Tomorrow is Earth Day. Today, in honor of tomorrow, I urged my Congressman (Republican) and my two US Senators (Democrats), to support reforms to the 1872 Mining law. The kind of reforms I want to see, and that I think we all deserve, include:
- Establish meaningful Tribal consultation and Indigenous resource protections.
- Protecting special places from mining
- Strengthening environmental standards
- Fiscal reforms
- unlike all other extractive industries, hardrock mining pays no royalty for minerals taken from public lands;
- for $5 an acre, mining interests have patented (purchased) an area roughly equivalent in size to the state of Connecticut containing minerals valued at more than $300 billion.
- Enforcement, inspection, and bonding
- Abandoned mine reclamation fund
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| It’s the only home we’ve got Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring |
In Minnesota, proposed hardrock mines threaten water quality in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Mining employment has been declining in the iron mining sector and miners have been clamoring for jobs that support their way of life. I don’t know of any employment sector that offers such protections, do you?
At the center of Trout Unlimited’s work on responsible hardrock mining is a commitment avoiding the mistakes of the past. To this end, we approach new mines on a case-by-case basis. We work directly with mining companies, as well as state and federal permitting agencies, to apply policy and practices to mitigate the impacts of new mines on coldwater fisheries. In the case of a wrong mine in the wrong place, Trout Unlimited will strongly advocate in opposition. Location is everything and when the threat of groundwater depletion, acid-mine drainage and potential for spills cannot be responsibly mitigated, Trout Unlimited reserves the right to say no.
They also are advocating for A “Good Samaritan” bill in Congress would make it easier for conservationists and partners to tackle abandoned mines polluting Western waters .
Personally, I believe it would be fantastic if mining reform legislation were combined with Right to Repair, enhanced incentives for recycling electronics waste, and requirements that all metals used in products sold in the US be produced in accord with the standards of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance and be ISEAL certified.
It’s been more than fifty years since the first Earth Day. We’ve made too little progress protecting our only life support systems. That’s why we’re in the trouble we’re in. We can and must do better. Mining is a global industry that should be required to meet stringent global standards for protecting the environment, affected communities and those who do the actual mining.
An Earth Song
Langston Hughes - 1901-1967
It's an earth song,—
And I've been waiting long for an earth song.
It's a spring song,—
And I've been waiting long for a spring song.
Strong as the shoots of a new plant
Strong as the bursting of new buds
Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's womb.
It's an earth song,
A body song,
A spring song,
I have been waiting long for this spring song.
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