Mining for a Home.
So many people have such strong feelings concerning mining, but sometimes, feelings do not matter. A small town in Colorado was devistated when the old uranium mine was closed. Many people had to leave town. Now, when a new mining operation is proposed, they feel that there may still be a future for them. Many understand the risks of the project, but when it means being able to stay together, in their homes, the risks are at the bottom of their minds. They needs those jobs, or they will lose everything they have. When a neighboring town tries to stop the mine, ties become strained between the two communities.
The mines may have a lot of environmental impacts, but when there are not many other options, mining does not seem so bad. So few new job opportunities are presented to small towns, that anything is prefferable to nothing. It is nice and easy to hate something that does not seem as important to your community, but when it means saving your home, sometimes, that sense of dislike has to be put aside. Unless people are willing to step up and help each other, small town communities are going to unravel and disappear. It is not a matter of judging people for choosing to support the mines, but a matter of understanding why they would support them. Sometimes it is not a choice between environmentally friendly jobs and damaging jobs, but between taking a job, or losing everything.
