He’s had a busy past day or so. Not only has he reinforced the Republican meme about killing social security by calling it a “crisis”, he is now in full pander with the mining interests when he says that he is opposing the repeal the 1872 Mining act.

We have had 200 years of bad laws, but the 1872 Mining act is among the worst. Under the 1872 law, a miner stakes a claim, and all they have to do is pay $5/acre, and it removes pretty much all environmental protections from land put to this applications.

Additionally, the law allows the land to be “patented” or transferred to private property for a small fee. This is a bad law. It has resulted in massive losses to the federal government, the pollution of 40% of the watersheds in the west, and continues to harm the delicate ecology of the west.

What’s more, with gold increasing in value, old mining sites will be doubtlessly be scavenged, doing more harm ecological harm.

For just how bad this law that Obama supports is, go here.