Indeed there is no free lunch, but mining operations, as devastating as they can be to the local ecosystem, are at the very least not globally deleterious. There's not much point in preserving a...
Indeed there is no free lunch, but mining operations, as devastating as they can be to the local ecosystem, are at the very least not globally deleterious. There's not much point in preserving a habitat for a specific species if it means that that ecosystem will be subject to say, extended heatwaves which would kill all animal life there anyway.
The techno-futurist in me is all 'what about asteroid mining! Or elevated cement block batteries! Or...', but I think the hard truth is that if we want bauxite or lithium, it's going to be mined by a person running an excavator.
You also have to mine fossil fuels too. Is mining of rare metals appreciably worse for the environment in terms of impact? And are the problems process and technology things (like, we can do coal...
You also have to mine fossil fuels too. Is mining of rare metals appreciably worse for the environment in terms of impact? And are the problems process and technology things (like, we can do coal and natural gas more cleanly because we're really good at it) or are they inherent to the task (the byproducts of mining rare metals are inherently just bad and hard to contain, moreso than with coal or petroleum or gas).
Indeed there is no free lunch, but mining operations, as devastating as they can be to the local ecosystem, are at the very least not globally deleterious. There's not much point in preserving a habitat for a specific species if it means that that ecosystem will be subject to say, extended heatwaves which would kill all animal life there anyway.
The techno-futurist in me is all 'what about asteroid mining! Or elevated cement block batteries! Or...', but I think the hard truth is that if we want bauxite or lithium, it's going to be mined by a person running an excavator.
You also have to mine fossil fuels too. Is mining of rare metals appreciably worse for the environment in terms of impact? And are the problems process and technology things (like, we can do coal and natural gas more cleanly because we're really good at it) or are they inherent to the task (the byproducts of mining rare metals are inherently just bad and hard to contain, moreso than with coal or petroleum or gas).