You Decide: Money or Nature?

 Recently (September 11)  an article appeared in the Google list of weird articles that definitely was an attention-getter for those concerned about the Rights of Nature, the environment, and species extinction.

The article was entitled, “U.S. must not let China stop Pebble Mine that has rare earths we need.”

The Pebble Mine has been under siege by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Alaskan native groups, and environmental groups in general, and now China. The proposed mine site is in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

This long, drawn-out legal battle basically is an attempt by NRDC and others to stop the development of a mine that will completely devastate the Bristol Bay wilderness, renowned for salmon runs and wildlife as well as Native communities. It’s estimated that the planned toxic gold and copper mega-mine will produce billions of tons of mining waste and will have a devastating impact on the people, water, fisheries, and wildlife.

    

Photo by Orvis.com

Despite pressure from President Trump’s administration, the pressure from the public and the NRDC proved to be too much for the Army Corps of Engineers, and they rejected the mining plan  because it posed “unavoidable adverse impacts” to the water and marine life of Bristol Bay, one of the nation’s last, truly wild places. (Despite the author of the article claiming Bristol Bay is a desolate place, photos online say otherwise.)

Photo by glampinghub.com

However, the developers have 90 days to make changes…and they will. If developed, the Pebble Mine would produce 10 billion tons of mining waste that would threaten communities and ecosystems, and it would increase the climate crisis by emitting millions of tons of greenhouse gases.

 So where does China come in? The Chinese are working in their own insidious, under-handed way to ensure that the Pebble Mine project does not move forward. Why? Currently, China has a virtual monopoly on rare earth minerals, and it has been discovered that the Pebble Mine could produce minerals that are essential for the production of “many military and high tech items.”

 The author of the Google article subtly implies his disdain for environmentalists who appear to be on the same team as those communist Chinese. He fails to recognize that the big losers in this ongoing mining drama are the American people, and fish, animals, and nature. Who wins: corporations greedy for the money they will make from the minerals that are essential for the production of many military and high tech items. Do we really need more weapons of mass destruction and high tech items? Perhaps what we really need is more NATURE in our lives.

A word about the NRDC. If you are environmentally inclined please consider membership in the NRDC. It is not expensive, and this organization takes on environmental destruction in the courtroom. They are very successful in stopping an inordinate amount of assaults on our environment, from the “Dirty Water Rule” to the effort to allow industrial take-over and pollution of our national parks and nature preserves by drilling, fracking, mining, and hunting.

Check out NRDC.org and learn more about their incredible efforts and victories in stopping and fighting against the industrial poisoning of people, animals, and nature.