Imagine having a backyard where one had prime cross country skiing slopes, trickling streams and waterfalls, natural caves to go swimming and spelunking in, wetlands to go wild-ricing, fly fishing for trout, and mountains and valleys to take 5-day canoe portages and hiking adventures throughout, all near one’s own house. With the cool breeze and the abundant snowfall the often accumulates up near the Upper Peninsula, due to the lake effects of Lake Superior, there would never be a dull moment with the weather, either. Now imagine that being threatened by a billionaire tycoon who prefers to his business, mining, as just a game. For someone living in the northern counties of Wisconsin, this isn’t just a scenario, its reality.
In 2011, Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) purchased mineral rights for the vast expanse of about 21,000 acres that run along 22 miles of the Penokee Mountain Range in the Iron and Ashland Counties of Northwestern Wisconsin. Working with lawmakers, billionaire Chris Cline, leader of GTAC, maneuvered around Wisconsin’s landmark mining moratoriums that had once kept Wisconsin’s land protected. These moratoriums had been placed originally after Wisconsin experienced how careless harvesting of the earth’s natural resources could change Wisconsin’s beauty into incorrigible devastation.
It was in the 1960’s, that Wisconsin’s landmark mining moratoriums were placed on all mining done in Wisconsin. The moratorium purpose was ensuring that all mining done would be done responsibly in respects to Wisconsin’s wildlife, forests, land, and water. Nevertheless, GTAC was able to have legislation remove almost all of these mining regulations. Now, with these removed, there’s nothing that will watch over Wisconsin’s waters and forests ...
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...ta. MNdnr.org. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/lands_minerals/mercuryandmining.pdf
Bjornerud, Marcia, Knudsen, Andrew, and Trotter, Josh. Geochemical, mineralogical and structural characterization of the Tyler Formation and Ironwood Iron Formation Gogebic Range, Wisconsin. lic.wisc.edu. 31 July 2012. Web.1 Jan. 2014. http://www.lic.wisc.edu/glifwc/penoke/BjornerudGeologyReportJa n2013.pdf
Fitz, Tom. ”Potential Physical and Chemical Environmental Impacts of Mining the Ironwood Iron Formation in the Bad River Watershed.” Bad River Watershed Association. 2012. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. http://badriverwatershed.org/index.php/learn/potential-‐mine-‐ information/potential-‐impacts
n.p. Penokee Hills Destruction Act of 2013: Summary. Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. 2013. Web. 4 Jan. 2014. http://www.wnpj.org/miningbill2013
The positive aspects of ‘Lake’ Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dam’s hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the Colorado River’s annual flow (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that “Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in tourist revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base” (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place.
The Grassy Narrows people have a long, deeply rooted history in the environmental justices movement. Rodgers (2009) points to a number of environmental justice struggles such as the fight against the harmful effects of mercury poisoning and the Minamata disease associated with it (para. 1-3), the Ontario Hydro dams that destroyed part of the wild rice harvest and degraded the habitat of fish and fur animals, as well as the displacement of the community (due to relocation into prefabricated houses where electricity and running water were promised) and the culture shock it created (para. 4). He also discusses the successful blockade in 2002, which is the longest-lasting blockade in Canadian history (para. 28)—an example that shows how employing legal methods were critical in the struggle against environmental injustices for this community. There are a number of other issues that will be discussed in the following paragraphs; the above are just a few of the injustices the Grassy Narrows community face.
The environment needs protecting because even before the drilling started hunting was rapidly decreasing the amount of animals in the area. So if drilling occured in Alaska the animal count would go down even more. Drilling is gonna need space, and because Alaska is a mountained and woodland area they will have to make space by destroying trees etc. Destroying trees means destroying animals’ homes. According to document E ‘just look 60 miles west to Prudhoe bay- an oil complex that has turned 1,000 square miles of fragile tundra into a sprawling industrial zone containing, 1,500 miles of roads and pipes’. Also the document states that the would be
In the beginng of try to answer the ethical question of was mountaintop removal mining right or wrong for West Virginia, I decided to look at the environmental hazards first, exploring all the possible...
