The Navajo Nation spoke out again this week against the Biden administration’s efforts to undermine fossil fuel development. Their reservation is the largest of all, spanning across three states along the Four Corners Monument: Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
In an interview with Fox News, Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company CEO James McClure explained that fossil fuels earn them over $75 million in annual revenue — over half of the tribe’s annual budget — yet, the Biden administration hasn’t given support in recognition of that “very important” fact.
“The current administration has worked to support the Navajo Nation on most clean energy initiatives,” McClure told Fox News Digital. “The same cannot be said of oil and gas development.”
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and the Navajo Nation Council oppose the Biden administration’s plans to eradicate fossil fuel development. The Department of Interior (DOI) will soon implement a 20-year ban on oil and gas leasing. President Joe Biden first announced the ban last November, as part of his ongoing pledge to counter climate change with fossil fuel eradication.
The ban would jeopardize the $6.2 million annual royalties earned by the tribe. The DOI has told reporters repeatedly that the Biden administration would ultimately support tribes’ desired land use.
Tribes deserve a seat at the decision-making table before policies that impact their communities are made. The first-ever Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee will help Tribal leaders engage with the highest levels of the @Interior on issues that matter most to their people. https://t.co/CfJQ4YieVw
However, that promise stands in conflict with Biden’s rhetoric around fossil fuels. During a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in March, Biden said that those profiting off of fossil fuels needed to sacrifice for the greater good of the country.
“My message is, it’s time in this time of war, it’s not a time of profit. It’s time for reinvesting in America,” said Biden. “This crisis is another indication why we need to get off dependency on fossil fuels.”
Conrad Stewart, the Crow Nation of Montana’s director of energy and water, also stressed to Fox News that their tribes’ economic well-being depends on fossil fuel development.
“A war on coal is a war on Crow,” said Stewart.
That phrase, “war on coal,” refers to the continuation of former President Barack Obama’s policies within the Biden administration. During Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s confirmation hearing last January, Granholm disclosed that “jobs might be sacrificed” under these policies.
Joe Biden's Energy Secretary nominee Jennifer Granholm admitted that there are “jobs that might be sacrificed” with Biden’s federal lands fracking banhttps://t.co/drlVfgMKNqpic.twitter.com/FpkofBzgZ7
Around the time of Granholm’s confirmation hearing, the Ute Indian Tribe asked the U.S. Interior Department for an exemption to the suspension on federal and tribal land leases and permits for oil and gas.
Reservations produce over 3 percent of the country’s oil and gas reserves untapped; according to a 2014 report, their lands contain about 20 percent of the oil and gas reserves, and 30 percent of domestic coal reserves west of the Mississippi River. A report from S&P Global Platts estimated that 12 of the 326 tribal reservations produce significant oil.
Another major tribe that relies heavily on fossil fuel development is the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Their chairman, Mark Fox, estimated in 2020 that oil accounted for 90 percent of their revenue. Last year, Fox told Fox News that fossil fuels ensured that their forthcoming generations would have a home.
Not all Native American tribes oppose the Biden administration’s efforts to curb fossil fuel development. Those tribes that don’t rely on those resources, such as the Standing Rock Sioux, support the Biden administration.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, the Department of Education (ED) announced the distribution of over $20.8 million to increase mental health oversight in Arizona schools.
The funds may be applied to a variety of mental, social, and emotional initiatives within schools. This includes school counseling, mentorships, and bullying and harassment prevention.
During a press call on Wednesday, the ED featured insight from Dr. Marty Pollio, the Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent in Louisville, Kentucky. Pollio said that the SCG funds allowed for three means of school improvement:
Identify students in need and in crisis who need mental health support like counseling;
Reduce the counselor-to-student ratio;
Train teachers on how to identify troubled students and support school personnel.
Pollio suggested that mental health professionals, such as board-certified behavioral analysts, should be deployed to classrooms to identify problematic students.
“Educators have to do more than ever,” said Pollio.
AZ Free News asked the Biden administration whether they would be providing guidelines for behavior analysis enabled by SCG funds, such as what students would be deemed problematic as Pollio suggested. The ED said they weren’t providing guidelines. Rather, the ED said that level of management would be up to the states and districts.
“[The SCG] allows states and districts to tailor their funds to each district and school,” said one of the officials.
The funds come from the Strong Connections Grant (SCG) within the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). Nationwide, grant funds totaled over $971 million.
Today, ED announced nearly $1 billion in Stronger Connections grants through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) to support students’ physical, emotional, & mental well-being – real benefits for students across the country. https://t.co/WwxaZ4tQGZ
ED Secretary Miguel Cardona asserted that teachers have been handling student behaviors on limited funding and resources, and that students behaved better with reduced disciplinary action and increased promotion of positive behavior. Cardona noted that in all, investments to improve mental health in schools through SCG total $1 billion.
“We must broaden our focus beyond physically safe learning environments,” said Cardona. “If we’re serious about equity and opportunity, we must expand our definitions of learning and growth to include mental and emotional health.”
