I was going over some of the press releases from the provincial government recently when I found one from last April titled "Awards Honour Commitment To Sustainable Mining." This is yet another sad example of how far off base our political leadership is, not to mention the captains of industry, all who should be smart enough to know better. Sustainable mining is an oxymoron.

Sustainability means a cyclical system in which inputs balance outputs and everything regenerates at more or less the same rate in perpetuity. Sustainability is what any system or society needs to achieve in order to survive. Things that are not sustainable come to an end.

I grew up on a farm and have continued to raise plants for most of my life. Anyone who does this usually learns about insects that prey upon plants. The smart ones also learn about the balance of nature.

I have seen cut worms, aphids, mites and hoppers destroy crops and the plants that produce them. I have seen how practising mono culture, that is growing huge, unbroken areas of a single crop, has facilitated terrible infestations by providing and almost endless feast of a favoured plant for a pest.

I have seen pest control that did more harm than good by killing not only the targeted pest, but directly or indirectly also many benificial organisms. Collateral damage, so to speak.