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Talk Is Cheap Gov. Spencer Cox, sounding a lot like he was at a priesthood meeting, made a valiant effort to reconnect with the disaffected Outdoor Retailer folks. "Bring 'em home" was the message as a new round of negotiations starts. Outdoor Retailer and its annual trade show left Utah in a huff in 2017 after the state began its quixotic effort to "take back federal lands" and oppose the Bears Ears National Monument. The Deseret News ran Cox's heartfelt video plea in a story touting the state's "changes," like a nice big airport and 700-room convention center hotel. And of course, Utah sees an opening because Denver is mile-high in costs as well as elevation. "We're working with key stakeholders and the Department of the Interior to establish sustainable ways to manage Bears Ears National Monument and other cherished public lands," Cox said in the video.Sure we are. And we're going to sue the Biden administration over mask mandates, rev up nuclear waste and, oh yeah, build a polluting inland port near the airport.
Nuclear Options Speaking of nuclear issues, there's a new PR campaign in Utah to make it all better. A Salt Lake Tribune report asks the question of whether the uranium industry means a "green" energy future or a radioactive threat. Have you heard that before? The difference in the pitch now is China, its resources and its super competitiveness. The accursed Chinese have become the latest boogeymen in the global hierarchy, and they have a lock on the rare earth industry, which is key to everything from phones to automobile computers. The U.S. and Utah want some of that and are looking to revive the White Mesa Mill in San Juan County to begin production. But who are you going to believe—the glad-handers who say everything is safe? Or the environmentalists and Native Americans who recall high rates of cancer and contaminated groundwater?
The Heat Is On Kids. They have to be the hope for the future because adults have simply messed things up. The world's youth and those in Utah took to the streets for Climate Week 2021, and we can only wonder whether policymakers and politicians noticed—or cared. There are predictions that by 2500, the earth will be uninhabitable. Climate change is exacerbating the border crisis as immigrants flee drought and floods. No one wants to live on the coast anymore, and climate events are consistently the worst ever seen. Students in Utah have been protesting the state of the world since 2019 when activist Greta Thunberg started Fridays for Future. In a Deseret News story, lawmakers agreed that climate change is real, but they're just not sure if it's "really" important to address now. They do seem to want a free-market approach, but that could take time the world doesn't have.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses and Citizen Revolt columns. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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