This editorial in Friday’s NYT highlights some major new reforms being proposed that could finally begin to make U.S. mining policy more rational and in line with environmental goals. It is the first truly excellent piece of environmental legislation that this Congress has considered passing. While sponsored by a key Democratic senator, it may actually suffer defeat because of a Democrat, Harry Reid, majority leader, whose home state of Nevada is closely tied to the mining industry. This is one of those times when a call to your own senators and Mr. Reid himself (202-224-3542) would be worth the effort. Opportunities like this don’t come around too often; in fact, this archaic law has been wreaking havoc since 1872.
