there needs to be a sane approach to mining and natural resource extraction.
I am not a greenie, but I have a strong appreciation for the world we live in and giving corporations the green light to do what they want regardless of consequences to our planet is a reckless approach.
we cannot have it all and neither can they.
like it or not, natural resources (including my favorite shiny yellow metal) are needed by a growing world population.
I've seen the deterioration of the environment in my short lifetime and if we don't start pursuing different courses, there won't be much of a planet left for the next generations.
I believe that dredging causes little damage but I've seen the results of large scale surface mining and the damage done will take millennia to heal in some cases.
we as miners should be environmentalists. not tree-hugging, dirt-worshipping morons.
we cannot be old style I'll-do-whatever-I-can-get-away-with-and-leave.
I've seen recent results of this attitude...on the south fork there are oil puddles up and down the river and guess where that came from?
you got it: some lazy good-for-nothing dredge operator who changed his pump motor oil and left it there. I want to kill those f**kers!
so before we go cheering for the new administration and what is perceived to be a no-holes-barred full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes approach to the environment we might pause and think.
we are not large scale miners and we have nothing in common with the corporations who operate them. I don't stand in any solidarity with them, with the exception being for the guy who has to work for them.
I come from coal mining stock on my moms' side and they were treated worse than the tailings.
and I've said this before and will say it again: if you think they care about you or me and our small-scale mining concerns, I've got a bridge or two to sell you (a rather large porfolio of bridges, if you're interested).
anyhow, that's my 2 pence worth, likely not a popular rant on this board, but I don't care, sue me for my opinion.