasted it with the perspective of the Indigenous people of the United States," Keeler noted.
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The truce went into effect early Wednesday after being brokered by the United States and France, with Israeli forces given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
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All the areas lie within two kilometers (1.24 miles) of the Lebanon-Israel border.
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Israel imposed a last-minute curfew on Wednesday night, prohibiting Lebanese citizens from crossing into the south overnight.
The IDF then accused Hezbollah of violating the cease-fire, announcing on Thursday: "Over the past hour, several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the cease-fire. The IDF opened fire toward them."
Drop Site Newsnoted that the deal bars Hezbollah from carrying out "any operations" against Israel but only prohibits Israel from conducting "offensive" attacks in Lebanon.
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