No Choice – No Voice – No Vote Utah
We disagree better, but we still have no Vote. Nuke Plants, Data Centers, the Olympics, the Gondola, the Stadiums, the Prison Move, Tax Increases –
One thing is for sure in Utah the peasants who fund it never get to vote on it. The People are too stupid to vote, only just smart to get college degrees to work two jobs to pay for it. Utah elite R’s have nuked Democracy in No-Vote Utah.
Leaders let you Vote. Dictators don’t let you Vote. Nuke Energy is expensive and dangerous. Building nuke plants all throughout Utah makes Utah a military and terrorist target.
Who is going to run these nuke plants? Children who can’t sit still for 5 minutes, drinking “energy” drinks, dirty soda, cookies, and candy who can’t walk a mile with ADD on meds or insulin? We are not healthy enough to run nuke plants safely.
Clean Natural Gas, Clean Coal, Clean Solar, and Clean Geothermal energy are plenty of power. 9,000 Data Centers (1 per 15,000 families) are built to as super weapons to surveille and control families, hack and break into power stations, missiles sites, and nuke plants.
We’re building Data Centers to hack into other county’s nuke plants run by our own nuke plants. This is an escalation of war tools. This arms race with Data Centers and 140 new Nuke Power plants run by Sillycone Slopers isn’t going to end well. Because there is no Public debate. No Public Vote. No guardrails.
No Choice – No Voice – No Vote Utah on anything except the “chosen” beautiful people put on a fake ballot for us by billionaire donors in a pretend democracy to “vote” on every two years. The system is too rigged. Too corrupt. Too dark. Leading means open debate and Vote by the People not edicts from elite politicians and billionaires deciding for us poor stupid people.
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Box Elder County delays vote on hyperscale data center, under pressure from protesters and Utah leaders
With Utah leaders urging speed and local residents protesting that they should slow down, Box Elder County commissioners voted to delay a decision on giving final approval to a “hyperscale” data center campus and energy project.
“The thing that’s so frustrating for us, for commissioners, is all of a sudden, we’re brought this in the last hour, and we’re expected to hurry,” Commission Chair Tyler Vincent said, shortly before the three commissioners decided to table the decision.
The next meeting to vote on the project was scheduled for next Monday, May 4, at 4 p.m. at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building to accommodate the crowd. The larger venue was chosen after some 80 people packed the commission chamber Monday, spilling out into the hallway.
Some of those people carried signs reading “Where’s the research,” “People before profits” and “Say no to data center.”
After the vote to delay, cheers and applause broke out inside the chamber and from those gathered outside the room.
Commissioner Lee Perry said the commission first learned about the project through “rumors” during the last legislative session, before the state’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) presented it to them.
To better understand the proposal, Vincent said the county brought in an outside legal team. He did not say how much that help cost the area’s taxpayers.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Box Elder County commissioners Boyd Bingham, Tyler Vincent and Lee Perry discuss a MIDA and Kevin O’Leary data center project at a special meeting in Brigham City on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Representing MIDA at the meeting, Project Area Director Hilary Venable said MIDA wants “full transparency” and apologized for how late county leaders were brought into discussions.
“We apologize and know that that is not the MIDA way,” Venable said. “Because of the nature of the competitiveness of this project, to come to Utah or to another state, that is the reason why this has been exponentially put into motion.”
‘It affects all of us’
Some protesters arrived at the Box Elder County Historic Courthouse, where commission meetings are held, about an hour early, standing in the rain before filing inside.
Once inside the chamber, they held up their rain-soaked signs throughout much of the meeting, occasionally pointing to them and silently signaling commissioners to address their questions.
At other moments, frustration spilled over into shouted interjections from the crowd, drawing warnings from the commission chair that disruptors could be removed.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People debate the project as the Box Elder County Commission prepared to meet on a MIDA and Kevin O’Leary data center project in Brigham City on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Attendees traveled from across northern Utah — including Cache and Weber counties — to voice opposition to the project, citing concerns about water use and energy demand, as well as frustration that they felt the public had little opportunity to comment before a decision was set to be made.
Mike Sims said he traveled from his South Ogden home to protest “because it affects all of us here in northern Utah.”
Other like Barbara Haggerty, who lives in Logan, said she worries the 2,000 permanent and high-paying jobs MIDA says the project will create won’t pay enough to “put groceries on the table.”
Monday’s turnout was organized through messages shared in the days leading up to the meeting, said Julie Quinlan, a Brigham City resident, describing it as a last-minute effort.
