7 ms·

Those regulations seem well-founded: California has a population density of 258.21 per mi² compared to 5.9 per mi² in Wyoming. And that doesn't even start to a

Those regulations seem well-founded: California has a population density of 258.21 per mi² compared to 5.9 per mi² in Wyoming. And that doesn't even start to account for agricultural production for human consumption (versus livestock). Those limitations are reasonably founded if human wellbeing is the metric. Thus: This is good, despite any feelings about regulatory burdens.

perihelions 3y ago
Sure, but this is in the Mojave desert.
- gotoeleven 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - defrost 3y ago
    Oak Flat is another sacred site .. but with an estimated 64 billion US of copper lying below. https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resolution-of-us-copper-mine-stand-off-20211129-p59cyc https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resol... I've got my fingers crossed for the discovery of a squintillion dollers worth of unobtanium beneath the Vatican and the White House to see how this plays out elsewhere. For social science!
  - sgentle 3y ago
    I'm not sure exactly where the appropriate place is to mock the victims of genocide while they try to preserve what remains of their culture and land, but it's definitely not here.
    - gotoeleven 3y ago
      [flagged]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
rgarrett88 3y ago
You know that population isn't uniformly distributed across the states right?
- beambot 3y ago
  I had no idea! But I do know that water sheds in California frequently transit through heavily populated areas and/or feed into key reservoirs. To be clear: this is a generic comment about regulation in proportion to number of lives impacted, not the details of this find. Also to note: I essentially live surrounded by Superfund sites that brought about the entire silicon revolution. I'm acutely aware of the actual generational impacts.
jandrewrogers 3y ago
This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. They were situated in some of the least habitable parts of the US. It has nothing to do with the actual well-being of people. The US is blessed with incredible mineral wealth that is rarely exploited anymore because so many people harbor these kinds of naive assumptions, which manifests as regulations. Consequently, we depend on countries like China to supply these minerals since they are not held hostage by these misconceptions. Wyoming’s advantage over California is that they have a reality-based perspective on mineral resource extraction, instead of outsourcing it to China so that they can pretend to be environmentally virtuous.
- Retric 3y ago
  Regulations cover the general case not just each individual case separately . It’s reasonable to offer exceptions for mines in the Mojave, but baking that into the regulations requires even more complexity.
- ajross 3y ago
  > This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. The Mountain Pass mine in the link above is just off I15, maybe a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas. That's not right on top of a housing development, but it's hardly "remote".
  - lazide 3y ago
    You’re kidding right? That is very much the definition of ‘middle of nowhere’. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic] Groom Lake and the National Test Site (where the US set off literally hundreds of nuclear bombs) is roughly the same distance from Las Vegas, just in a slightly different direction. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic] That area is about as remote and in hospitable to human life as anyone can find in the lower 48 once you get off the highway. The only way it would get more remote is if someone kept driving and took a turn somewhere along there. I’ve spent plenty of time out in those deserts. It’s very easy to not show up on someone’s radar ever again [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans].

perihelions 3y ago

Sure, but this is in the Mojave desert.

gotoeleven 3y ago
[flagged]
- defrost 3y ago
  Oak Flat is another sacred site .. but with an estimated 64 billion US of copper lying below. https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resolution-of-us-copper-mine-stand-off-20211129-p59cyc https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/rio-bhp-s-seek-resol... I've got my fingers crossed for the discovery of a squintillion dollers worth of unobtanium beneath the Vatican and the White House to see how this plays out elsewhere. For social science!
- sgentle 3y ago
  I'm not sure exactly where the appropriate place is to mock the victims of genocide while they try to preserve what remains of their culture and land, but it's definitely not here.
  - gotoeleven 3y ago
    [flagged]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

rgarrett88 3y ago

You know that population isn't uniformly distributed across the states right?

beambot 3y ago
I had no idea! But I do know that water sheds in California frequently transit through heavily populated areas and/or feed into key reservoirs. To be clear: this is a generic comment about regulation in proportion to number of lives impacted, not the details of this find. Also to note: I essentially live surrounded by Superfund sites that brought about the entire silicon revolution. I'm acutely aware of the actual generational impacts.

jandrewrogers 3y ago

This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. They were situated in some of the least habitable parts of the US. It has nothing to do with the actual well-being of people. The US is blessed with incredible mineral wealth that is rarely exploited anymore because so many people harbor these kinds of naive assumptions, which manifests as regulations. Consequently, we depend on countries like China to supply these minerals since they are not held hostage by these misconceptions. Wyoming’s advantage over California is that they have a reality-based perspective on mineral resource extraction, instead of outsourcing it to China so that they can pretend to be environmentally virtuous.

Retric 3y ago
Regulations cover the general case not just each individual case separately . It’s reasonable to offer exceptions for mines in the Mojave, but baking that into the regulations requires even more complexity.
ajross 3y ago
> This is a non sequitur. The mines were very far from populated or agricultural areas. The Mountain Pass mine in the link above is just off I15, maybe a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas. That's not right on top of a housing development, but it's hardly "remote".
- lazide 3y ago
  You’re kidding right? That is very much the definition of ‘middle of nowhere’. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/wV1K9HSgnbBN6Ye58?g_st=ic] Groom Lake and the National Test Site (where the US set off literally hundreds of nuclear bombs) is roughly the same distance from Las Vegas, just in a slightly different direction. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/oKc83mrnptUSPVJ2A?g_st=ic] That area is about as remote and in hospitable to human life as anyone can find in the lower 48 once you get off the highway. The only way it would get more remote is if someone kept driving and took a turn somewhere along there. I’ve spent plenty of time out in those deserts. It’s very easy to not show up on someone’s radar ever again [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans].