Interior secretary: Mining reform a top priority

Associated Press ^ | July 14, 2009 | JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

[george76]

The Obama administration will make reforming the nation's 137-year-old hardrock mining law a top priority despite a full plate of higher profile issues, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

Salazar told a Senate committee considering reform legislation that "it is time to ensure a fair return to the public for mining activities that occur on public lands and to address the cleanup of abandoned mines."

The General Mining Act of 1872, which gives mining preference over other uses on much of the nation's public lands, has left a legacy of hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines that are polluting rivers and streams throughout the West. Mining companies also don't pay royalties on gold, silver, copper and other hardrock minerals mined on public land.

Reform bills have been introduced in the House and Senate, but past attempts at reform have foundered in the face of opposition from industry and many Western lawmakers.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Years ago, after decades of research, an economist historian reached a conclusion, which even he did not believe, and spent over a decade trying to disprove before publishing. It was the discovery that, throughout all of human history, there was one, and only one, 100% correlation between what made a nation prosperous and powerful, and what made a nation poor and subordinate.

Mining.

As a nation mines, it prospers, and the more it mines, the more prosperous and powerful it becomes. When it reduces its mining, its wealth is reduced, and when it stops mining altogether, it becomes a vassal state to a nation that does mine, and mines more.

The reasons for this is that mining is the lynch pin of an economy. From mining flows industry and agriculture, military might and national strength. Without mining, a nation is crippled, its marketplace is subdued, its strength, nationally and internationally, are diminished.

The General Mining Act of 1872 was brilliant in its simplicity. In short it said that *anyone* may stake a mining claim just about *anywhere*, even on another person’s property. But that claim had to be “improved” to the amount of $500 (in 1872 money, mind you), each and every year, or that claim would be forfeit. Improvement either meant literally, or by producing at least $500 in ore from the mine.

And this is why America has hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines. But also, why America had an enormous coal, steel, automotive and manufacturing economy.

And this is why America has the most powerful military in the world.

And this will be why, when these mines are shut down for petty and stupid reasons, and even pettier greed, on the part of Washington, America will be economically penalized. And unless some democratic nation, perhaps India, picks up the gauntlet and continues the fight for democracy, a nation like China, with all its vices, will dominate the world.

[Seadog Bytes]

...and the ‘hits’ just keep on coming...

[patriot08]

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1. Crash the system
2. Wipe the disk clean.
3. Reboot the system with Hussein 2.0

(shamlessly stolen from another FReeper)

____________________________

FYI:

Beckwith, our own FReeper and author of the fantastic ‘The Obama File’ http://www.theobamafile.com/
will be on Plains Radio http://www.plainsradio.com/radio.html
with host Ken Dunbar for two hours Wed July 15, 8PM CST-10PM CST.
Be sure not to miss this.

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