KUER
Rep. John Curtis, R-UT, took some heat from constituents Monday night during his town hall in Sandy. Many people who spoke asked about the Jan. 6 insurrection and why Republicans still support former President Donald Trump. This story and more in Tuesday evening s news brief.
Tuesday evening, May 25, 2021
State
The Key To Containing Wildfires Will Be Human Behavior
Utah fire and elected officials are asking residents to change their outdoor behavior to cut down on human-caused wildfires. The request comes after a spike in the number of events started by people. So far this year there have been 227 fires in Utah that have burned 8,400 acres. All but eight of them have been human-caused. This year is already well above average in the number of starts and acres burned compared to the last five years. Officials are asking people to be careful near dry vegetation when dealing with things like campfires, debris burning and fireworks.
One such example of the dilemma is southern Utah’s Colt Mesa, which was removed from within the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument under the Trump administration and stands to be swept back in under Biden.
Nick Proctor, who with his father owns the Colt Mesa’s mining claims, said the area contains grades of cobalt at higher concentrations than cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces more than 60% of the world’s supply via thousands of child laborers.
In fact, some of the world’s largest tech companies like Tesla and Apple are being sued by families of dead or injured children from Congo who worked in the mines. The litigation asserts the companies’ unquenched thirst for cobalt necessary in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is fostering human rights abuses.
5 Tips for Mindful Travel in Utah outsideonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from outsideonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.