"It would be interesting to write the Environmental
Impact Statement for permitting such an operation."

Maybe that's the Real Reason for major extinction events---Mining Operations Gone Disastrously Wrong.
</tongue-in-cheek>

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It is hard to convey five-dimensional ideas in a language evolved to scream defiance at the monkeys in the next tree. -- The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen