Rebecca Otto speaks about mining policy at Drinking Liberally

May 11, 2017

State Auditor Rebecca Otto was the guest at Drinking Liberally on April 6th. She spoke about her run for governor next year, but she also spoke about her tenure as the state auditor and rejecting some non-ferrous mining leases as a member of the Executive Council of the state. Here’s a brief clip of her […]

by Steve Timmer

Here a VAT, etc., part two

October 2, 2016

Now with an update at the foot of the story. (10/3) And a second update. (10/4) In an earlier story, I wrote about value added taxes everywhere but the US, and how they can disadvantage US business. There is much more to this story, of course. One of the first thing we must realize is what […]

by Steve Timmer

Let the sun shine in

September 8, 2016

There have been multiple calls recently for some sunshine on the PolyMet permitting process before the Department of Natural Resources. Sunshine would take the form of appointing an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings who would hold hearings on the permit to mine. A record would be made — a public record — and […]

by Steve Timmer

If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark

January 11, 2016

How are you going to stop them?

by Steve Timmer

Comment on the PolyMet FEIS

December 10, 2015

Do it now

by Steve Timmer

Marshall Helmberger on Minnesota’s dystopian future

November 20, 2015

Marshall Helmberger is — bar none — the best editorialist on the Range. Marshall is the publisher of the Timberjay newspapers. He is the best example of a courageous small-town newspaperman that I know of. In a piece that was published on November 18th, Helmberger writes: [O]fficials from the Bureau of Land Management received a crash course in two […]

by Steve Timmer

A serious talk about sulfide mining

November 18, 2015

It’s time for a serious talk among environmentalists about sulfide mining in Minnesota. A serious and uncomfortable talk. As readers here know, the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the proposed PolyMet open-pit copper was issued on Friday (of course), November 13th. The public has 30 days from that date to comment on the FEIS. […]

by Steve Timmer