President Joe Biden’s special assistant for education policy, Maureen Tracey-Mooney, said that the SCG funds are designed for “high impact strategies” that would ultimately impact home life, such as counseling, tutoring, mentoring, and summer learning.
Earlier this month, Cardona sent a letter to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) notifying them of this recent investment. Cardona’s letter provides educators with suggestions and guidelines on how to implement the SCG funding.
The ADE will decide which school districts will receive the SCG funds and oversee their expenditure. However, the ED retains the authority to audit and investigate schools’ use of the SCG funds.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent decision to use state-owned shipping containers to close five gaps along the U.S. / Mexico border in Yuma County has helped better identify other vulnerable areas, including a stretch of unsecured border on land belonging to the Cocopah Indian Tribe.
“It is a known vulnerability, I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone down there,” Tim Roemer, director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security, said Thursday about dozens of people who cross into the U.S. via tribal lands each week, some without presenting themselves to federal authorities.
Roemer told KFYI’s James T. Harris that the temporary shipping container project was “a good step in the right direction because it’s going to highlight where the weaknesses are at other points.” One of the most exploited weak points is at the end of one segment of the state’s border barrier next to Cocopah tribal land.
Tribal officials have complained about the state’s construction of the barrier, which they contend encroaches several feet on the tribe’s property. Roemer did not openly criticize Cocopah tribal officials, but said knowing where vulnerabilities exist is “going to put more pressure on other people to do more about it, to stem that flow, to better protect their land as well.”
Roemer added that it is his hope the Tribe will work more with state officials.
As to complaints about the poor aesthetics of the shipping containers, border security “is not meant to be pretty; it’s meant to be effective,” Roemer told Harris.
It is also “extremely frustrating” to hear people who want to secure special events, such as political gatherings, “but they don’t want to secure the southwest border into the nation,” Roemer said.
Yuma County was not the only border area Roemer discussed with Harris during the interview. According to the Director, efforts are underway to make state funding available to help better secure Cochise County where some stretches of border have no effective barrier or wall.
The geography in most of those areas is mountainous, making it not a good match for the type of shipping-container temporary border barrier installed in Yuma County. Instead, Roemer says state funding will be made available to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office for virtual technology instead of physical barriers.
Those funds are part of a $335 million appropriation signed into law by Ducey earlier this year. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels can access some of that money for technologies such as drones, cameras, mobile units, and infrared night vision.
“We work really well with Sheriff Dannels and his team,” Roemer told Harris. “They utilize technology there about as well, probably better than anybody in the country. It’s really impressive.”
On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a civil rights lawsuit against Tucson over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.
In a press release, Brnovich argued that the mandate was a violation of personal liberty and an exemplar of government overreach.
“Tucson dictated a widespread vaccine mandate without regard to its impact on the liberties and civil rights of its employees,” said Brnovich. “Many of those affected are first responders, and it’s our turn to be there for them. The city’s misguided vaccine mandate is an ugly example of government overreach that we must vigorously oppose.”
Brnovich accused Tucson of punishing unvaccinated employees with unpaid suspension regardless of whether their exemption or accommodation requests were pending or approved. A majority of the city employees affected by the slim deadline were first responders.
According to the lawsuit, at least 377 city employees requested a medical exemption, and 352 employees requested a religious exemption.
The lawsuit further criticized the city’s blanket policy approach for requiring the vaccine, noting that some unvaccinated employees were or could work remotely. It alleged that the city made employment “more onerous” for unvaccinated employees.
Among those alleged more onerous requirements: the city gave vaccinated employees additional leave to recover from COVID-19 infection or to quarantine if a family member became infected with COVID-19 but denied that benefit to unvaccinated employees. Additionally, the city gave only vaccinated employees an 8-hour “floating holiday,” as well as the ability to travel outside of Pima County for job-related career enhancement opportunities. Furthermore, certain unvaccinated employees were required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing at their own expense.
In doing so, Tucson claimed its denial of equal treatment to unvaccinated employees was a means to incentivize vaccination.
“[The city of Tucson’s] purported ‘incentives’ were, severally and collectively, coercive actions that punished employees who could not comply with Defendant’s vaccine directives because of a sincerely-held religious belief and/or disability,” stated the lawsuit.
The city did put their vaccine mandate on hold last September, after Brnovich warned the city that its original five-day unpaid suspension of unvaccinated employees was unlawful. At the time, Brnovich said he would direct Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee to withhold the city’s state shared revenues, totaling over $175 million.
However, the city kept up its vaccine mandate. The next month, a divided city council voted to terminate the unvaccinated by December 1. Tucson’s action prompted Governor Doug Ducey to intervene. Ducey informed the city that their mandate conflicted with Arizona law.
