Quarries

Quoted text begins.On another note, I attended a stone industry meeting recently where an
attendee spoke of desecration inflicted by stone people upon the
Earth, how we were robbing our future generations of a valuable
resource. I've searched unsuccessfully for references to reply to this
statement, can anyone help?
End of quote.

Simon. Not sure that there is a reasonable reply to such an
unreasonable statement. Unlike hydrocarbons, which are a finite
resource, or ground water which takes longer to build up than to
deplete, or old growth forests which also take much longer to re
generate than we cut them, stone is a resource that cannot be
used up. The planet is stone, and we are in no danger of
running out. The cedars of Lebanon are long gone (used up) but
the limestones and sandstones of the region are still being
quarried after millennia of use. Ironically, new technology,
tooling, and transportation have enabled new quarries to open,
processing stone that only a few years ago was economically
untouchable, so supplies are growing, not depleting.
Did your fellow conference attendee have any suggestions as to
viable alternatives, or was he merely grinding a dull axe??