Good sense prevails?

At a time when stances on climate change have become a nearly essential part of a politician's public portfolio, the Trump administration has never been ambiguous about its stand on the matter. Even before he took office, Donald Trump had gone on record multiple times, stating that climate change was an expensive hoax that costs too much in the way of lost economic potential. Indeed, as noted by Hilary Clinton in a 2016 pre-election speech, Trump had called climate change a "Chinese hoax to make US manufacturing non-competitive" in 2012. After becoming President, he made pulling America out of the Paris Agreement one of his main hallmarks, a way to mark the new Trump era. To his credit, he has stuck with this line throughout many climate change-related crises that have devastated various parts of the US. Even now, as the new round of California wildfires visits untold devastation on the area, Trump has persisted in his denial of climate change. While Trump may tend to reverse course when he runs into too much opposition with his decisions, he has generally been quite adamant about climate change. This is precisely why the still-developing fiasco regarding the Alaska Pebble Mine is so unusual in many regards. To recap, Alaska is home to a vast copper and gold deposit known as the Pebble Deposit which is known to be worth an estimated USD 500 billion. The proposal to build a vast open-pit mine in the ecologically sensitive Bristol Bay area is decades old. Not only was the mining plan opposed by many environmentally concerned individuals and agencies, but it was also opposed by many different Native Alaskan groups, tour operators and commercial fishermen. The point of contention beyond the obvious degradation of an unspoiled ecosystem was the fact that the Bristol Bay region is also home to the largest population of sockeye salmon run, a resource that not only feeds thousands of natives but also provides for an annual USD 1.5 billion fishing industry which would be endangered by the mine. With all the opposition facing the mine, from both sides of the political aisle, the project looked to be relegated to the dust heap of history but not for long.

Since 2017, the Pebble Partnership has been lobbying the Trump administration with its plans for a new 'environmentally friendly' mine which it claims is not going to endanger the nearby fishing areas. A heavily criticised report by the Army Corps of Engineers has corroborated this point. Other agencies, including the EPA itself, have not been quite so convinced. Indeed, many have pointed to the rather blatant nature of Pebble Partnership's long term plan in criticising the organisation for bending the truth. The critics say that even a cursory look at the economics of the mine reveals that it would not be economically feasible to keep the mine at the size that is being proposed. Eventually, with all the new infrastructure required, an extension of the mine would be required to make it profitable.

Debates aside, Trump looked determined to push the mining permission through. But now, the project is once more in limbo with prominent Republicans, Trump supporters and even Donald Trump Jr himself opposing the plans. Trump has now made assurances to Alaska that the mine will be reconsidered with no hint of partisan power play in sight. This fiasco has brought home the fact that the environment is not a partisan issue and staging the debate as a 'salmon vs gold' argument has thankfully not offset the growing opposition to the mine. Hope, as they say, springs eternal.