It’s unfathomable that after a year as tough as last, the Tucson City Council voted to FIRE unvaccinated city employees. The state Legislature has spoken on this issue — they want Arizonans and their sincerely held beliefs to be protected from overreaching mandates. 1/ pic.twitter.com/EQMrLaN5Hm
However, the next month the Arizona Supreme Court overturned Arizona’s new law banning any level of government from requiring COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
(1/2) Today’s unanimous ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court should serve as a reminder to both @dougducey and our State Legislature that they are not above the AZ Constitution.
Mayor Regina Romero and other city leaders have insisted in public messaging that their workforce was mostly compliant with their vaccine mandate, which Romero called a “vaccine policy.”
The @cityoftucson’s vaccine policy has been overwhelmingly effective.
– 98% of our workforce is now complaint
– The number of non-compliant city workers has fallen from more than 500 workers to less than 90.
Several weeks after Tucson’s deadline passed, Ducey issued an executive order banning local or state governments from issuing COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In a response statement, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero alluded to Brnovich’s legal opinion that employers could institute their own vaccine mandates as a defense of Tucson’s mandate.
“Arizona Attorney General Brnovich already told the governor what he doesn’t want to hear. He has no authority to preempt local actions through executive orders,” stated Romero.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) is requesting information on the Biden administration’s practice of flying illegal immigrants without proper identification around the country. Biggs leads a coalition of 24 Republicans in seeking answers, which includes Congressmen Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08).
In a press release, Biggs accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of using taxpayer dollars to help illegal immigrants reach their desired destinations, further incentivizing illegal crossings. Biggs argued further that the ID standard for illegal immigrants compromises post-9/11 security measures.
“Transporting potentially tens of thousands of lawbreakers throughout the country — with virtually unknown backgrounds — is a national security risk and defies the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission,” stated Biggs.
In the letter, the coalition noted that about 45,000 illegal immigrants flew without proper ID from last January to October.
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), illegal immigrants may use papers related to their immigration processing such as the notice to appear (DHS Form I-862), warrants for arrest of alien (ICE Form I-200) and removal/deportation (ICE Form I-220A), order of supervision (ICE Form I-220B), arrival and departure form (CBP Form I-94), and alien booking record (DHS Form I-385).
Unlike illegal immigrants, American citizens must present a form of government-issued photo ID; alternative IDs like weapon permits and temporary driver’s licenses aren’t acceptable forms of ID.
I'm demanding answers from @DHSgov regarding the department allowing illegal aliens to fly on commercial airplanes—at taxpayers’ expense—without presenting acceptable identification.@SecMayorkas must immediately cease this operation. https://t.co/VMkx8r2PMG
TSA Administrator David Pekoske claimed in his Senate confirmation hearing last month that less than 1,000 illegal immigrants flew without proper ID this calendar year. Biggs’ coalition challenged that claim as “extremely low” since DHS has released nearly 500,000 illegal immigrants into the country this year.
Pekoske asserted during last month’s hearing that the immigration papers in question offered similar security to traditional forms of ID because they were issued by Border Patrol or a customs officer, and that TSA validated the papers using an alien identification number reflected in Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) databases.
“We aren’t looking at whether a person is legal or illegal in the country,” said Pekoske. “Our role is to make sure that people who may pose a risk to transportation that is significant enough to require enhanced screening or to not allow them to fly.”
The latest CBP reporting shows about 3.5 million illegal immigrant encounters along the southern border since President Joe Biden took office.
The head of TSA admits the Biden Administration has let nearly 1000 illegal aliens use arrest warrants as ID to get on planes this year. Think about that while you wait in line at the airport pic.twitter.com/rNIiGa8yBu
The TSA hasn’t been consistently forthright about its allowance of illegal immigrants flying without government-issued photo ID.
In 2014, TSA confirmed that they began accepting notices to appear as acceptable travel ID.
Then in 2017, TSA informed the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) that they did allow notices to appear.
Yet in 2019, TSA publicly denied that they allowed illegal immigrants to present immigrant processing papers.
1: Reports stating that illegal aliens may fly without Government-issued photo ID and may instead present their “Notice to Appear” paperwork are false. A “Notice to Appear,” issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review isn't an acceptable form of ID at the checkpoint.
In January, Congressmen Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11) and Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) introduced legislation to prohibit the TSA from allowing illegal immigrants to board planes with alternative forms of ID.
Other congressmen in Biggs’ coalition include Mo Brooks (R-AL-05), Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03), Ken Buck (R-CO-04), Bill Posey (R-FL-08), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), Jody Hice (R-GA-10), Mary Miller (R-IL-15), Ron Estes (R-KS-04), Andy Harris (R-MD-01), Tom McClintock (R-MN-04), Dan Bishop (R-NC-09), Scott Perry (R-PA-10), Jeff Duncan (R-SC-03), Ralph Norman (R-SC-05), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Michael Cloud (R-TX-27), Louie Gohmert (R-TX-01), Chip Roy (R-TX-21), Ben Cline (R-VA-06), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
