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Originally Posted by ogon_bat
You want us to believe that suddenly that China's communist party have had an epiphany and become tree huggers? Get real, they want to use this as short term political and economical advantage since they know closed mines will reopen all over the world. Look at the rest of the world talking about taking baby steps in anything relation to better the environment and you want us to believe China has moved decisively in that direction? Please do enlighten me in how China is taking the lead in reducing their carbon emissions and is cleaning their polluted landscape.
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Yes, because shit like these
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/wo...third-day.html
That is right, where once Chinese gov can just deploy machine guns on civils, they now realize now things are fucken dangerous.
You do not know how bad some of those cities in China are, that is why China is busy pouring tons of cash into public transit and solar/wind energy, because they realize the American dream of having House+ 2 Car + 2.5 Kids and have it apply to China will be the end of China---if not the entire world in a economic armageddon.
Obama see the same thing, but wonder men in Congress (Read: republican oil lobby) is doing drill drill drill rather going for the long term.
And before you say crap like China never realizing the value of conservation, you forget ultimate sacrifice-by limiting the entire population to prevent a biological armageddon. Let me know when the west think about the same.
As for rare earth? What advantage can China earn? America and the rest of the world can re-open those mines anytime it wants. (SEE: ECONOMICS), just get a good government lobby (SEE OIL, GAS), and you will get rare earth minerals in no time.
Oh, see here: U.S is doing it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountai...are_earth_mine
Why don't you go down to the bottom and read about the byproducts?
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In 1998, chemical processing at the mine was stopped after a series of wastewater leaks. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water carrying radioactive waste spilled into and around Ivanpah Dry Lake.[7]
In the 1980s, the company began piping wastewater as far as 14 miles to evaporation ponds on or near Ivanpah Dry Lake, east of Interstate 15 near Nevada. This pipeline repeatedly ruptured during cleaning operations to remove mineral deposits called scale. The scale is radioactive because of the presence of thorium and radium, which occur naturally in the rare earth ore. A federal investigation later found that some 60 spills—some unreported—occurred between 1984 and 1998, when the pipeline was shut down. In all, about 600,000 gallons of radioactive and other hazardous waste flowed onto the desert floor, according to federal authorities. By the end of the 1990s, Unocal was served with a cleanup order and a San Bernardino County district attorney's lawsuit. The company paid more than $1.4 million in fines and settlements. After preparing a cleanup plan and completing an extensive environmental study, Unocal in 2004 won approval of a county permit that allowed the mine to operate for another 30 years. The mine also passed a key county inspection in 2007.[5]
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Now you know why nobody liked to do rare earth for the long term.