Two years ago, I wrote that Cibola County could help lead America’s pursuit of “Atoms for Peace.” I believed uranium offered this community an opportunity to build a stronger economy and contribute to our country’s future.
I still believe that. But the promise I wrote about included responsibility, environmental stewardship and lasting prosperity for the people who live here. Those expectations matter even more now that renewed uranium development is moving from conversation toward action.
I want Cibola County to prosper. I want our people working good jobs, earning enough to support their families and building lives here because they have an opportunity to stay. I want stronger schools, thriving businesses and children who can imagine a future in their hometown.
I also want them to have safe water. Those expectations should go hand-in-hand.
Last week, the Cibola County Commission voted 3-2 to approve a resolution supporting insitu recovery uranium mining. According to the reporting in this edition, Grants Energy drafted and proposed the resolution. Commissioners Christine Lowery and Georgia Routzen Sanchez raised concerns about public safety and the involvement of neighboring sovereign tribal nations. The majority moved forward.
A resolution of support is not a mining permit. Nevertheless, it tells the public where its elected government stands. When a company brings forward its preferred statement of support, residents deserve to know what their government will require in return.
Where is our public agenda for protecting water, preparing workers and ensuring that the benefits reach Cibola County families? Our leaders should be able to explain how they will ensure our community's benefit.
The reporting Kathy Helms has brought to these pages about Homestake makes the consequences painfully clear. Families have spent decades seeking answers about contaminated groundwater and the future of their homes. Now they are confronting the company’s position that restoring groundwater to background conditions is technically infeasible.
This history - no, it's a legacy of contamination belongs in every conversation about uranium’s return.
Modern mining methods deserve a fair examination. In-situ recovery differs from conventional mining and milling. Differences in technology must be explained through evidence that residents can examine and understand. Groundwater restoration and waste management remain part of the work.
The public deserves to know how much water a proposed operation will use, which aquifers it will affect, how contamination will be detected and what happens if restoration falls short. We need clear answers about any potential connections to the Rio San Jose, Bluewater Lake and the wells families depend upon.
We also need to know who pays when something goes wrong, and whether the money will still be there after the mining ends.
I follow our water conditions every week. Recent rain is welcome. It does not relieve us of the responsibility to protect the water beneath our feet.
Regulatory agencies have essential responsibilities, and residents should participate in those processes. But directing people to regulators cannot be the full answer from a company asking this community for its support. Come before the people. Answer their questions. Explain the uncertainties. Put commitments in writing.
The same seriousness must extend to Acoma, Laguna and other affected tribal nations. Company outreach and meaningful government-to-government consultation are distinct responsibilities. Our county should publicly explain what consultation it has undertaken, what concerns tribal governments have raised and how those concerns will influence its decisions.
Respect must be visible in the process.
And there is another question that deserves just as much attention: Who will be ready for the jobs?
I worry that we will celebrate investment announcements while too many of our own residents remain unable to qualify for the opportunities being announced. Development that brings in a workforce while leaving local families on the sidelines would fall painfully short of the promise being made.
Our children should be preparing for this economy now. So should adults who need a new career, a better wage or a chance they have never received.
Employers should identify the skills and credentials they will need. Schools, colleges and workforce programs should help residents acquire them. Local government and economic development organizations should bring those partners together around a public plan with actionable deadlines and measurable results. The people of Cibola County are what get and keep the economy moving, they deserve to know what is happening in their communities.
Creating a future economy that works for our people means paid training, apprenticeships and clear routes from a classroom into safe, skilled employment. It also means practical help with transportation, child care, tuition and the distance between a rural home and a training site.
A student in San Rafael, Bluewater, Pine Hill or a tribal community should be able to see a path into this future. Opportunity must reach beyond the people who already have the means to pursue it.
If uranium is going to help power the nation’s next generation of technology, what will it make possible for the next generation of Cibola County?
Will our schools have the resources and partnerships to prepare students for skilled careers?
Will existing businesses gain customers and contracts?
Will local people have a realistic chance to start businesses of their own?
Will families earn enough to build stable lives here?
Those outcomes will require deliberate work. Uranium beneath our feet cannot, by itself, improve a classroom, train a worker or keep a small business open. Our leaders must connect the opportunity to the people.
Publish the water safeguards. Explain the tribal consultation. Establish the workforce partnerships. Report how many local residents are trained, hired and advancing into better jobs. Show how public revenues and local purchasing will benefit the community.
Give Cibola County something it can measure.
I believe uranium can help strengthen America. I believe our mining heritage deserves respect and our need for economic opportunity deserves action. I also believe the people who call Cibola County home deserve a fair share of the prosperity their sacrifice makes possible.
I love this county too much to accept a future in which its resources become essential again while its families remain an afterthought.
Two years ago, I wrote about Atoms for Peace. Today, I am demanding Atoms for Cibola: the power of uranium, the promise of science and the work of development directed toward a better life for the people of this county.
Stronger schools. Protected water. Thriving businesses. Skilled workers. Children who can build their futures here.
That is the promise our leaders must work to deliver. That is the standard by which I will judge this new chapter.
If Cibola is going to help power America’s future, then our people must have the opportunity to build—and share in—that future.
God bless Cibola County, and God bless the United States of America.