 The public should not be burdened with the cost of cleaning up ecological damage as a subsidy increasing profit for a mining operation.  No industry should engage in activities that generate environmental harm and be subsidized with public funds in order to generate higher profits.  

	In order to both represent the best economic interests of responsible mining entities and the industry as a whole, mining operations which run without profit should not be subsidized into profitability as a means to garner ecological cleanup.  Instead, these mining operations should be handled either one of two ways: profitable entities should be offered the operations with the stipulation of engaging in economic cleanup by merger or outright buyout of the corporation, or the operation should have mining activities cease and the operating entity should be allowed to produce an acceptable strategy to deal with ecological cleanup.  
	In the event that an operating entity cannot cope with creating an environmentally-acceptable strategy, the entity should be barred from the mining activities in question until a reasonable solution can be reached between creditor, the entity and others who may be involved in the mining operation.  The mining industry and the federal government should help in finding an acceptable solution to the problem.  
	For closed mining operations which pose an environmental threat and have no controlling entity still in existence, a tax-based incentive should be created by the government to provide tax breaks for existing mining operations to take over the closed mining operation.  By giving mining operations a tax-based incentive to manage former sites, the federal government will not be forced to subsidize or take control over mining operations in order to clean them.  As for using a tax-based incentive system as opposed to a government subsidy, money not appropriated is not money lost.  
	In no instance should the federal government pay a current mining entity to engage in cleanup of a contaminated site.  If the event that tax incentives are not enough to get a mining entity to engage in environmental cleanup, it will be necessary for the Federal government to engage in cleanup of the site at the cost to the taxpayer, through use of the Superfund or other means.  This should be made acceptable to the public through an ad campaign and/or statements from public leaders explaining why this step is necessary.
	As a means to both provide for continued mining operations within the United States in the foreseeable future and to best implement environmentally responsible mining practices, the mining industry should employ newer and less environmentally damaging mining practices and technology.  This should be employed by using tax incentives as a means to entice the mining industry to choose new equipment, as opposed to forcing the use of new technologies and methods through legislation, which could harm the economic viability of mining in some areas.  This also protects the movement of mining operations to other nations which have less environmental controls by making the shift to more environmentally-friendly mining methods and techniques more fiscally attractive through tax incentives. 