I was thinking about this earlier and I’m scared about what this might mean for the future of the Pebble Mine, […].

Industry executives presumably interviewed or at least consulted by the Financial Times believe the Pebble Mine will be approved:

The Pebble Project in Alaska, a copper-gold project owned by Toronto-listed Northern Dynasty Minerals, is also expected to get its final approval under the new administration, according to industry executives.

Rio Tinto’s CEO certainly expressed optimism about the prospects of the Resolution project, which has been similarly blocked so far:

“I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” said Jakob Stausholm, chief executive of the London-listed miner, in an interview with the Financial Times, which will be broadcast on Wednesday. “We have made a lot of progress.”

Given the current price of copper and its expected future demand, both the Pebble Mine and Resolution are worth a fortune. Given the current geopolitical climate, both are strategically located too. They even sit in red states: Alaska and Arizona, respectively.

I agree. Although this crackdown –for lack of a better term– is arguably setting a new precedent that may socially and politically (not morally) justify similar actions by other governments and also serve, to some extent, as a political, legal, operational and diplomatic blueprint, not every detail of it –however appalling– is news of worldwide relevance.

The erosion of international laws and norms –insofar as these were ever a thing and not merely a hopeful illusion– did not begin with Israel’s Gaza campaign; by the time Israel started bombing Gaza, international laws and norms had already been put into question by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia, the 2003 invasion of Iraq led by the United States and the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, among others. The list is not exhaustive and any bias unintended.