Foy
Resident Geologist
I believe you hit the nail squarely on the head. Only I suggest that most people have the time to do their own homework, just not the desire or gumption to do so. It's so much easier to drink the nice, sweet Kool-Aid offered up on social media and traditional media platforms, pat oneself on the back, and feel great about being green while sticking it to those awful mining and oil and gas companies.teledork said:But one of my concerns is when projects are labeled "green", such as the Bishop example, which encourages people who do not have the time or desire to look any closer to just say, "oh, okay".
Rare earths come from China for the most part. Lithium comes from open-pit mining in the East and from brine extraction in the West. Due largely to extraordinary advances in extraction technology (hydraulic fracturing) the US is literally awash in clean(er) natural gas, and there are still billions of tons of hard and soft coal readily convertible to clean(er) liquid fuels, along with vast quantities of oil shale. We are truly energy independent, something unthnkable when I was a mineral exploration geologist in the 1970s/early 1980s. Production of power from wind and solar have costs rarely discussed.
The reality is quite simple: you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. Each and every aspect of human endeavor alters the surface of the planet, most often in a permanent way. There's no way around it so long as the Earth's population continues to grow. The smart money is on figuring out how to adapt to a changing Earth, because there's no stopping it.
Foy