Oil

Just A Drill On Capitol Hill: Utah Lawmakers Push Bill To Teach Kids 'Petroleum Literacy'

Jillian Rayfield | November 19, 2010, 8:59AM

TPM Photo Illustration

A committee in the Utah state legislature is pushing the Mineral and Petroleum Literacy Act, which seeks to "educate" children about mining and petroleum drilling. The funds for the program would come out of surplus mining profits.

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Afghanistan

Gov't Geologist Spoke Of Vast Economic Benefit Of Afghan Minerals -- Over Two Years Ago

Justin Elliott | June 14, 2010, 12:38PM

The Hindu Kush mountains overlooking the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan

American geologists who assessed Afghanistan's mineral deposits realized the potentially vast economic benefits of the minerals as far back as 2007, according to U.S. Geological Survey documents from that time.

The New York Times story this morning reporting the "discovery" in Afghanistan of a $1 trillion trove of minerals like lithium has already been the focus of plenty of scrutiny from journalists questioning how new this discovery, which was presented by the Obama Administration as a potential game-changer, really is.

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