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Mining The Wilderness

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boatman said:
Funny that people with this opinion never include themselves in the list for being wiped out. It is entirely possible that population growth will end relatively soon.
http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...y_actually_start_declining_not_exploding.html
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All very true; but population "growth" isn't our only worry. Population aging is also becoming a problem. Actually iot already is a problem for most of the industrialized world and China is fast approaching our average age as well.
 
Macaroon said:
It's entirely possible for me to change my name to Jonny Codnob, stick a lighted candle in my fundament and appear for a million dollars on the stage of the Grand Ole Oprey - but not entirely probable :)
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And the reasoning behind your anal performance is what?
 
I'm in favour of mining as long as the land is returned to its original condition and all pollutants removed once mining operations cease. Most mining operations have profits that go to shareholders while the taxpayer gets the bills for the clean-up once mining ceases. Ensuring that the mining company pays for all clean-up and decommissioning should be a condition of the mining licence...
 
boatman said:
And the reasoning behind your anal performance is what?
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"It's entirely possible" for something to occur doesn't make it a major factor in arriving at a sound judgement; a factor to be taken into account for sure, but no more than that, whereas you seemed to imply almost a fact.
 
Imagedude said:
I'm in favour of mining as long as the land is returned to its original condition and all pollutants removed once mining operations cease. Most mining operations have profits that go to shareholders while the taxpayer gets the bills for the clean-up once mining ceases. Ensuring that the mining company pays for all clean-up and decommissioning should be a condition of the mining licence...
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Mining license?
Taxpayers pay to clean up private land?

Yes, the mining companies make a profit. But so does whoever owns the mineral rights on the land being mined. Most states either own one half of all mineral rights by law (such as Mississippi) OR those that don't, levy a one half tax on the minerals extracted (such as Florida)

In some states those profits are so great that there are absolutely NO taxes, and instead they return a portion of the profits to each citizen every year (such as Alaska)
 
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Imagedude said:
I'm in favour of mining as long as the land is returned to its original condition and all pollutants removed once mining operations cease. Most mining operations have profits that go to shareholders while the taxpayer gets the bills for the clean-up once mining ceases. Ensuring that the mining company pays for all clean-up and decommissioning should be a condition of the mining licence...
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Tarmac for instance, in 20 years take fields in with livestock turn it into a large hole with more species diversity than there was before. Within a year or so of them not using a site they open up old quarries as nature reserves. They foot the cost.

It is not how many of us there is, it is how we are living. The minerals they are taking from the Arctic are what is needed to make the device we are using to view this page. The same minerals that caused the great war of africa. The semiconductors in solar panels also mined. However it is generally cheaper to recycle the minerals out of an old phone than it is to get them out the ground. It certainly better to have technology that is built to last. For example my two year old smart phone has developed a stripy defect on the screen and needs charging obce a day. The two nokia 1100s we have need charging twice a month and are working fine after a decade. A solar panel that when used properly can mean that a household is not connected to the grid, lasts for 20 years. That is twenty years of resources not been used.

What I am getting at raging about the world having too many people, pillaging the pretty places wont change a dam thing. All you can do is be the change you want to see in the world. If I need to buy something, I try and get robust and if there is way of doing something that doesnt need plugging in I will use it. I. No one is going to live like a victorian peasant, however it takes a bit of rule bending to realise you can get away with using a lot less resources than we do now. Anyway I am off to buy a solar powered battery charger with all it nickel, gold cadium and copper.
 
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Spot on Fi.

I have an ancient van that looks scruffy but gets me where I need to get.

Sure, I could replace it with something new and shiny but I doubt if it will last the 300000 miles this one has.

Repair, reuse, recycle, replace. That's the order we do things around here.
 
For those agonizing about "overpopulation" I draw your attention to the following graph:

Trends_in_TFR_1950-2050.png


Population growth is already below replacement levels in much of the developed world, and it is falling everywhere. The more developed a nation becomes, the more it falls. If trends continue, the Earth will max out around 10 billion people, and then start falling again. We'll be back at our current population levels in a few decades, going the other way.

Accordingly, if you really are worried about the Earth's population, the last thing you should do is anything which impedes the development of places like Africa. A global ban on certain kinds of mining would do just that, and have the perverse outcome that their population growth rate would increase (since it would send their development into reverse).
 
British Red said:
Wow - you found an electricity source that doesn't need iron?

What do you think they build wind turbines gantries out of?

...the things they are mining for are not just uranium, but the copper that goes into wires and the iron to make steel, which wind turbines sit on.

It really isn't simple.

If anyone wants to simply throw the main switch on their distribution board for six days a week, now that will make a difference.
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Do you think I am going in the right direction or not?
 
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