The World Is Running Out of Sand
In these articles I keep on seeing the phrase "illegal mining", and yet I see no reason why legality would effect the environment. Is it somehow better for the environment if the government gets paid for the resource extraction? I don't think so.<p>I know that illegal miners may violate mining regulations which are intended to protect the environment, but as far as I can tell, legal third world mining is not regulated in any ecological way making that point moot.