Modern Mining Is Environmentally Safe

Your claim that industry litigation has led to backdoor deals to attack our pristine federal lands cannot be substantiated (“Negotiating Away the Environment,” editorial, Oct. 30). Dozens of concerned businesses, and even several states, filed suits over the thousands of pages of new regulations the Clinton administration adopted in its final weeks.

In adopting its proposals against mining, the Clinton administration not only ignored congressional mandates and the conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences, it relied upon flawed legal opinions and disregarded procedural requirements. The Bush administration’s decision to make modest modifications to the mining regulations will avoid protracted and expensive litigation and will still ensure environmental protection for our federal lands.

Mining is--and will continue to be--regulated in California. Our advanced technical know-how has pioneered safe environmental practices that are now standard throughout the West.

Denise M. Jones

Executive Director, California

Mining Assn., Sacramento

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Re your editorial: Interior Secretary Gale Norton and the administration are using patriotic fervor to try to sneak in oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and they might get away with it. However, one way to stop them would be to play their own game. What if citizens joined the flag-waving and demanded a rider on the bill that said all oil from leases on federal lands had to be sold in the U.S.? Since most Alaskan oil is not sold in the U.S., just watch how quickly late-night meetings at the White House with oil companies would produce an energy bill without ANWR.

Tim Willoughby

Crowley Lake, Calif.