EARTHblog » Hilary Lewis
The Story of Broke: Revenge of the Dinosaurs
By Hilary Lewis
November 8, 2011
I just watched Annie Leonard’s latest short film, “The Story of Broke: Why There’s Still Plenty of Money to Build a Better Future,” and I loved it!
This time around Annie explains how the government could possibly be broke after taking in a trillion dollars a year from taxpayers. Let’s just say the problem isn’t a gold shortage.
Tagged with: mining, 1872 mining law, subsidies, story of broke, ow
Not so rare after all: Lynas Corporation’s rare earth refinery in Malaysia
By Hilary Lewis
September 23, 2011
View Lynas in a larger map
We use rare earths in a wide range of modern conveniences, from consumer electronics to hybrid car batteries.
Recently, rare earths have been in the news thanks to skyrocketing prices. High prices are a result of increased demand due to new technologies and artificially limited supply – artificially limited by China, which currently controls more than 90% of global rare earth mineral production, but less than 40% of known deposits.
Rare earth minerals are expensive and dangerous to mine, not to mention the environmental impacts common to all mining, in addition to radioactive waste concerns.
Tagged with: mining, international, rare earths, australia, china, malaysia, refining
Follow Earthworks