At one point, as Venable was speaking on behalf of MIDA, Quinlan interrupted, saying: “You’ve allowed this woman to come and speak three times, and you’ve allowed the public to speak once.”
In a Thursday Facebook post, the county said the “shortened session” will not include public comment. Commissioners said Monday that the public had been able to comment at the meeting last Wednesday, but many in the room said they had not been aware.
“Such large decisions like this shouldn’t be made without public input and without some serious pressure to make sure that we will be okay,” Haggerty said, “because we’re the ones who live here and call this place home.”
On the Utah Public Notice website, where the county posts meeting notices in compliance with state law, there is a notice for Wednesday’s meeting where public comment was held for the data center project and other agenda items.
There is no separate notice for a formal public hearing on the project — a step typically required under Utah law for certain land-use decisions, including zoning changes and development regulations.
At that Wednesday meeting, some residents told commissioners they felt the project had been handled quietly and they had been left without clear information as the timeline moved forward.
However, some landowners in Hansel Valley — the unincorporated area where the first phase of the project is planned — said they were contacted by MIDA about selling their property and told the commission they support the project.
Tim Munns, who lives in the valley, said he’s not “selling out,” as only a small portion of his property is included in the project. He added that he supports the project, for the economic benefits MIDA has said it would bring to the county.
“It was either watch what’s happening or be involved,” he said. “So we chose to be involved.”
MIDA and county commissioners will hold two town halls in the “coming weeks” where the public can weigh in, the Facebook post states.
Later on Monday, the county commissioners said in a news release they delayed the decision to take more time to review the proposal and understand the “potential benefits and impacts” to residents.
“We want Box Elder County residents to know that we are listening and want to hear from you,” Vincent said in the news release. “While we’re excited at the potential investment and job creation Stratos can bring, it’s our responsibility to make sure this project is done the right way — protecting our agricultural heritage, maintaining local control, and addressing concerns from our residents.”
In the release, the commission said it created an online form for residents to submit questions about the project.
Tax breaks for the MIDA project
The project is planned for 40,000 acres in unincorporated Box Elder County, where every private landowner has agreed to the use of their land; and on an additional 1,200 acres that include a section of the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), which is a Department of Defense site, and property owned by the Utah Trust Lands Administration.
It was approved by the MIDA board at a meeting on Friday, where state boosters said the proceeds will fund modern buildings at Hill Air Force Base while generating all of its own power, cleaning the water it uses so it can be sent to the Great Salt Lake, and creating 2,000 high-paying jobs in the rural area.
Box Elder County commissioners, who said at a Wednesday meeting that they had first heard of the proposal a few weeks ago, had been scheduled to give the project the last approval it needs at a meeting late Friday. But late Friday afternoon, that meeting was rescheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.
The head developer of the project is O’Leary Digital, owned by Kevin O’Leary, a Canadian tycoon and one of the investors on the reality show “Shark Tank,” where his nickname is “Mr. Wonderful.” O’Leary also made his movie debut last year, co-starring with Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.”
MIDA can offer tax incentives to developers so as they build in a project area, they can claim decades-long rebates of the property taxes assessed on the increased value they’re creating. MIDA also can set special tax levies to raise funds and can issue bonds.
At the Friday meeting, Paul Morris, MIDA’s executive director, outlined proposed tax breaks — that the board then approved — for O’Leary’s project. Even with the breaks, the project will generate millions for Utah, he emphasized.
• MIDA usually imposes a 6% energy use tax on its developments. But to stay competitive with others trying to land deals with the same companies, Morris asked board members to approve a sharply reduced rate for the project’s data centers. The board agreed to set it at 0.5%.
• Instead of a standard certificate of occupancy — which would normally trigger property taxes — the project will use a “letter of completion” that sets a flat 1.2% tax on a site’s value. From there, the tax is further reduced. The developer is first credited back enough to bring it in line with Box Elder County’s normal property tax rate, which Morris said is about 0.926%.
Of the tax revenue collected at that rate, 80% will be directed to O’Leary Digital, Morris said.
• Personal property taxes also will be rebated for data centers, he said.
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California Supreme Court Unanimously Reins in Coastal Commission’s Overreach in Major Property Rights Victory
In a unanimous decision hailed as one of the most significant checks on the California Coastal Commission’s (CCC) power in nearly 40 years, the California Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the agency unlawfully overrode a county-approved building permit for a homebuilder in San Luis Obispo County.
