This entry I must file under the “why do people stick to old ideas that no longer hold water” category. In November, along with electing a new United States President, Montana voters will vote for or against Initiative 147, also known as I-147. (This is not a vote for or against a new interstate highway).
Initiative 147 lifts Montana’s 1998 ban on CYANIDE LEACH MINING. But, I must be fair and note that the initiative would put strict environmental procedures in place for such mining. However, the only real argument for it, that I’ve seen, is that it would create jobs.
(This is the part where I sigh deeply and bang my head against the wall.)
That would be great if they were sustainable jobs and the sustained jobs didn’t hurt the environment. The problem with resource extraction related job growth is that IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. Gold is not a renewable resource unless you consider the thousands of year lapse needed for it to form as making it “renewable.” The same goes for silver. (And oil, of course, but that’s another story for another day).
A lot of people in Montana (and other non-urban states) believe that Montana job growth is in extracting resources. The Sonoran Institute, an economic group with a branch in Bozeman, MT, did a 30-year study that found that the exact opposite is true. Its research, Prosperity in the 21st Century West,
dispels the notion that public lands hurt local economies by preventing the development of natural resources. In fact, the contrary is true: public lands draw people who want to live and work in rural areas which leads to vibrant economies and better quality of life.
Also, I think it should be noted that a mining company, one based in Colorado at that, is backing the initiative. The often repeating television commercial for the initiative features the executive director of the mining union. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that their activism is not motivated by non-bias and a love of Montana life.
Montana has an educated, talented work pool. Let’s work with that and create a vibrant economy that can grow into the future. Montana can do more than deplete its natural beauty.