One Year In: The Boundary Waters under Trump 2.0 ft. Becky Rom

This episode is a special break from our current season on data centers and the environmental trade-offs of the AI infrastructure buildout. Instead, we return to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for a clear-eyed, one-year-in assessment of what has actually changed under the second Trump administration. When I first spoke with Becky Rom just before the 2024 election, much of the conversation was shaped by uncertainty. A year later, a lot has changed. Or has it?

Recorded on January 21st—the morning the House voted on H.J. Res. 140—this conversation walks through the concrete policy mechanics behind the fight to undo federal protections for the Boundary Waters: the 20-year mining withdrawal, the Congressional Review Act, and what’s at stake if Congress succeeds. Rom, National Chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, explains what change is tangible versus symbolic, how federal and state protections intersect, and why this moment feels both like a culmination of the past year—and another critical chapter in the decades-long battle over America’s most visited wilderness.

Articles Mentioned:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/02/11/an-ely-group-agrees-on-the-value-of-the-boundary-waters-but-they-cant-agree-on-mining?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.themeateater.com/conservation/public-lands-and-waters/protecting-the-boundary-waters-is-a-test-of-leadership-for-americas-public

Learn more about SAVE at: savetheboundarywaters.org

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