The ruling in Shear Development Co., LLC v. California Coastal Commission affirms that the unelected CCC cannot simply second-guess local governments’ interpretations of their own Local Coastal Programs or invent new jurisdictional claims based on non-binding illustrations in county plans.
Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), which represented Shear Development pro bono, celebrated the victory as a win for every coastal property owner. “Today’s decision is a win for every property owner along California’s coast,” said PLF attorney Jeremy Talcott. “The Coastal Commission cannot simply decide to reinterpret legislation based on its own whims. Its authority has limits, and today the court enforced them unanimously.”
The case stems from Shear Development’s purchase of eight residential lots in Los Osos in 2003. The company built infrastructure for all eight homes with San Luis Obispo County approval and planned construction in two phases. In 2017, the county approved the phase-two permits under its certified Local Coastal Program. But the CCC appealed the county’s decision to itself, claiming jurisdiction based on a buried illustration in a county area plan—rather than the official maps required by the Local Coastal Program.
Represented by PLF, Shear sued to hold the Commission accountable to the law. The Supreme Court agreed, reversing the CCC’s overreach and reinforcing the limits on its appellate authority over local permitting decisions.
“This decision corrects the Commission’s overreach,” Talcott added. “For years, the Commission has usurped the power given by the state legislature to local coastal communities to approve homebuilding permits.”
San Luis Obispo County, the League of California Cities, Californians for Homeownership, and the California Association of Realtors filed amicus briefs supporting Shear and urging the court to curb the CCC’s expansive reach. The state agency, comprised of political appointees, controls over 1.5 million acres of coastal land.
The ruling marks a rare judicial rebuke of the CCC, an agency created in the 1970s that has long been criticized for wielding near-unchecked power over development along California’s 840-mile coastline. As the California Globe has repeatedly documented, the Commission has obstructed critical projects ranging from desalination plants to SpaceX rocket launches and even wildfire rebuilding efforts in Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
California Globe contributor Edward Ring highlighted the agency’s flawed premise and its preference for “managed retreat” over practical property rights. Our coverage of the CCC’s denial of SpaceX launches and its recommendations against the Huntington Beach desalination plant underscored how the Commission’s decisions often prioritize ideology over housing, infrastructure, and economic growth.
PLF has a storied history of challenging CCC abuses, most famously securing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court victory in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987), which established that the agency cannot condition permits on the surrender of private property without just compensation.
Today’s unanimous state high court decision builds on that legacy, delivering another blow to bureaucratic overreach.
For Shear Development and countless other coastal property owners, the ruling offers hope that local control and property rights may finally prevail over un-elected state agencies. In a state grappling with a severe housing shortage, Wednesday’s decision could pave the way for more sensible permitting and less arbitrary interference from Sacramento’s coastal overlords.
Trump administration takes emergency step to sustain Lake Powell, a key Colorado River reservoir
Actions will begin all the way up on the Wyoming-Utah border, where the federal government will release a significant amount of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado
The water crisis along the Colorado River, a critical source for California and six other states, has gotten so serious that the Trump administration is responding with emergency measures to prevent disaster at the nation’s second largest reservoir.
The effort to boost the water level of Lake Powell will bring consequences, cutting water to farms and cities across the Southwest.
The actions will begin all the way up on the Wyoming-Utah border, where the federal government will release a significant amount of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado. Hundreds of miles downstream, that will help raise the level of Lake Powell, which straddles the Utah-Arizona border and is three-quarters empty, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Friday.
Next, the Trump administration will keep more water in that lake, shrinking the amount flowing downriver into Lake Mead near Las Vegas, which holds water for Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.
The measures are intended to prevent Lake Powell from falling so low that water would no longer reach intakes to turn turbines and generate electricity — a point it could have reached by August.
“It’s avoiding catastrophe, and it’s basically a one-year solution,” said Mark Gold, a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The federal government’s response was urgently needed, he said, “to basically stem the crisis for a year.”
Southern California cities get, on average, 20-25% of their water from the Colorado River. Farms in California’s Imperial Valley depend entirely on the river to grow crops including hay, broccoli and lettuce.
The reduction in the water that’s released from Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell will make major water cuts necessary in California, Arizona and Nevada, Gold said, but exactly how those cutbacks are divided hasn’t been decided yet.
The Bureau of Reclamation said in its announcement that the river’s reservoirs are at 36% of capacity and the drought is intensifying this year with the smallest snowpack on record and extreme heat.
If Lake Powell declines so low that its dam can no longer generate hydropower, that would also create other problems. Water could only pass through four 8-foot-wide bypass tubes, and that would limit how much would reach California, Arizona and Nevada.
