The three techno-fixes LeCain listed, transformational, relocational, and delaying, are all things that could have disastrous effects on the environment. Transformational fixes, like the one in Ducktown, only serve to harm the environment by spreading the pollutant everywhere and, because of it’s success in agriculture, encouraging the use and spread of those pollutants. Relocational fixes are also not good for then environment because then things like the Berkeley Pit happen. In the case of the Berkeley Pit they created a bigger problem which they’re finding they have very few solutions to. Delaying solutions, like that in Anaconda, also only served to harm the environment. The technological fixes we have for the pollutions caused by mining are only things that also harm the environment, even if they delay that process.
Because technology requires copper in order to be made, mining is going to continue being a necessity unless we can find an alternative conductor of electricity. That being said, LeCain’s argument about how much all of our techno-fixes continue to harm the environment (thus making them completely ineffective) is something I think that we need to be worried about. However, I’m not sure what we can really do to stop the harm that we are causing by mining for materials that we feel are necessary for the continued development of technology. If we could make an alternative for copper, would that also have a negative effect for our planet? Would that also harm the environment? These are questions we need to ask ourselves when it comes to our technology, especially considering how important our technologies are to us.