News

Duluth News Tribune
December 20, 2009

Mining to the Iron Range is what wheat production is to the Great Plains. Mining is the lifestyle, the very essence of the Range. It’s the basis of the region’s very existence. Those who do not understand the significance of mining on the Range and the consequences of its exodus not only underestimate the value of mining to Rangers but to all Minnesotans.

The proposed PolyMet project would produce 400 to 470 direct, long-term jobs plus a large number of ancillary and support jobs. This would be in addition to the thousands of construction-related jobs during the initial phases of building. Furthermore, a study by the University of Minnesota Duluth found PolyMet would add an additional $6 billion annually to the state’s economy. That would prove welcome relief from ever-rising taxes to aging northern Minnesotans and their ability to remain in their homes.

The PolyMet project, near Hoyt Lakes, represents the vanguard of the rebirth of the Iron Range, this time as a producer of nonferrous metals like nickel, copper and platinum.

But the PolyMet project has been a typical example of the way government can create hurdles instead of highways for Range miners and the tax base of Minnesota. This project holds great promise for the futures of both the Iron Range and all of Minnesota, but government bureaucracy and national special-interest groups have held the project hostage five years.

Adding to the obstacles is U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar’s proposed Clean Water Restoration Act, which would further introduce impediments in bringing prosperity to an area already finding elusive the fruits of economic recovery.

My hope is our currently elected officials have the good judgment to facilitate the PolyMet project not only for the hard-working people of the Iron Range but for all Minnesotans.

Chip Cravaack

Lindstrom, Minn.