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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mining Law Reform Ads Hit Western Airwaves This WeekWashington, DC — The Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining today launched radio ads in Colorado, Montana and New Mexico to inform Rocky Mountain audiences about an outdated 135-year-old law that governs the mining of gold, uranium and other hardrock minerals on federal lands in the West. The ads feature a braying mule and the clatter of picks and shovels, conjuring the mining of yesteryear and contrasting it with sounds of the million-dollar earthmoving technology of today. It calls on listeners to ask their U.S. Senators to modernize the nation's frontier-era mining law. "The modern west needs a modern mining law," said Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining. "For too long, countless western communities have suffered water contamination and scarred landscapes because a mining law designed for prospectors and pack mules has remained on the books. With the number of new mining claims in the region skyrocketing, genuine reform is needed now." In the coming weeks, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), is expected to produce a bill to complement H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007, which passed the U.S. House last November and provides fundamental reform measures. The General Mining Law of 1872, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, gives special status to those filing claims on public lands — without safeguarding watersheds, wildlife or communities from the messy business of mining. It also allows mining companies to take minerals from public lands without compensating taxpayers, while oil, gas and coal industries have been paying royalties for decades. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that new uranium drilling was approved within miles of the Grand Canyon's southern rim. In 12 western states combined, the number of mining claims has increased 80 percent between January 2003 and July 2007. # # # Listen to the two ads:
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