OPINION | Protecting wild rice in copper-nickel mining

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It isn’t surprising that concerns over wild rice have emerged in relation to PolyMet’s proposed open-pit copper-nickel mine in northern Minnesota, which is currently in the late stages of an environmental review. As Minnesota’s official state grain, wild rice has significant cultural and economic value, and serves important ecosystem functions in aquatic communities. It also holds special meaning for the state’s Native American tribes.

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ST. PAUL NOTES | Trash talking in St. Paul

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From bottle deposits to curbside composting, trash is a hot topic in St. Paul.Minnesota legislators are talking about requiring a ten cent deposit on bottles and cans to encourage recycling. The Star Tribune reports that, according to an MPCA study,”A proposed 10-cent fee for bottles, cans and other beverage containers would boost Minnesota’s recycling volume by some 1.9 billion containers per year but could also saddle consumers or beverage firms with $29 million in new costs as beverage prices rise.”According to the Strib article, proponents say that a 10-cent bottle and can deposit would raise $469 in revenue and create more than a thousand jobs, while opponents say it would be a hardship for retailers, raise the price of beverages, and take bottles and cans out of the recycling stream.Recycling is the crux of the issue: The Minnesota Idea Open site says that Minnesotans throw away an average of 142,000 tons of beverage containers each year.Meanwhile, in the city of St. Paul, there are changes ahead for recycling. A call for comments last March drew lots of input at Open St. Continue Reading

Reality check 2014

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In 1959 President Eisenhower identified the “Military Industrial Complex” as a crucial challenge to true democracy, but he also sent in 6,000 troops, six weeks before JFK took office. What is the arc of history here? This political entity known as the United States has been an exploitive presence on the globe that began when the first Europeans landed on the shores of what was incorrectly called America or the New World. Industrialization sped up the conquest of the planet and plunder of the natural world and ultimately fed into the Capitalist/Communist struggle to control the natural resources of the world. The so-called communist system has fallen. The other shoe is now slipping from the foot of the Capitalist West. As any economic system is fed by what it hopes is an endless supply natural resources, it is rather dramatically clear that is coming to an end for the Western industrial way of life. Or is that really an unconscious way of death? This is like seeking refuge in a burning house. Continue Reading