Good afternoon everyone, today I will be presenting 5 key points for this round which supports

the stand that mining indeed does more harm than good.

First key point that I will present to you today is on the:

1. Health hazards caused by mining.

i. Mining causes serious accidents such as fires, explosions, or collapsed mine

tunnels that affect miners and people living in communities near mines. Even in
places where mining happened long ago, people can still be exposed to health
threats from mining waste and chemicals that remain in the soil and water.
Mining damages health in many ways:
1. Dust, chemical spills, harmful fumes, heavy metals and radiation can
poison workers and cause life-long health problems as well as allergic
reactions and other immediate problems.
2. Cardiopulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
hypertension, lung disease, and kidney disease have been found in
higher-than-normal rates among residents who live near coal mines,
according to a 2014 US study.
3. Long hours working underground with little light can harm vision.
4. Working in very hot conditions can cause heat stress.
5. Water pollution and overuse of water resources leads to many health
problems.
6. Mining releases coal mine methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more
powerful than carbon dioxide. Coal dust inhalation causes black lung
disease among miners and those who live nearby, and mine accidents
kill thousands every year.
ii. With all these health hazards of mining, what weighs more? A healthy life or the
profits in the expense our health? I firmly believe that life is priceless.

2) Technologies
i. I know that technology advancement depends much from mining. But, what is
the use of all technologies if the lives of the users are compromised through the
destructive process of making these things.

3) Wildlife
i. Mining disrupt and destroy habitats and can cause water and air pollution
wherein the runoff from mines contaminates local water supplies such as
rivers, creeks and lakes. This contamination can cause the death of
wildlife and/or cause genetic mutations in their offspring.
ii. Birds, Animals, and creatures that depend on trees and plants for food or
shelter lose their homes or starve to death
iii. Endemic plant and animal species are most affected since they are very
sensitive and they require specific environmental conditions, even the slightest
disruption of their habitats can result in extinction or put them at high risk of
being wiped out. And given that Philippines is in a tropical region and blest with
 a very diverse variety of species, mining is a very critical factor on the
preservation of these endemic species.
iv. Although rehabilitation programs such as tree planting events are implemented,
what for are the hundreds of trees planted every event compared to the daily
destruction of the habitat of our wildlife?

4) Employment and Benefits Illusion

i. Mining may promote employment and economic development within an area
but don’t be deceived with this fragile utopia for these things won’t last long.
20-50 years give or take, when all the minerals in the mine are depleted, the
mining company will proceed to closure and what happens then? Where will all
the workers go? The shift of jobs is a challenge for the workers and could
critically affect the economic progress of a community in terms of adaption to
these changes. Yes, there may be rehabilitation programs that the company has
to implement but it is still a problem when it comes to sustainability of these
programs since these mining companies are already focusing investments on
the search of new mining resource sites.
5) Environment risk
i. The mining process begins with deforestation. The land above the mine must be
cleared of all obstructions to allow the miners to go to work. Sadly, most mining
companies are quite willing to destroy an entire forest to get access to mineral
wealth.
ii. Strip mining destroys landscapes, forests and wildlife habitats at the site of the
mine when trees, plants, and topsoil are cleared from the mining area. This in
turn leads to soil erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and
contamination of soil, groundwater, surface water by chemicals from mining
processes, and destruction of agricultural land.
iii. Underground mining causes huge amounts of waste earth and rock to be
brought to the surface – waste that often becomes toxic when it comes into
contact with air and water. It causes subsidence as mines collapse and the land
above it starts to sink. This causes serious damage to buildings.
iv. Mining sites will be wastelands after the mining is over, leaving the farmers less
land for agriculture. Mining can contribute to the deterioration of the area's flora
and fauna. There is also a huge possibility that many of the surface features that
were present before mining activities cannot be replaced after the process has
ended even with reclamation and rehabilitation programs.
v. Mining may bring profit, employment, technological advancements, and country
taxation benefits but no money is worth the destruction of our environment &
wildlife.

Before I end, let me share to you a quote from an author Debasish Mridha which says
“Those things you can buy have no value but have a price. Those things you cannot buy have value
and are priceless.” Mining may be a profitable business, but we shall never turn a blind eye to the
outweighing harmful effects which could cost the environment and lives of the people.