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GOP Divided in Utah, Idaho over State Gov’t Support for Illegal Migrants
The western states of Idaho and Utah have begun to pull back from their former support for an influx of illegal aliens as they continue to struggle with the effects of their previous open-door policies, but cheap-labor employers and establishment Republicans are fighting against the efforts.
In Utah, for instance, state lawmakers have begun to work to repeal 2011’s pro-illegal migrant worker program and to end subsidized college tuition and home loans for illegals, Deseret News reported.
The move to repeal these measures faces stiff resistance from the GOP establishment and local employers who want the cheap labor, but this is the first move against the state’s previous support for untrammeled migration in more than a decade.
The paper notes that the “illegal immigrant population in Utah doubled from an estimated 90,000 to nearly 180,000 during the six-year period after state leaders recommitted to the principles outlined in the Utah Compact on Immigration in 2019.”
But in the intervening years, Utah communities have struggled to support mass migration as integration has not kept pace with expectations and social services and school budgets have groaned under the continuing burdens.
The Deseret News added that Salt Lake County has suffered the third-highest rate of illegal migrant arrivals in the country, a fact that has caused serious pressures on the county. Along with that, Utah itself became the sixth most popular landing spot for illegals in the nation, causing a lot of issues all across the Beehive State.
The crush of illegals has caused havoc by bringing in tens of thousands of students into state schools who could not read or speak English, causing schools to up staffers and teachers to deal with the Spanish-only problem. It also wildly increased the number of car accidents and traffic injuries and deaths as illegals without driver’s licenses flooded the roads. These and more financial problems were costs borne by Utah’s taxpayers.
The latter is particularly problematic. The News notes that “unlicensed drivers now account for 45% of the city’s DUI arrests and 40% of hit and runs. The issue is statewide: 2024 saw 262 crashes in Layton, 91 in St. George and eight highway fatalities involving unlicensed drivers.”
The mounting problems have finally caused Utah’s elected officials to begin moving away from previous open-door policies.
One of those officials is Republican state representative and House Speaker Mike Schultz.
“There’s an important balance,” Schultz told the paper. “I think Utahans have always been very open and welcoming, but we also want to make sure that we’re not straining our resources and that we can integrate those that are here.”
Another is GOP Majority Whip Rep. Candice Pierucci.
“The state is doing our best to try and manage what has happened over the past four … years, and I think that we’re moving in a direction to try and right some of those policies that might have made us a magnet,” Pierucci said.
Consequently, a number of different bills to put more limits on illegal migration, put an end to funding for illegals, and to help the federal government arrest and deport illegals are making their way through the state capital in Salt Lake City.
But the establishment is fighting hard against the measures. In another case of the cheap-labor establishment, the Utah Senate is trying to torpedo HB 294, a bill that would reset E-Verify from companies with 100 employees and up down to 50 employees and up.
Nearby Idaho is also moving to reverse its lax restrictions on illegals.
The Idaho House recently passed House Bills 700 and 704, which would require E-Verify, to put penalties on businesses that hire illegals and tighten controls on illegals getting jobs in the state. The two bills were passed out of the House with the recommendation that the Senate pass them quickly, however, the bills were pushed into the Senate’s State Affairs committee, which is often “where bills go to die,” activists in the state say.
The legislature is also working on six bills to require collection of immigration status focused on schools and hospitals.
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The future of American nuclear energy just touched down in Utah
- The U.S. Department of War airlifted a five-megawatt miniature nuclear reactor built by Valar Atomics to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, on Sunday, with plans for it to begin generating power in Emery County by July 4, 2026.
- Federal and state leaders, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, credited deregulation under Donald Trump for accelerating private-sector nuclear innovation and licensing.
- Officials in Carbon and Emery counties say small modular reactors could revive coal-hit local economies and bring long-term jobs and infrastructure investment to rural Utah.
The U.S. Department of War airlifted a miniature nuclear reactor across the American West on Sunday, marking a historic shift in what is possible in the world of energy production.
Components of the 5-megawatt advanced nuclear reactor, manufactured by Valar Atomics in Southern California, were transported to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, aboard three U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft.
The flight marked the first time ever a nuclear reactor was transported by C-17, and showed the possibilities for future deployment of nuclear energy infrastructure.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other leaders accompanied the reactor on the flight, then spoke at a press conference following the landing. Echoing earlier declarations, Cox said he plans for Utah to lead the country in nuclear energy production.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there are moments in history when technologies redefine what is possible in a nation. Advanced nuclear for national security belongs in that lineage,” he said.
Cox referenced the state’s initiative to expand its energy abundance through nuclear and geothermal energy sources. “Operation gigawatt is not a slogan,“ he said. ”It is a commitment to build energy capacity that powers economic growth, military readiness and national strength.”
From the stand, Curtis also praised his state for its push to become energy independent following the 1970s energy crisis.
“We decided at that time, in a non-partisan way, that we would never be dependent on a foreign power for energy again,” he said. “And just a few years ago, when we reached that spot where we knew we could be energy independent, the whole energy world changed.”
The nuclear reactor will be transported from Hill Air Force Base to Orangeville, Utah, in Emery County, and is expected to begin generating power before July 4, 2026.
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Wyoming Supreme Court Declares Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
The Wyoming Supreme Court in a 4-1 majority ruled Tuesday that Wyoming’s abortion bans are unconstitutional, under the state Constitution’s promise of health care autonomy.
The decision doesn’t defer to an earlier decision by Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens, but charts its own course through the constitutional amendment to arrive at the same ultimate result.
Retired Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Kate Fox was called back onto the high court to participate in the decision.
The ruling concludes nearly four years of legal challenges in Wyoming since the state’s 2022 abortion ban “triggered” into place with the overturn of the federal abortion right under Roe vs. Wade.
One sequel to that law and other abortion bans and restrictions have followed.
After the ruling Tuesday, legislative leaders vowed to start the process of asking voters to change the constitution. The Wyoming Attorney General also intends to file a petition for re-hearing, the governor announced.
Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Lynne Boomgaarden wrote the majority opinion for the court.
All five justices agreed that under Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution — a 2012 amendment originally designed to combat “Obamacare” mandates, but which promises health care autonomy to competent adults and parents on behalf of their children — includes abortion as a woman’s own health care decision.
That counters the state’s argument, that the woman’s “own” decision can’t discount the life of her unborn child.
“In a footnote, the majority highlighted the State’s argument that the language of Article 1, Section 38 was only meant to deal with Obamacare concerns, not abortion choices,” says a brief introduction to the opinion. “The Court recognized it cannot add words to the Wyoming Constitution, that’s not its job.
“But lawmakers could ask Wyoming voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would more clearly address this issue.”
The Wyoming Legislature since 2022 has attempted multiple abortion restrictions, but has not advanced a proposed change to the state Constitution’s health care autonomy provision.
A Fundamental Right, Too
After finding that abortion fits the definition of “health care,” the justices splintered into different paths that led four of them to strike down the state’s abortion bans, and one of them, Justice Kari Gray, to dissent.
Justices Fox, Boomgaarden, and Robert Jarosh all concluded that health care autonomy, which they said includes abortion access, is such a fundamental right that it falls under the legal standard of “strict scrutiny” — the toughest court standard applied to any government action.
To get its abortion bans past the high court, the Wyoming Legislature would have had to show that those bans served a compelling government interest, and that they were tailored in the least onerous way to achieve that interest.
The state failed to show the second half of that standard, the majority concluded.
Justice John Fenn arrived at that same result, but by a different method, pointing to the state Constitution’s provision that says the Legislature can determine “reasonable and necessary restrictions” to the health care right.
Still, concluded Fenn, the state failed to show its newest ban and its ban on abortion pills are reasonable and necessary enough to abridge the right.
Gray agreed with Fenn on using the “reasonable and necessary” standard, but said she would defer to the Legislature when deciding whether the abortion bans fit that standard. She was the lone dissent, who would have reversed Owens’ decision.
Gov. Mark Gordon called the ruling “profoundly unfortunate” and said it “sadly only serves to prolong the ultimate and proper resolution of this issue.”
The ruling settles the legal question for now, Gordon continued, “but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.”
Gordon said the issue should go before the people for a vote on whether to change the constitution – this fall.
“I call on the legislature to pass and place a clear constitutional amendment on my desk during the upcoming Budget Session,” he said. “I remain committed to the mission of saving our unborn. Every year that we delay the proper resolution of this issue results in more deaths of unborn children. This is a dilemma of enormous moral and social consequence.”
Analyzing The Abortion-Is-Health-Care Ruling
In concluding that abortions are health care, the Wyoming Supreme Court pointed to how abortions are performed and the health effects – caused by pregnancy – that they may reverse.