As the population grows in this country we are developing and expanding area's that have never seen the population like we are seeing these days. There are almost 1200 people who live in the small community of West Yellowstone that thrives on tourism. There is good turnout in the summer and in the winter snowmobiling keeps the small town going. Over the past five years the Government and multiple environmental agencies have tried to shut down snowmobiles in the National Park for pollution reasons. How would this affect the environment? How would this affect the local industry? I will go through each side of this debate that has been taking place.
The controversy over water rights has been a long battle that the Navajo Nation has endured for decades. This controversy which is complicated by numerous issues has only been increasing in recent years. For example the Navajo Hopi Little Colorado Water Settlement that has been in litigation for 33 years. Of particular note Navajo people and their elected officials are struggling to balance expectations with reality including legally mandated coordination with state and federal governments. As a result there has been notable conflict in resources associated with water management. These fundamental issues have been exasperated by a host of concerns: (1) deceased water availability due to drought or water development; (2) long litigation proceedings, (3) growing demands to use “Navajo Water” to meet non-Navajo energy needs in the southwest including coal consumption, uranium exploration-mining and natural gas fracking, and (4) the confusion of Indian Water Rights held separate from the United States water rights systems.
Before the 1970s, environmental policy was not the more publicized issue that it is today. After the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, the environmental movement really took off. The federal government took the situation into their hands and paid more attention to environmental policy than they had been doing in the past. While the states still have quite a bit of power when it com...
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
Coal mining in the 1920s was extremely difficult job in which miners endured many challenges and hardships. The 1920’s safety was not on everyone’s mind. It was as if the miners were just tools to be used. The equipment the miners used was a marvel for its time, as it was just the start to a technological advancement. Miners faced hardships such as low wages, long hours, and the difficulty of the work conditions.
Invasive species do not only affect other species in their ecosystem, but also cost the United States more than one hundred and twenty million dollars each year in damages (“Cost” par. 2). Invasive species come in all different forms, and all have a negative impact on the environment. These species can come into a new area without being detected at first, but as time goes on their effects can soon be seen. Efforts are being made to prevent these invasive species from destroying fish population and habitat, but in order to be successful they need to be done on a much larger scale. In order to protect Wisconsin's waters, which are already infected with many invasive species that cause great damage to our bodies of water, more actions need to be taken. It is vital to remove all invasive species from Wisconsin’s waters because it will improve fish habitat, native fish population, and water quality.
The first noticeable step towards conserving the natural resources and wildlife in the United States started with the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act was started by Senator John Lacey in 1900 to stop the drastic drop in the number of animals and decrease in natural resources in the United States. Lacey’s act made it illegal to kill animals for sport and sell them elsewhere to escape from the law also known as market hunters. Thankfully an end was put to them. The Lacey Act is the oldest wildlife protection law in the United States and the prominence does not stop there. Multiple amendments have been made to the Lacey Act over the years to help preserve plants and wildlife. Since then, numerous species have been saved and the conservation of our natural
...y question, what good is a profession that destroys your home and your body? While environmental groups make the protection of people and the environment of the Appalachian region top priority, the mining companies focus on acting cheaply, not responsibly. And the policy government keeps their heads in the sand when it comes to this issue because they seek benefits of steady jobs and tax revenue of coal mining instead of seeking to guarantee clean water for Appalachians.
Though it has had many negative impacts on the environment in the past, mining is a vital industry completely necessary to our economy and lives. Nearly every item we use or encounter in our day to day lives is mined or contains mined products. Without the excavation of such materials things like computers, televisions, large building structures, electricity, and cars would not be possible. Virtually every technological and medical advance uses minded materials, without which millions would suffer. Some examples of minerals in the home include the telephone which is made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, silver, and talc. A television requires over 35 different minerals, and more than 30 minerals are needed to make a single personal computer. Without boron, copper, gold and quartz, your digital alarm clock would not work. Every American uses an average 47,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year, which is higher than all other countries with the exception of Japan, which is a staggering figure representative of our dependence and need for mined minerals. Coal makes up more than half of nation’s electricity, and will continue to be the largest electrical supplier into 2020 & accounting for some 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves – nine of every ten short-tons of coal mined in the United States is used for electricity generation. As the population of the world grows more mineral resources must be exploited through mining in order to support the rising demand for such products. Though it may present a hazard to the environment and those physically located nears the mines, the materials extracted from mines...
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.