Business as usual, in other words. Remember, it doesn’t count if it’s not impacting the First World:
Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast.
Just one problem: These elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs.
That’s actually three problems, all of which are more or less independent of each other. Fixing any one of the three wouldn’t solve the other two, although fixing at least one probably certainly wouldn’t hurt; but, for example, the mines will still be ecological menaces even absent the criminal elements and single-source production. All in all, chalk up another win for the Law of Unintended Consequences, although Law of Unconsidered Consequences may be more accurate here. After all, a little bit of research beforehand would have easily warned would-be innovators that there would be road bumps on this particular road to Shangri-La.
Whether they would have cared is another question, of course…
Moe Lane
PS: This may be the best bit from the article:
“This industry wants to save the world,” said Nicholas Curtis, the executive chairman of the Lynas Corporation of Australia, in a speech to an industry gathering in Hong Kong in late November. “We can’t do it and leave a product that is glowing in the dark somewhere else, killing people.”
Actually, it’s much more accurate to say that’s what they’re doing now, only without the ‘saving the world’ part; they’re just being uncomfortable at being caught at it.
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
I thought they were against getting their Nikes from slave labor.
NightTwister (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 6:01PM EST (link)Oh, right. There’s too many people in the world. What better place to start fixing that than the country with over a billion of them…especially when they can use them to build their temples to Gaia at the same time.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. – Winston Churchill
Obama can careless about Americans!
louesc (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 11:30PM EST (link)Obama can careless about the average American all he cares about is his ideology and how far he can advance it. Even one of his biggest economic supporters Warren Buffet says Cap and Trade is a tax on all Americans check out this 1st video on what Warren says and if you want to here it from Obama check out the 2nd video from the anointed one.
http://www.americanpatriotsprevail.com/Warren_Buffett_CaPnTrade.html
http://www.americanpatriotsprevail.com/Cap_and_Trade.html
Reject Tyranny and Defend Liberty!
It's always a problem of scale.
Steve Maley (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 6:21PM EST (link)It’s one thing to demonstrate a new technology works at the scale of a laboratory or a demonstration project.
When we set out to generate really large scale energy (i.e., on a scale to be useful in replacing the 93% of energy that comes from fossil fuels and nukes), a few nasty problems crop up.
How ironic that coal, natural gas, oil and nukes are not only the most economic but also the most environmentally friendly energy sources.
The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
Yep
DerKrieger (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 7:06PM EST (link)Manufacture of solar cells is also extremely messy and involves significant amounts of heavy metals.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080225090826.htm
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” – James Madison
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” — John Locke, 1690
Yeah, ask the ethanol crowd about scale and prices of corn. nt
Common_Cents (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 8:12PM EST (link)Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
Dealing with criminal gangs is at least efficient and
Tbone (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 7:12PM EST (link)devoid of the hipocrisy of the planet savers. I’m also ok with raping the earth in that in 10,000 years I doubt the earth will bear too many visible scars of the human sojourn.
In short, the sooner the eviro-charIetons crash and burn the sooner I can piss on their graves.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Rare Earth in China
GregInFla (Diary) Saturday, December 26th at 8:08PM EST (link)I had read somewhere that China had stated at Copenhagen that they would not accelerate the mining of rare earthelements to help out the battery folks. This was the first I heard of rare earth, besides the band. All I could say was a big YES!
I have read stories about the nickel mines in Canada, and how devoid of life the area surrounding the mines is. If these mines were in the US, the enviro-fascists would never let them be opened.
– A true evolutionist would let endangered species die off. Think about it.
– The sign outside the courthouse said no signs allowed. So I took it down.
– Atlas Shrugged is now on the non-fiction aisle at Amazon.
Who cares .... as long as Al Gore can somehow make money off it? -nt
bk (Diary) Sunday, December 27th at 6:08AM EST (link)Private ownership of land!
astrolite Monday, December 28th at 9:57AM EST (link)Over 70% of America is already public (read government) land, Under any excuse the public will believe, the environmentalists (read communists) want all the rest! A private preserve , tax free, and themselves the only people granted access! Even a government grant to “study it to death”. They are against all agriculture, all manufacturing, all fishing! They also want 80% of our population dead! But strangly none of them have yet “Helped out” by committing suicide! These are the new face of the old communist party!