In Idaho access to water for farmers has been a precarious gamble due to reinterpretation of government regulations. Yet the needs of the Climate Change “Crisis” require that mining of Cobalt be expanded, but not by US based companies. Mismanagement seems to be the real issue, not climate change.
Water Crisis In Idaho, I Dunno
https://www.kivitv.com/news/magic-valley/water-curtailment-order-lifted-for-farmers-in-east-idaho
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Groundwater and surface water irrigators have finished a deal that’s set to save 330,000 acres of Idaho’s farmland from drying up, averting an economic catastrophe in the Gem State.
The 2024 mitigation agreement was brokered by Governor Little and Lt. Governor Bedke and accepted by the Idaho Department of Water Resources on June 20, just one week after IDWR Director Mathew Weaver ordered that his staff pause compliance field inspections in connection with the May 30 water curtailment order during negotiations.
https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article289046094.html
Idaho has plenty of water, as evidenced by the average annual dumping of over 1 million acre-feet out of the system over the past 25 years.
Instead, the Idaho Department of Water Resources has come to rely on a flawed deal negotiated in 2016 and reinterpreted in 2022 , seen as a be-all-end-all solution for water issues in the eastern Snake Plain. The Surface Water Coalition, including the Twin Falls Canal Company, is the senior water user named in the ongoing water call that requires groundwater users to deliver over 74,000 acre-feet of water this year. That’s to compensate them for a supposed shortfall produced by a biased water model, and despite a surplus of over 500,000 acre-feet in storage within the canal system.
This year, the system has seen an 850,000-acre-foot increase in water flowing into the river from the aquifer, 300,000+ acre-feet in aquifer recharge, a 400-500 cubic-feet-per-second increase in flows at Thousand Springs, 102% of average water above Heise, reservoirs filling before water is released to prevent flooding, and a 600,000+ acre-foot water dump over Milner Dam due to excess.
To Save The Earth We Must Mine and Drill
It is interesting that all concerns brought on by fracking and how it would unleash earthquakes and poison groudwater have been set aside when we need batteries for renewable energy. Note how there is very little concern nor questions raised that there is no US based firm that can take advantage of access to our own resources. Globalism has to triumph in order for us to save the planet.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-graph-feb-2-2022.html
The clean energy revolution is replacing oil and gas with new global commodities: the minerals and metals needed in electric car batteries, solar panels and other forms of renewable energy. Plus, more and more of the technology we buy, from smartphones and laptops to home appliances and toys, are built with these natural resources.
The Energy Transition Will Require Cobalt. America’s Only Mine Can’t Get Off the Ground. The U.S. is playing catch-up in battery supply chains dominated by China
Lithium ion batteries.
Those would be the batteries in our phones and electric cars. Cobalt is an essential material in those batteries: It stabilizes them and gives them a longer life. As we all became more and more addicted to our phones and devices, and as countries like the US and China began investing heavily in electric vehicles, cobalt became the center of attention. Concerns arose about mining practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and cobalt was so critical that Apple actually purchased its own cobalt mine in the DRC to lock down a reliable supply.
Change in Priority
In January of 2024 we noted the change in the Department Defense stance with respects to being prepared for production during military crisis. Orange wrote an article The Militarized State of Washington where she highlighted a strategy for bolstering supply chains. The source of urgency: Ukraine and potential rising conflict. And the interesting fact is that the DoD seems very comfortable including international sources for this supply chain and yielding them access to US resources.
So, with the understanding that we are no longer working towards maintaining an economy for our own future instead we are being prepped to maintain a Global Initiative of deterrence and supplies, which forecasts sunny skies and rainbows for those who loath our history, despise Independence, reject education and skills and will be loyal to their own drum beating of how Justice will be served. Yup, it seems like a pretty pro-active strategy that the Biden Administration believes you deserve, America.
Australian Company Will Be Getting 15 Million in Funding
Jervois is an Australian Company. This then would fall under the NAC if currently foreign companies are not allowed to manage and develop natural resources
- Jervois Global Limited, through its subsidiary Jervois Mining USA, entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for $15 million in funding[2][4][5].
- This funding comes from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act
- The funding is being provided under the U.S. Defense Production Act authorities, specifically through the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCIEP) office of Industrial Base Policy[2][5].
- The purpose of this funding is to advance U.S. cobalt supply chain security, which is considered important for defense, military, and energy transition applications[2].
cobalt is classified as a critical mineral by the U.S. government due to its importance in various strategic applications.
Formerly Cobalt Was Vital for Renewable Energy, No Concern in 2020 About Military Strategic Importance?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/01/cobalt-clean-energy-climate-change-idaho/621321/
Idaho Is Sitting on One of the Most Important Elements on Earth
The clean-energy revolution is unleashing a rush on cobalt, reviving old mines—and old questions—in a remote forest.
How Much Water Will Mining Require?
The Salmon-Challis National Forest covers 4.3 million acres of rolling mountains covered in trees, rivers, and wildlife living in the largest wilderness area in the United States.
Underneath the surface lies the Idaho Cobalt Belt, one of the country’s only large deposits of the critical mineral key to the lithium-ion batteries that power our phones, laptops, and increasingly our vehicles.
From a Jervois Copper Mine Proposal there is a water requirement of 3.5 ML = 924,602 Gallons
Are Natural Asset Companies Essential to Making This a “Green” Project?
What is a NAC?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering a proposal to allow the creation and listing of a new type of corporate entity called Natural Asset Companies (NACs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Here’s an explanation of the key points:
- Purpose: NACs are designed to focus on maximizing the value of “ecological services” provided by natural assets, rather than generating traditional profits.
- Unique structure: NACs would have unique listing requirements tailored to their specific purpose, incorporating a different accounting methodology than traditional companies[1].
- Asset focus: NACs could potentially manage and profit from natural resources, including public lands, national parks, and other ecological assets.
- Environmental emphasis: The goal is to create a financial incentive for land conservation and sustainable management of natural resources.
- Controversial aspects:
– Concerns have been raised about potential corporate control over public lands.
– There are worries about the impact on rural economies by potentially removing land from productive use].
– Questions exist about foreign investment in U.S. natural assets.
- Accounting framework: The SEC is considering using the United Nations System of Environmental and Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting Framework (SEEA EA) for financial disclosure reports of NACs.
- Oversight and reporting: NACs would be required to submit Ecological Performance Reports (EPRs), though the public accessibility of these reports is unclear.
Sources:
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nyse-2023-09/srnyse202309-337619-858942.pdf
https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nac/nac-078.html
https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nyse/2023/34-98665.pdf
What Are Criticisms?
Treasurer Oaks opposes SEC proposal to allow for the creation of a new type of company designed to lock up private and public lands
“The proposed creation of Natural Asset Companies is one of the greatest threats to rural communities in the history of our country,” Treasurer Oaks said. “Under the proposal, private interests, including foreign-owned sovereign wealth funds, could use their capital to purchase or manage farmland, national and state parks, and other mineral-rich areas and stop essential economic activities like farming, grazing, and energy extraction. Recreating on Utah’s incredible natural lands could also face serious curtailment.”
Unlike other types of companies, the purpose of a NAC is to maximize the value of the land’s “ecological services,” rather than generate a profit. Certain activities, including energy extraction and the use of farm machinery and synthetic fertilizers, would be prohibited on NAC-designated land.
Conflict with existing laws: The NAC proposal appears to conflict with federal laws that require public lands to be managed for multiple use and sustained yield
Carbon Credits
The proposal to monetize ecosystem services through carbon credits faces scrutiny, with doubts about the effectiveness and transparency of such credits in actually benefiting the environment.