The mining of silica sand on a community-designated trapline adjacent to the Hollow Water First Nation’s reserve boundary in Manitoba is poised to be a disaster for the environment. But this can all be avoided if CPS gets the silica it needs to feed its proposed float glass plant from Wisconsin, instead of despoiling a sensitive ecosystem for profit and convenience.

Two corporations are in the midst of seeking Government of Manitoba approval to build and operate silica sand mines and processing facilities that would extract and process some 2.6 million tonnes of silica sand per year. One proposed mine would employ an unconventional and unproven mining method of extracting the silica sand by pumping it from deep within the aquifer that supplies drinking water to all of southeastern Manitoba.

Planet of the Humans is not without its faults, but I hope the debate it has sparked will come to embrace a thorough discussion of the bankruptcy of green capitalism and the need for solutions based on principles of social and economic justice which genuinely challenge overconsumption and unlimited economic growth.