Sen. Hawley says that the Interior Secretary’s quote may be “the most unbelievable thing I’ve heard from a member of this administration.”
Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior, supported her decision to close an important mineral mine in Minnesota by saying that there were already a lot of jobs for Americans.
During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked Haaland about her choice this year to ban mining on 225,504 acres near Duluth, Minnesota. Haaland’s comments were in answer. Hawley didn’t like the choice and pointed out that the project’s creator said it would create more than 1,000 jobs, which would be good for the economy.
“Your choice to give up our energy security for a bold plan to fight climate change makes us more and more reliant on China. Hawley said, “At the same time, you are blocking mine permits in this country.”
“The jobs that blue-collar people have in this country are very important. “The jobs and health of American families are important resources,” the senator said. “It’s a good thing that America has its own industries and doesn’t have to count on China. Why should these things, which are important to millions of Americans, be given up for your plan to change the climate in a bold way?
Haaland then answered and said that there were a lot of job openings all over the country.
“Senator, I know that there are about 1.9 jobs in the country for every American right now. “There are a lot of jobs, I know,” Haaland told Hawley.
“Wait a minute. … You mean to tell me that our country has too many jobs?” Hawley asked.
“Well, I’m saying that we don’t have enough people,” the home secretary replied. “This is why it’s hard for us to find people to work in our department.”
The U.S. has about 9.6 million job openings, according to new data from the Department of Labor that came out on Tuesday. The numbers showed that there were about 0.6 jobless people for every job opening.
Hawley strongly disagreed with what Haaland said, saying that choices that sent jobs overseas have destroyed whole Midwestern towns like the one he serves in Missouri. He said that over the years, more than 3 million of these jobs have been sent to China.
“They work with their hands. You’re sitting here telling me that this country has too many jobs. Are you serious?” He kept going.
“I want to take a strong stand against that comment and that whole way of thinking, even though I think it’s honest. I think it shows that your government has a “you’re on your own” attitude toward blue-collar workers in this country. Good luck.'”
Hawley also said that Haaland’s comment might be “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard from a member of this administration.”
Haaland later said, though, that a scheme to cap old oil and gas wells has helped the Interior Department hire people while she was in charge.
“These are places where people depend on this government to help them move forward,” she said. “Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of waste left over from the past in this country. Americans have these jobs, which pay well and come with benefits, because of what President Biden has done with his programs.
“We’re proud to move those issues and programs forward for the American people.”
Haaland said in January that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the area around it in Minnesota would not be available for mining leasing for the next 20 years because of environmental worries. About a year earlier, she had canceled two leases in the Superior National Forest that were owned by the company Twin Metals Minnesota. Both leases were outside of the forest area.
About 88% of the country’s cobalt stocks were in the Twin Metals mining project, which also had a lot of copper, nickel, and platinum-group elements. The Biden government has been pushing hard for green energy systems that need these important minerals, like electric car batteries, battery storage centers, solar panels, and wind turbines.
And a project labor deal that Twin Metals signed with the Iron Range Building and Construction Trades Council for the mine offered 750 direct full-time jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs.