http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OS11N80.htm
A mining company is seeking to mine the seventh largest Uranium deposit in the world located in Virginia. There has been a ban on the mining of Uranium in Virginia for nearly 30 years. The company must convince the General Assembly to end the thirty year ban on uranium mining. The company has flown representatives to Europe to observe a closed mining operation to help with their lobbying campaign. The National Academy of Sciences is helping analyze the effects of statewide mining of uranium near the North Carolina line. The National Academy of Sciences study will not recommend whether or not to lift the ban. Although this would bring hundreds of jobs to southern Virginia, it would also have an ecological impact; mining this precious ore would create lots of waste byproduct. The main solution to this problem will be decided in the state legislature sometime in 2012. So the fate of this proposition will be decided in less than a year. In my opinion, there are pros and cons whether the bill is passed. If passed, hundreds of jobs will be brought to a economically depressed area of the south. On the other hand, if passed, this will also hurt the area environmentally.
“Hundreds of jobs" do not outweigh the cons of this proposition. Uranium is only used for nuclear power and nuclear weapons. After the disasters that happened in Japan we should seriously reconsider before pushing for the Russian roulette that is nuclear power. The health of the miners could be jeopardized because of the radioactive material as well as those in the surrounding towns. Economic stimulus would not affect the surrounding towns as the majority of profit goes to stock holders and corporations – not the employees. The Virginian people would not benefit nor would the environment.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Kirk, one hundred percent. Not only would it be harmful to the workers, but also to the environment, in the form of waste byproducts, as the article read. Also, Virginia is known for its beauty and mining for uranium would completely destroy the areas around the mines. In addition, if the uranium sites are near any residencies at all, those houses would have to be evacuated as well as the surrounding areas because of the waste byproducts and radioactive nature of uranium for safety precautions. There is no way that the government has the funds to fully compensate uprooted families and relocate them, just as the government most likely doesn't have the funds to mine uranium for nuclear weapons. The money that would go towards clever devices for killing our fellow man would be better spent on curing cancer or educating children internationally.
ReplyDeleteMariah's correct. Why use government funds to mine the Uranium ore for a guaranteed pollution of the environment and developing nuclear weapons for destruction. Instead by using these precious funds for positive outlets, that not only preserve the environment, but better society and life as we know it?
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