Unleashing domestic resources

In a recent opinion piece published in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the stronghold on federal lands in the Western states was called into question.

In the United States, the federal government controls more than half of all lands in the Western states, making all decisions related to the leasing, exploration and production of selected commodities on that land. Currently, an abundance of precious metals, rare earth minerals, oil, gas, coal and other energy resources lies untouched on these acres.

In fact, America is home to an estimated $6.2 trillion worth of key mineral resources, but because the government is slow to grant access to the federally owned lands in the West and permitting delays for new mining projects, these minerals are often challenging to develop.

The federal government and many Western states are fighting huge budget shortfalls- all while we have trillions in natural resources locked up. New legislation to speed up permitting and grant access to this land would allow domestic companies to responsibly unleash these resources to create jobs, provide education equality for our children and secure economic self-reliance.

Read the entire piece here.