Iran Uranium Mine Partner Would Benefit From Senate Land-Swap Bill 13FEB13

EXPOSING gop / tea-bagger hypocrisy on Iran and Chuck Hagel's nomination for Sec of Defense, Sen john mccain r AZ and Sen jeff flake r AZ want the American people to reward companies who do business with Iran with a sweetheart deal for a land swap that will increase all parties profits. Claims that the Iranian government will not receive any benefit financially because of sanctions in place are meaningless as long as rio tinto and bhp are actively involved in business with the terrorist regime in Tehran, all parties have to be profiting or the relationship would not exist. The Senators from Arizona should withdraw their support and this deal should be rejected by Congress unless the companies involved have absolutely no business, financial and economic relationship with Iran, period. From HuffPost....

WASHINGTON -- A bill offered Thursday by Arizona's two senators would aid a company that partners with Iran in an African uranium mine.

The bill, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013, is sponsored by Sens. Jeff Flake (R) and John McCain (R). It would swap 2,400 acres of federal land in Arizona for 5,500 acres of land that the Department of the Interior deems as “important” for conservation.

The idea is to give the Resolution Copper Mining Co. access to land that would allow it to extract vast amounts of metal, while theoretically boosting the economy and protecting public property. A press release from the senators said the mine would generate more than $64 billion in economic activity, as well as tax revenue, and would meet as much as 20 percent of U.S. demand for copper.

But the bill comes at a time of extreme sensitivity about anything linked to Iran, under stiff sanctions because of its nuclear program. Late last year, America's ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, was harshly criticized for her investments in firms that do business with Iran.

Resolution Copper Mining is 55 percent owned by Rio Tinto, a giant mining firm that partners with Iran at Namibia's Rossing uranium mine. The rest of Resolution Copper is owned by BHP-Billiton PLC, an Australian company that reportedly made millions doing business with Tehran. Rio Tinto is the world's second-largest mining company. BHP is the biggest.

McCain told The Huffington Post he didn't know about the mining operation's Iranian links. "I'm not sure what they do ... This is the first I've heard of it," McCain said. Brian Rogers, a spokesman for McCain, later downplayed the benefit Iran gets from its partnership with Rio Tinto.

"The issue of the Namibia mine is often used by anti-mining groups to distract from the benefits of the Arizona project, Resolution Copper," Rogers said in an email. "Rio Tinto is the majority shareholder of the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia. The Iranian Foreign Investment Company technically owns a 15 percent share that it acquired before the fall of the shah. International sanctions prevent Iran from receiving any uranium or any financial windfall from the mine."

Flake's office did not respond to a request for comment. He almost surely would know about the firm's relationship with Iran. He was a lobbyist for the Rossing mine in the early 1990s, according to a National Journal story that also noted Iran was believed to be involved in the operation as far back as the 1970s. Flake co-sponsored similar legislation in the last Congress.

The senators' press release talked up the potential benefits for America.

“We won’t let Congress overlook how important this land exchange is for Arizona and our nation,” said Senator John McCain. “This bill gives us access to the largest copper deposit in North America and creates about 3,700 jobs in an area of our state particularly hard-hit by the economic downturn. It’s shameful that some in Congress have played politics with this proposal for seven years and it is now costing hardworking families their livelihoods as the layoffs announced in December continue. I am grateful for Senator Flake’s dedication to this issue and to my colleagues in the House who are working together across party lines to breathe new life into this tremendous opportunity.”

“This bill presents Congress with a rare opportunity to approve a measure that not only allows for the creation of thousands of private-sector jobs at no cost to the federal government, but to also protect thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive land,” said Senator Jeff Flake.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/iran-uranium-mine-senate-_n_2689999.html?ref=topbar

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! HERE IS THE AD IN THE LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES TODAY 19APR12

HERE is the ad from the NRDC that ran in the NY Times on 16APR12 and is in the London (U.K.) Financial Times today while representatives of the NRDC and other environmental organizations as well as residents of Bristol Bay and the area of of proposed mine testify against the mine at the annual shareholders meetings of anglo american and rio tinto in London.

		You Helped Us Turn Up the Heat! Thanks to you, our full-page ad exposing the mining giants behind the Pebble Mine ran in Monday’s New York Times. Pressure is building on the companies to take No for an answer. View the Ad Again. We did it! Thanks to donations from thousands of supporters like you, our hard-hitting ad slamming the two British-based corporations behind the disastrous Pebble Mine appeared in Monday’s national edition of The New York Times. The ad will also run in London’s Financial Times on Thursday, the same day that both companies will be holding their annual shareholders meetings -- forcing investors to ask themselves if they really want a share of this environmental and financial disaster. NRDC will be delivering 400,000 new Letters of Protest to those meetings and we’ll be testifying, alongside representatives from Bristol Bay, against this unacceptable assault on one of America’s last and greatest wild places. Thanks to you, our public mobilization campaign is reaching millions of people -- on both sides of the Atlantic -- with the ugly truth behind this toxic mega-mine. Thank you for standing with us in this fight. I’ll be sure to keep you updated in the days and weeks ahead. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! from NRDC 5APR12

THE battle against the Pebble mine in Alaska continues and the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is asking people to watch this video and then sign their petition to rio tinto and anglo american in time to be delivered with tens of thousands of other's signatures to these companies shareholder meetings on 19 APR12. Click the link to participate......

“Please watch our new video about the Pebble Mine, then make your voice heard in London when and where it counts.” -- Robert Redford Two weeks from now, foreign mining giants Anglo American and Rio Tinto -- two of the major backers of the disastrous Pebble Mine -- will hold their annual shareholder meetings in London. There’s no better time for you and me to shine a harsh spotlight on their plans and turn up the heat on their executives and investors. That’s why I joined with NRDC to make a new, hard-hitting video about this outrageous assault on an American natural treasure. But we’re counting on you to do the rest. Please watch this one-minute video, then sign our Petition of Protest. It will be delivered directly to the shareholder meetings in London by representatives of NRDC. Here’s the ugly truth: the Pebble Mine would dump some 10 billion tons of toxin-laced mining waste into one of our nation’s last and greatest wild places -- endangering a wildlife paradise, the world’s greatest sockeye salmon runs and the people who depend on that extraordinary fishery for survival. Is it any wonder that the Native communities and fishermen of Bristol Bay have united against this apocalyptic threat? Rio Tinto and Anglo American love to talk about their respect for local communities. Talk is cheap. Despite overwhelming local opposition, these global corporations continue bulldozing ahead with plans that could destroy the very headwaters of Bristol Bay. You have to wonder what part of “No” these companies don’t understand. Two weeks from now, we’re going to hold them accountable in their own backyard. Please join me in telling Anglo American and Rio Tinto that they are in for the fight of their lives. Watch the video and sign our new Petition right away. We will deliver it, along with your signature, directly to the shareholder meetings on April 19. People around the world have already sent 750,000 messages voicing their opposition to the Pebble Mine. Help us make it to one million strong! And thank you for fighting alongside me and NRDC to stop the Pebble Mine. Sincerely, Robert Redford Trustee Natural Resources Defense Council

Two rivers run through it, UPDATE ON THE CAMPAIGN TO STOP PEBBLE MINE from NRDC 17NOV10

		“Please watch this short video about a disaster waiting to befall an American natural treasure.” -- Robert Redford The proposed Pebble Mine may be the worst corporate assault on America’s natural heritage that no one’s ever heard of. I need your help to change that -- and fast. Please watch NRDC’s new, two-minute video about this approaching disaster. Global mining giants -- including the Anglo American corporation, Mitsubishi and Rio Tinto -- would gouge one of the world’s largest open-pit mines out of Alaska’s incomparable Bristol Bay wilderness. My friends at NRDC call it the worst project they’ve ever seen -- and they’ve seen hundreds of them. That’s because this colossal mine would be built at the very headwaters of our planet’s greatest wild salmon river systems: the Kvichak and the Nushagak. Tens of millions of salmon course through this unspoiled Eden, feeding not just an abundance of bears, whales, seals and eagles but also the Alaskan Native communities that have thrived here for thousands of years. Nothing like this place exists anywhere else on Earth. It is a remnant of American wilderness as it used to be, the kind of mythic landscape that Norman MacLean had in mind when he famously wrote: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.” And it is right here -- in the heart of this American Eden -- that foreign mining giants want to excavate their 2,000-foot-deep Pebble Mine. This monstrosity will spew some 10 billion tons of mining waste, laced with toxic chemicals, that must be held back forever by massive earthen dams up to 50 stories tall -- all in an active earthquake zone. The Pebble Mine is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. If it pollutes the Kvichak and the Nushagak River systems, it will take down not only the world’s greatest sockeye salmon fishery but the awe-inspiring ecosystem that depends on it. America has sacrificed too many rivers and wildlands to the mining industry, which has consistently left them despoiled and unrecognizable -- before sticking us with the astronomical cleanup costs. There is still time to save Bristol Bay from a similar fate. After you watch our new video, tell the mining giants you won’t let them plunder and destroy one of America’s greatest natural treasures in order to line their own pockets. Please join with me and NRDC -- and thousands of Alaskan Natives, fishermen and conservationists -- in fighting the Pebble Mine and saving this remnant of our disappearing natural heritage. Sincerely, Robert Redford Trustee, Natural Resources Defense Council P.S. After you watch the video and take action, you’ll have an opportunity to forward my message to other environmentally concerned people. Please take a few seconds to spread the word. I am convinced we can stop the Pebble Mine by alerting one million Americans to what’s at stake. Building this kind of outcry needs to happen one person at a time, starting with you. Thank you for doing your part!