Patagonia resident Sherry Luna wrote a commentary for the Patagonia Regional Times called In Support of Mining [Dec 2012]. In it, she expressed that her opinions will be ” different from most folks around here and guaranteed to be objectionable to almost everyone.”  That was about the only statement in her article that we found different or objectionable!

We agree with Luna that our modern lifestyles are completely dependent upon the minerals we extract from the earth. We recognize that we would probably go back to the stone-age without copper and concur that a better way to acquire necessary minerals is needed.

We agree with Luna that “shunting mining off to other nations” is not the answer. Mining is the 3rd largest contributor to global pollution.¹ Communities around mines suffer the consequences of heavy metal contamination in the water and toxins released in the air. There are also the well-documented human rights violations to consider. Murders and rapes are not uncommon, typically inflicted by the private security forces hired by the mines.² We share the wide view that mine reform needs to happen on a global scale. We recognize that our power lies in creating the change at home. In the U.S., metal mining was found to be the top toxic polluter.³

photo by Blacksmith Institute

We agree that reform of the 1872 Mining Law is necessary and respect Luna’s idea of nationalizing mining. Currently, mine companies pay nothing for the copper, silver, gold and other hard-rock minerals that they extract off of our public land. It feels a bit like stealing to us! And we couldn’t agree more with her statement that “Private companies do not care first and foremost about protecting the environment, or whether our nation is secure or not, or whether local economies stay viable.  Profit is the driving motivation.”

Thank you, Sherry Luna, for having the courage to share your views about mining. It is a much more complicated issue than just simply being for it or against it. We need a new way, a more rational process regarding how and where mining is done. Allowing foreign companies to mine U.S. minerals for free to sell to Asia doesn’t make good security or business sense to us. We also need to acknowledge our part in the demand for metals in our lifestyles. We need to kick our highly-consumeristic and disposable habits of the 21st century before there’s nothing left to consume.

Sources:

[1] Top 10 Toxic Pollution Problems, Blacksmith Institute http://worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/98

[2] Guatemalan Peasants Sue Canadian Mining Company Hudbay, PRI’s The World http://www.theworld.org/2012/11/guatemala-mining-hudbay/

[3] EPA: Metal Mining Industry Nation’s Top Toxic Polluter, Earthworks http://www.earthworksaction.org/media/detail/epa_metal_mining_industry_nations_top_toxic_polluter#.UMStxZPjk5Q