New Mining Bill in Wisconsin – very much alive…

[hue]

http://bdgrdemocracy.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/new-mining-bill-in-wisconsin-very-much-alive/

About four months ago, a controversial mining bill was declared dead. Even Gogebic Taconite President Bill Williams said the company was leaving the state because the Senate sent a “clear message that Wisconsin will not welcome iron mining. We get the message.” An investigation by Badger Democracy has revealed that announcement was misleading and premature.

Even before the failed passage of the mining bill (AB426), Scott Walker appointed Tim Sullivan (President and CEO of Bucyrus – mining equipment manufacturer) as “Special Consultant for Business and Workforce Development.” In mid-June, Sullivan himself admitted that passing a mining bill was still a top priority. However, with the DNR reporting G-TAC withdrawing its exploratory permit and “packing up the operation;” any revised mining legislation easing the permitting and regulatory process seemed unlikely – especially considering the heavy push back from citizens and political fallout.

The lobbying and money trail of G-TAC and mining interests continue to show great interest in mining legislation. It is highly unlikely a company would commit so many resources to an effort it had “given up on.” Gogebic spent over $200,000 in 2011 lobbying for mining legislation. That’s not all – G-TAC has put new lobbyists on the effort – adding 4 in November-December 2011; and one as recently as February 2012.

Of the new lobbyists, 2 are from “Arrowhead Strategies” in Madison (Thomas Fonfara and Robert Seitz) operating out of 10 East Doty St, the same building as the Koch Industries lobby. Both have lobbied for the American Federation for Children. Jack O’Meara began lobbying for G-TAC in February 2012.

[hue]

1. I'm def not surprised...I knew they would never give up!!

They will never stop salivating for our raw commodities!!
Sleezy slime!!

[Scuba]

2. You knew these fuckers would be back. Last time they testified under oath that the mining bill....

.... did not change any of Wisconsin's environmental protection standards. They conveniently forgot to testify that the bill exempted the Gogebic mine from all those same environmental protection standards.

Walker touts the mine will generate 700 jobs while he's losing thousands of jobs each month. And he conveniently forgets to mention that the damned mine will poison the groundwater for a millenium and destroy the tourist industry in the north central part of our State.

[mojowork_n]

3. What a disconnect

It's the Front Page -- above the fold -- headline in the Journal-Sentinel this morning:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/business-group-wants-to-delay-mining-bill-negotiations-pm68uur-163949986.html

The state's largest business group is urging the Wisconsin Mining Association not to discuss mining legislation with Democrats and environmentalists until after the November election, when Republicans stand a good chance of regaining control of the state Senate and shaping a bill more to their liking.

The letter came under fire on Thursday from some of the parties involved, including Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar), who said that Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce was trying to shut the public out of the process.

The letter sheds a public light on the political strategy of WMC, a powerful business group that has been trying to streamline the state's mining laws after a company with plans for a $1.5 billion iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin demanded major changes.

A bill passed the Assembly, but failed by a single vote in the Senate in March.

The mining bill (handing over natural resources to the investors, without any accountability, as written into the proposed law by the mining company's own lobbyists) is by no means "gone" -- it's just that there's a better chance of ramming it through if Republicans retake the legislature. So that shouldn't be a news story -- yet.

...It's interesting that the Journal-Sentinel news article is missing from the web edition of the newspaper. It's not the headline or anywhere in evidence when you open the home page. In fact that good information -- the link to the article -- is now buried so that if you click the main "News" tab, it still won't come up. I had to put "mining bill" into the search field to find the link. (Kind of like the old Wall Street Journal, that had good reporters and often did good reporting, however appalling their editorials and editorial slant overall.)

Oops, correction:

I went back and did find the article on the home page. (I'm not adequately caffeinated, yet, sorry, it's still early in the day.) But the article's kind of tucked away behind the Title IX & and Olympics story, and another on a gas cleanup. No pictures & not easy to spot right away. Very brief, abbreviated summary.

Edit to add some good info:

It's my 15 minute morning break and I took a look at some of the comments under that J-S link. A poster named "Morbius" had this to say, at 8:43 this morning:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/business-group-wants-to-delay-mining-bill-negotiations-pm68uur-163949986.html?page=1#!page=4&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst

Everyone has to understand that the mining bill was never about any fictional iron mine. Iron ore prices have dropped by nearly 30% since March ($187.18 to $131.51 per metric ton). The situation is being propped up by record Chinese output, but if that recedes to bring steel output in line with consumption, "Iron ore prices could go into free-fall until end-user demand for steel picks up in the autumn," said Rafael Halpin, China analyst with the UK consultancy MEPS as quoted in Reuters today. Also if the iron mine is such a grand idea why haven't any of the four operating iron mining companies in Northern Michigan (whose rail cars pass within a couple miles of the Gogebic mine site) been interested in opening that mine? There is no interest by any real iron mining companies.

No, the mining bill is about SAND, not iron. Sand mining for fracking has doubled in the state in the past year, with almost 100 operating pits and the industry wants more. However, a number of townships with zoning powers and counties with such powers have called moratoriums on sand mining because of a variety of problems ranging from silica dust pollution, traffic, and the destruction of roads. The mining bill would have consolidated all regulation at the state level, cutting out the towns and counties. Gogebic Taconite, the mining company at the heart of the controversy, is owned by Cline Resource and Development Group which is a subsidiary of Cline Coal. What a pit-mining, non-sulfide coal company wants with an iron mine is a good question, what a coal company wants with unlimited access to sand mining in Wisconsin is, however, quite easy to understand.

Summary: So in other words, this bill has more to do with the mining company being able to regulate (strangle) local and municipal jurisdiction, than it is about the State of Wisconsin enforcing "iron mining" guidelines and regulations.