Biden greeted by Willow protesters as he announces new national monuments

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the creation of two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas and the creation of a marine reserve in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.

However, the president was greeted outside the event with protesters against the Willow oil drilling project. He stands for sharp criticism from environmental groups and youth activists for his approval of the Alaska drilling project. Critics say it will dump more pollution into the atmosphere and point to Biden’s campaign promise to end new oil drilling on federal land.

Biden tried to refute the criticism by naming the new national monuments.

Both the Texas site and the Nevada site honor Native American tribes and their contribution to American culture. Biden appointed the first Native American, Deb Haaland, as Secretary of the Interior. Her department oversees America’s public lands.

The two new monuments — Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Castner Range National Monument in Texas — will protect nearly 514,000 acres of public land.

The president struggled to pronounce the Native American name of the Nevada site and eventually called it by its English name: Spirit Mountain.

As he fumbled his words, the crowd cheered in encouragement.

‘Thank you. I get it,’ he said cheering. “I just know it as Spirit Mountain in Nevada—one of our most beautiful landscapes.

“It’s not a small amount of land,” Biden said during the announcement at the Interior Ministry.

“The natural treasures of our country define our identity as a nation,” he said, adding that conservation work is important because it “bridges our past and our future.” not just for today, but for all ages.’

In addition to the two Pacific land monuments, the president will direct the Secretary of Commerce to protect all U.S. waters around the outlying Pacific islands.

If completed, the new reserve would ensure the US achieves Biden’s goal of retaining at least 30% of ocean waters under US jurisdiction by 2030, the White House said.

“It’s not a small amount of land,” Biden said at the Interior Department of his new monuments

Biden dedicated the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument — known as Spirit Mountain — in Nevada

Biden also listed the Castner Range — a former Army training site in Texas — as a landmark

Biden also orders the protection of all US waters around the outlying Pacific islands

Avi Kwa Ame is considered one of the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people. It is also important to other Tribal Nations.

The area is also home to one of the world’s largest Joshua Tree forests and provides habitat for animals such as the desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise and Gila monster.

Located at Fort Bliss in Texas, the Castner Range served as a training and testing site for the United States military during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was closed in 1966 as a training venue.

Castner Range is also home to important cultural sites that document the history of the Apache and Pueblo peoples and the Comanche Nation, Hopi Tribe, and Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

The new Pacific Marine Reserve would preserve 777,000 square miles, including the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

The area is important to the native Hawaiian and Pacific island communities.

A protester protests the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil drilling project – young people in particular are outraged by the decision

The Willow Project is a massive and decades-long oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve that is owned by the federal government

Biden has protected more land and water in the first year of his administration since John F. Kennedy.

He has set a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.