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Global Warning - Aug 5, 2004 - Printable Version
- When is Too Much Enough?
by Robin Buckallew
A couple of years ago, I was standing on a mountaintop in Colorado's San Juan mountains, looking down at a scene of utter devastation. This mountain was the site of the Summitville mine, a site of gold extraction since the 1870s. By the 1980s, the mine had been stripped of most of the easily accessible gold; however, this did not stop mining activities. In order to strip the last remaining bits of gold out of the mine, the mining company turned to a method known as heap-leach mining - using cyanide solution as a catalyst to strip the last remaining bits of gold from the ore. The mining technique had been approved by all the permitting agencies - it met the standards required by environmental permitting agencies for "safe" heap leaching. As is so often the case in these "safe" operations, the heap-leach pad leaked. Large amounts of sodium cyanide solution entered the Alamosa River downstream from the mining site. This has rendered the water undrinkable for humans - large signs pepper the streambank warning of contamination. This has also resulted in a loss of aquatic life - few fish, few insects, and few plants are able to inhabit this site. Earlier that morning, I had visited the Alamosa River, and seen in person what havoc this had wrought. This site was declared a Superfund site in 1994, and reclamation activities have gone forward. To date, approximately $155 million has been spent on this site. A feasibility study has been completed and a clean up plan has been prepared and approved. Little money has been recovered from the mine owner, who declared bankruptcy, and fled to Australia. Although water quality has improved considerably since the beginning of the clean up operations, much remains to be done. The river is beginning to establish the beginnings of a fish community, and a few insects and plants have moved in. The water remains essentially undrinkable, and the warning signs remain.
Standing on that mountaintop, looking at the death and devastation surrounding me, I could not help but be impacted. Anger. Frustration. Despair. And, as I looked down at the gold wedding band on my left hand, guilt. Yes, guilt. I wear little jewelry - just one small ring - surely I di d not contribute to so much devastation in any significant way? One small ring. A large load of guilt. It has been estimated that the production of one gold ring produces 20 tons of waste. Most of the gold we wear is mined in other countries, where we don't have to look at the devastation - but here, in the San Juan mountains, I could not turn away.
Every day in this country and around the world, precious and semiprecious stones and minerals are mined using techniques that are devastating, creating scars on the land that will not recover in our lifetimes - or often the lifetimes of our children or grandchildren. We are leaving a heritage of wrack and ruin in our wake; but, I am told, there is no other alternative. We require these metals and minerals to survive. Our economy depends on it. Our very life depends on it. I hear these words from the economists, of course, but I also hear them from the environmentalists that I work with. We need them. We cannot live without them. What else can we do?
I would like to proffer a slightly different view. Bear with me for a minute, before you raise the inevitable protests. Deep breath, and here goes. It is self evident that these metals and minerals are not required for the survival of the human race. For millenia, our descendants survived and passed on their genetic structure to the next generation without mining. We require food, water, air. We do not require gold, silver, diamonds, or even coal. These are luxuries. Now you may make your protest - OK, but I don't want to live in a cave, and go out chasing bison with a wooden club, hoping to have a meal when I get back. I want culture, art and literature. I want jewelry and neon lights. I need electric lights and air conditioning. I want.I want.I need.I need. We develop wants, they turn into needs, soon we cannot live without them. The only problem is, as we are becoming aware, it may be impossible for us to live with them, as well. So what am I saying? Give it all up? Go back to the cave? For those of you who have managed to stick with me this long, I will say, the answer is no, I am not saying any such thing.
My proposition is simple. Most of us would, if challenged, recognize how ridiculous it is to argue that we need a pair of shoes when we already have 27 pair. Or we need another DVD when we already have three. And yet, these arguments are heard every day. We no longer have the capability of separating needs from mere wants. I propose we simply recast all things (except the staples of life - food, water and air) as wants. We recognize that the human race can survive without such things. Once we have taken the word need out of the equation, we become free. Now the discussion can begin. We are now free to keep that which is important, and discard that which is just noise. We are free to consider whether the pleasure we get out of it is important enough to risk the environmental devastation, the loss of clean air and clean water (the true needs). We can consider every item from an informed, educated frame of mind, rather than just approach each new purchase as an overwhelming driving need. Consider your last 20 purchases (other than food). Where are they now? How much are they used? How long did they last? What did they cost? How long did I have to work to pay for this? And what is the cost to future generations very survival because I have this new item? Was it worth it? When you ask these questions, you will find some surprising answers.
I ask you to do this. When you go to the store for something, say to yourself "I want this item" instead of "I need this item". It may not change your mind about the purchase - some wants are truly worth it. Some things have little negative impact. But it will make you free. And it may help you simplify your life, and enjoy those things you have a lot more. It did me.
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