(MN Congressman Pete Stauber / file image )
The U-S House passed Joint Resolution 140 on Wednesday. The measure is a bill to overturn a previously passed Public Land Order designed to prevent mining for up to 20 years in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and its watershed.
8th District GOP Congressman and Duluth native Pete Stauber introduced the measure…
“We will not rely on China or other adversarial nations. We can do it….this can be a win-win-win! If anybody knows how to mine, it’s the Minnesota miner.”
In a video presentation, 6th District Congressman and U-S Majority House Whip Republican Tom Emmer of Delano said people have been mining in Minnesota for 130 years “the right way”…
“This is not your grandfather’s mine, this is not your father’s mine. This is mining in the 21st century, which is safe, it protects the environment, but it gives us access to the critical minerals that we’re going to need to move this country forward into the future.”
DFL Congresswoman Kelly Morrison calls the measure “the greatest threat to the BWCA in history”…
“Allowing a Chilean mining company to extract copper from our public lands, destroy the boundary waters and send minerals to benefit billionaire owners and China, will not protect our national security.”
Minnesota’s congressional delegation split along party lines on the vote with 4 Republicans voting yes, and 4 Democrats voting no.
The area in question represents some 225 thousand acres in the Duluth complex, making it the largest untapped copper-nickel mine in the world.
The measure now moves on the U-S Senate.
(content: in part, courtesy MNN)
