Democrats split on mining royalties

[TexasTowelie]

U.S. senators of both parties at a hearing Tuesday rejected House Democrats’ plans to impose billions of dollars in royalties and other fees on companies that mine for gold, copper, lithium and other minerals, largely in Southwestern states.

Among the opponents was Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who said she objected to the House proposal because of its “unfair, outsized impact” on her gold-producing state and because it is included in a sweeping, $3.5 trillion package that would move through the budget reconciliation process. Under that procedure, Democrats would need just a simple majority for passage in the Senate.

The mining royalty issue is likely to re-emerge when senators mark up their version of the $3.5 trillion bill, which is also likely to be scaled back considerably after disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats over its price tag.

An 1872 federal law set the standard for hard-rock mining, allowing companies to skip paying royalties on minerals taken from public lands. Environmentalists, fiscal hawks and some congressional Democrats have for decades sought to add a royalty rate for miners of hard-rock minerals.

Read more: https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/10/06/democrats-split-on-mining-royalties/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Odd how they never discover oil, gas, or minerals in the inner city

Now we know why they never look: royalty payments.

[Klaralven]

2. There are lots of oil wells in Los Angeles

The Urban Oil Fields of Los Angeles

In the 1890s, the small town of Los Angeles (population 50,000) began a transformation driven by the discovery and drilling of some of the most productive oil fields in history. By 1930, California was producing nearly one quarter of the world's oil output, and its population had grown to 1.2 million. In the decades that followed, many wells closed, but even more opened, surrounded by urban and suburban growth. Machinery was camouflaged, loud noises were abated, methane pockets were vented, as residents learned to live side-by-side with oil production facilities. To this day, oil fields in the Los Angeles Basin remain very productive, and modern techniques have centralized operations into smaller areas or moved offshore. Gathered here are images of some of the sites and machinery still in use among the homes, golf courses, and shopping malls of Los Angeles.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/08/the-urban-oil-fields-of-los-angeles/100799/

That Southern California car culture didn't just happen. There were reasons.