Mining is not a “predicament” as the chairman claims; mining exists
because of people’s desire to live in a modern world, not the Stone Age.
Going green — sounds great, but doing so won’t be easy. To go green, we will need tremendous amounts of minerals including lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel and uranium. To get these minerals, new mines will need to be developed.
Geologists have found deposits of these minerals here in the United States. Environmentalists have come out against developing these new discoveries, citing numerous unfounded reasons that have stymied the development of these badly needed minerals.
The Daily Sun recently published several pieces concerning uranium and lithium in Arizona, including a letter to the editor titled “Sportsman supports bill banning mining.” The author stated that numerous springs and wells that contain uranium were documented by the USGS in the Grand Canyon region. Here’s the rest of the story — the USGS stated that the uranium found in these springs and wells is natural and is not related to uranium mining.
The author also stated that uranium mining will result in toxic contamination to the land and irreversible harm to our water and wildlife. I disagree as naturally occurring uranium outcrops in the Kaibab National Forest and within Grand Canyon National Park and is causing no harm.
For the rest of this column: https://azdailysun.com/opinion/columnists/coconino-voices-going-green-not-without-mining/article_8545ae39-3bc0-507a-9e40-fd84a949a796.html