“The Plaintiffs presented evidence showing pregnancy can cause and exacerbate certain physical and mental health conditions,” says the majority’s opinion. Two plaintiffs, Dr. Renee Hinkle and Dr. Giovannina Anthony, both OB/GYNs in Wyoming, told Owens’ court that pregnancy can cause numerous, various health conditions. The record also shows pregnancy can cause or exacerbate mental health conditions, the order notes.
The state’s counsel in this case, Wyoming Attorney General Deputy Jay Jerde, had argued against this kind of thinking, saying health care treats ailments and diseases, and the unborn child is not an ailment or a disease.
The high court countered: “As a medical means to address the adverse effects of pregnancy and ‘restore’ a woman to a ‘condition of being sound in body, mind or spirit; [especially]: freedom from physical disease or pain,’ abortion is ‘health care.’”
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Incredible surprise discovery under sands of Utah desert that could give US military huge edge over China
Critical minerals used for building weapons and other essential electronics have been discovered in the sands of Utah‘s Silicon Ridge.
Some 16 different types of high quality minerals were uncovered in a 74,000 square foot mining site in Provo.
The find could give the US an edge over China which has long dominated the market.
Andre Zeitoun, chief executive of Ionic Mineral Technologies (IMT), which owns the mining site, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘You can’t make a vehicle without these, you can’t make a fighter jet without some of these metals.’
He added that the elements are also used for semiconductors, electronics and chips that power artificial intelligence.
Those discovered include lithium, alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium and niobium, the Journal reported.
Rubidium and cesium are used in atomic clocks, whereas scandium is essential for the development of aircraft and missiles.
Germanium is similar to silicon but is incredibly rare and is critical for developing semiconductors.
Some 16 critical minerals have been discovered in the Silicon Ridge mine site in Utah
The discovery is an essential step toward eliminating reliance on other countries since the US currently imports rubidium, cesium and scandium.
IMT added that they have been in talks with the White House and the Trump administration has expressed ‘clear enthusiasm’ about the discovery and its potential national impact.
The US trails China significantly in the critical minerals market, with the latter supplying about 90 percent of the world’s rare minerals.
In November, the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a bipartisan investigation arguing that the CCP was manipulating the critical minerals market.
The investigation argued that the People’s Republic of China subsidized state-owned mining companies and established a legal framework that enabled them to alter prices to advance national security interests.
‘The PRC government, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has engaged in a coordinated, decades-long scheme to control different critical minerals and bend the global market to their will,’ the investigation stated.
‘The PRC’s domination of critical minerals stems from its view of minerals in geostrategic terms, not as typical market commodities.
The committee accused the PRC of pushing down the prices of critical minerals, including lithium, used in batteries, electronics and military equipment.
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Emerald Robinson on Utah Corruption
Hageman Says California Needs To Get In Gear, Stop Going After Wyoming’s Water
Wyoming Republican congresswoman Harriet Hageman blasted California for supposedly failing to upgrade its water infrastructure, leaving it too dependent on Wyoming and other Upper Colorado River Basin states.
“California has essentially the same water infrastructure in place today, with 40 million people, that they had in the 1960s with 16 million people,” Hageman said Thursday during an appearance on the Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake Nichols.
California could reduce its demand for river water through desalination technology, or removing salt from Pacific Ocean water, she said, adding that desalination has been used effectively for water supplies in Israel.
However, California’s leadership has failed promote the technology, she said.
“But again, their leadership is such a failure, they want to spend their money on stupid things such as the climate change and global warming and social justice issues rather than actually providing water to their citizens,” said Hageman, a lawyer with a background in water and natural resources litigation.
Building Tensions
Hagman’s comments came as tensions continue to build over the future of water use along the Colorado River. Part of the river’s headwaters are in Wyoming with the Green River and Little Snake River.
Wyoming is also one of the four Upper Basin states bound by a 123-year-old water compact that also includes Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.
The main point of contention is between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin states: California, Nevada and Arizona.
The Upper Basin states claim that the Lower Basin is taking too much water. The Lower Basin states claim that the Upper Basin states haven’t done enough to improve the efficiency of their agricultural irrigation and other water uses to allow more of the Colorado to flow downriver.
The seven states missed a deadline last week to at least draw up a preliminary agreement over water management going forward.
They have until mid-February to reach a final agreement or face possible intervention from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The states and the Department of Interior reached a series of agreements for water use operations, starting in 2007. But those agreements all expire in 2026, meaning a new operations plan must be drawn up.
Water rights for the states, Native American tribes along the river and Mexico were designated under the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
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