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continues to devour resources at an
alarming rate without ever stopping to
consider where the material comes from.
We in the "have" nations are all too
prone to forget that we live on a finite
earth whose resources are limited - far
more limited than one might imagine.
Less than one percent of the earth's
mineral crust contains deposits of the
approximately 100 minerals which are
of economic importance. Further, less
than ten percent of these deposits are of
sufficient grade and accessibility to make
mining them feasible. And, unlike plant
and animal resources, minerals and
fuels are not naturally renewable.
Yet, today we are depleting these
resourccs faster than ever.
Afflueot Nations Mineral Poor
It
is an ironic paradox that the
world's affluent nations are resource–
poor when compared to undeveloped
countries. No industrialized nation,
with the possible exception of the So–
viet Union, is self-sufficient in mineral
resources.
And among those developed nations
dependent on imports, the U. S. is
among the most vulnerable. Though
America was once mineral-rich, today it
is mineral-poor.
More than 60 of 72 strategic com–
modities must be imported in quantity
- sorne 40 of these from politically un–
stable or unfriendly areas.
Chrome, for example, is a steel–
alloying material essential for the jet
engines, gas turbines, guns, and armor–
piercing projectiles of modero warfare.
Yet since the sanctions against Rho–
desia, the U. S. now depends on the
So–
viet Union for well over half of her
anoual supply.
Nickel is another vital mineral we
have never produced in any real quan–
tity domestically.
Biologist Preston Cloud states of the
U. S. mineral position: "Among many
other mineral commodities, it (the
United States] imports most of its
manganese, chrome, cobalt, tin and
bauxite. It extensively supplements its
lead, zinc and tungsten from foreign
sources. Its dependence on foreign
petroleum, iron ore [ now nearly half of
our annual production is imported] and
copper grows annually."
The
PLAIN TRUTH
Yet little thought whatsoever is being
given to slowing down
oc
curtailing the
demands for these products. Instead, we
are driving per capita consumption
levels ever higher in both developed
and undeveloped countries alike. While
world population increases at sorne two
percent annually, consumption of goods
is growing at more than four percent.
For the immediate future this growtb
cate can be expected to continue - and
even accelerate. But by the end of the
century it will be a different story.
The Forecast for 2000 A.D.
Maoy experts see America in a des–
perate crisis by the year 2000, searching
for diminishing supplies with which to
keep production lines rolliog. Other
industrialized nations will face a similar
problem.
A leading Canadian geophysicist, F.
S. Grant, feels that world consumption
of copper, lead, nickel and zinc is rising
so rapidly that known reserves are likely
to be exhausted within 20 years.
Dr. Charles F. Park, author of
Af–
flt~ence
in Jeopardy,
observes that the
world is already beginning to run short
of sorne important materials such as
mercury, tin, silver and cobalt. He fore–
sees the big drain coming, however,
about the turn of the century, when pop–
ulation may have doubled and the unde–
veloped countries will have achieved a
certain level of industrialization.
August 1971
Tanta]um, tungsten, beryllium, bis–
muth, vanadium, cadmium, and other
metals are likely to be in short supply
or depleted 30 years from now. Sorne of
these are required only in minute
amounts, but they are indispensible to
industrial processes.
"Growtb-mania"
In spite of our dwindling resources,
the whole world is afHicted with what
has been called the "Chamber of Com–
merce" syndrome.
lt
is the philosophy
that continuing growth is good.
John Kenneth Galbraith has well
said: "No other social goal is more
strongly avowcd ... no other test of so–
cial success has such nearly unanimous
acceptance as the annual increase in
gross national product. And this is true