We have the same abundance of resources and the same strong opposition from environmentalists. Maybe in some punctual cases they have a point, but in many cases they take this to the extreme without much of a base, other than to block any extractive action and not only. There are a lot of interests at play, and often these movements are used to block any action either because there is no desire from the powers-that-be to dig out more (gold, for example), or because the "right" people don't control them yet.