President Joe Biden announced that two locations in California will be declared as national monuments, honoring tribes and protecting scenic mountains and deserts from mining and energy development. The announcement was delayed due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
A week after he had originally intended to do so with a speech in California’s Eastern Coachella Valley, Biden made the designations at a White House event on the opposite side of the nation.
On January 6, the president landed in California, but he only reached Los Angeles when officials decided to call off the event due to strong winds that contributed to the fires in Los Angeles. It served as a sobering reminder that climate change is already making natural disasters worse, even as Biden utilizes the final days of his presidency to try to protect the environment.
Biden instead spoke in front of displays that showed a variety of plant and animal life, as well as tall peaks and desert landscapes.
“I was hoping we were going to do this in place,” the president said. “This is as close as we could get.”
Biden officially established the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California and the Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California, next to Joshua Tree National Park.
Drilling for oil and natural gas, mining, and other exploration and production activities are prohibited on the 624,000-acre Chuckwalla site and approximately 225,000 acres close to the California-Oregon border, according to the declarations.
According to a White House statement, the protected region is home to more than 50 unique plant and animal species, including the desert bighorn sheep and the Chuckwalla lizard, for which the monument is named. It also includes natural wonders like the Painted Canyon of Mecca Hills and Alligator Rock.
Biden spoke at the gathering about bringing his kids to national monuments across the nation every year when they were little so they could “witness the majesty, the beauty.”
“Our national wonders are the heart and soul of this nation,” he said. “It’s a birthright we pass on from generation to generation. ”
The monuments are being built in response to previous tribe requests. The Pit River Tribe has fought to have the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument designated by the federal government, while numerous Native American tribes and environmental organizations have advocated for the creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument.
Biden struggled to pronounce Sáttítla even after joking that he was careful not to mispronounce it. He didn’t need to attempt again because he just referred to it as the “highlands” memorial when he sat down to sign the formal actions.
The designations are a component of a broader initiative by the Biden administration to preserve at least 30 percent of American waters and lands by 2030. They come after Biden recently banned new offshore oil and gas drilling in California and most other U.S. coastal areas.
That was an attempt to block potential attempts to increase offshore drilling by the new Republican government, but President-elect Donald Trump has promised to swiftly revoke the ban.
After more than 50 years in politics and with low approval ratings, President Biden is leaving Washington and his official public life behind.
Biden has spent the last few weeks drafting executive orders that will be difficult for President Donald Trump to revoke after withdrawing from the political limelight after resigning as the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024.
Biden is departing Washington with one of his lowest approval scores, even though polls improved soon after his withdrawal.
According to RealClearPolitics, a CNN poll this week revealed that his approval was 37% and his disapproval was 63%, with an average net negative rating of 18 percentage points.
