Minnesota's outgoing governor just banned mining to spite everyone on his way out the door.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a fellow Minnesotan, went absolutely nuclear on Gov. Tim Walz during a recent radio appearance, as reported by The American Tribune. Emmer branded Walz a "lame duck loser" who is not only incompetent but also "complicit in the fraud" plaguing the state. The GOP congressman argued that Walz's freshly signed executive order blocking copper and nickel extraction near the Boundary Waters is basically a farewell gift to the Chinese Communist Party.
Nothing says "goodbye and good riddance" quite like torpedoing union jobs on your way to the unemployment line. Walz, who already lost on the national stage as Kamala Harris's running mate, apparently decided his final act as governor should involve maximum chaos. He signed Executive Order 26-10, which instructs state agencies to freeze all permitting and leasing for nonferrous mining in the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed. He also ordered a review of 38 existing leases, including one held by Twin Metals, which is owned by a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a giant mining conglomerate. So much for sticking it to big corporations.
Emmer laid out the argument in pretty simple terms during his chat with Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle. If you kill mineral production in a country with the strictest environmental regulations on the planet, that production moves to places like China and Russia, where environmental standards are more of a loose suggestion. The deposit in question is reportedly one of the biggest precious metals finds anywhere on Earth, packed with copper, nickel, and palladium used in everything from smartphones to automobiles.
The congressman also dismissed Walz's environmental justification as a smokescreen. "We're all environmentalists," Emmer said, noting that everybody appreciates clean water and breathable air. But he insisted that protecting the planet wasn't the real motivation behind the order. Instead, Emmer suggested, it was pure vindictiveness from a governor with nothing left to lose and a few months left on the clock.
The collateral damage is significant. Emmer estimated the order could eliminate hundreds or even thousands of well paying union positions. It also chokes off revenue that flows directly into Minnesota's public school trust fund. So kids and workers both take the hit. Lovely parting gift, Governor.
Emmer didn't stop at Walz, either. He dragged Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan into the conversation, accusing Democrats who claim to champion working people of only actually governing "one downtown Minneapolis." Rep. Peter Straub, who led congressional efforts to overturn the federal mining prohibition, called the order "an outright war on Northern Minnesota and our way of life."
So to recap the situation, a governor who already flopped on the biggest stage in American politics is now using his final weeks in office to shut down a world class mineral deposit, gift wrap strategic resources for America's adversaries, and wipe out jobs in communities that desperately need them. All while claiming he's saving the environment. You really cannot make this stuff up.
Read more American news stories at: The American Tribune
