Thacker Pass, Quinn River NV

  But one of my concerns is when projects are labeled "green", such as the Bishop example, which encourages people who do not have the time or desire to look any closer to just say, "oh, okay".

I believe you hit the nail squarely on the head. Only I suggest that most people have the time to do their own homework, just not the desire or gumption to do so. It's so much easier to drink the nice, sweet Kool-Aid offered up on social media and traditional media platforms, pat oneself on the back, and feel great about being green while sticking it to those awful mining and oil and gas companies.

Rare earths come from China for the most part. Lithium comes from open-pit mining in the East and from brine extraction in the West.  Due largely to extraordinary advances in extraction technology (hydraulic fracturing) the US is literally awash in clean(er) natural gas, and there are still billions of tons of hard and soft coal readily convertible to clean(er) liquid fuels, along with vast quantities of oil shale. We are truly energy independent, something unthnkable when I was a mineral exploration geologist in the 1970s/early 1980s.  Production of power from wind and solar have costs rarely discussed. 

The reality is quite simple: you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.  Each and every aspect of human endeavor alters the surface of the planet, most often in a permanent way. There's no way around it so long as the Earth's population continues to grow.  The smart money is on figuring out how to adapt to a changing Earth, because there's no stopping it.

Foy

The reality is quite simple: you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.  Each and every aspect of human endeavor alters the surface of the planet, most often in a permanent way. There's no way around it so long as the Earth's population continues to grow.  The smart money is on figuring out how to adapt to a changing Earth, because there's no stopping it.

 

Foy

All of this is true. Energy demanding people in an ever growing population can only have one outcome. Change is here and more is on the way.

I don't have the source at hand so I won't give a percentage but my recollection is that most of the energy used is in manufacturing. Some of this is necessary. I think a lot of it is not. So how much "stuff" do we really need? 

Do you really want someone else to decide what you need?

Do you really want someone else to decide what you need?

That is not what I have said. 

but I think this is a fine place for a quote from Steve Jobs:

"People don't know what they want until you show it to them."

so who is doing the "deciding"? 

Edited by teledork, 06 February 2021 - 03:50 PM.

Another story from Thursday 18 February -

Just read a newspaper story this morning about the tech co. Blockchains.

They want the state of Nevada to grant them the power to form a government

on land they own in Storey 12 miles east of Reno.

They want to build a huge "smart city"15K homes and 33M square feet of commerical

space in the next 75 years.

Well so much for rural Nevada.

Frank

I know some people think bill is the devil but what it he's right about nuclear power?

https://www.inverse....Gates thinks he's%20found,stations%20across%20the%20United%20States.&text=That's%20because%20they%20rely%20on,energy%3A%20a%20traveling%20wave%20reactor.

This is today.  Cryptocurrency is still in it's infancy.

"They’re claiming a SINGLE transaction consumes 306 kWh of electricity, which is roughly enough to power 10.35 U.S. households for an entire day. To give more perspective, total annual Bitcoin energy consumption is currently at almost 37 TWh…or about the same as a small country such as Denmark or Bulgaria. Data Centers are springing up all over the place to mine bitcoin."

Here's a report from April 13th -

Native Americans Converge At Proposed Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Site