Lucy, Charlie Brown and the Football

Having followed Rosemont Copper’s efforts to work their way through a long arduous, permitting process over the last seven years, I am reminded of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts cartoon of Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football. I’m sure all of you remember this series. Lucy is holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick. Charlie runs up to kick the ball and Lucy pulls the football away at the last second, leaving poor Charlie Brown lying flat on his back.

To many, Charles Shultz’s Peanuts cartoons are funny. However, many Arizonans find the unending series of delays experienced in permitting the Rosemont copper project no laughing matter. We view them as broken promises that negatively impact our families, our hopes and our dreams for a better life.

Numerous federal laws support and/or encourage responsible development and extraction of mineral resources from federal lands. Rosemont Copper has met or exceeded all of these statutory requirements. However, the inability of federal authorities to administer our nation’s laws in a timely manner continues to impede the successful conclusion of the permitting process.

In the meantime, thousands of Arizonans, who would benefit from the Rosemont copper project are being asked for their patience and wait a little longer. We have waited for seven years. How much longer are we going to have to wait? Three months? Six months? Another year?

Environmental standards of other industrialized nations like Canada and Australia are very similar to ours. They routinely permit their mining projects in two or three years, while meeting or exceeding all of the regulatory standards of their laws. There is no reason why the United States should not be able to do the same.

Over the last several decades, the inability of the federal government to administer our nation’s laws in a timely manner has significantly increased the risks to doing business in America, discouraging investment in our nation’s economic future and ultimately encouraging businesses to relocate their operations and jobs overseas. This transfer of technological know-how reduces America’s ability to compete on the world market and reduces our ability to produce the goods we require to maintain our standard of living and insure our national security. It increases our dependence on foreign imports that produce our unsustainable trade deficits, which annually transfer hundreds of billions of dollars overseas that could otherwise be used to invest in our nation’s economic future.

Unnecessary delays in permitting the Rosemont Copper project has already cost Arizonans millions of dollars in loss economic opportunities. It’s time to move forward and complete the permitting process. Continued delays will only prolong the needless hardships endured by thousands of Arizonans, who have been counting on the benefits this project will provide to them and their families.

David F. Briggs is a resident of Pima County and a geologist, who has intermittently work as a consultant on the Rosemont Copper project since 2006. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Rosemont Copper.

Copyright (2014) by David F. Briggs. Reprint is permitted only if the credit of authorship is provided and linked back to the source.

About David F. Briggs 35 Articles
David F. Briggs is a retired geologist, whose work is feature by the Arizona Geological Survey. Briggs intermittently worked on the Rosemont project between 2006 and 2014. He has authored articles on Arizona’s mining history.