MiWater

Letter to Jason Allen and “Lawmakers Oppose Anti-Mining Ballot Plan”

Posted by MiWater Team on November 11, 2009 · Comments 

Note: Maura Campbell sent this letter in the form of an email to State Senator Jason Allen in response to this recent Associated Press article.  He was made aware that this letter would be shared publicly via social media when it was sent. The formal media response from the campaign will come from our passionate and eloquent MiWater team members in the UP.

Hi Jason,

Although I am generally in agreement with you on many issues, my R is green these days and I look forward to taking our case to the people to add more protections to MI’s existing sulfide mining law to protect our greatest natural resource — fresh water.

As you know a passion for water and our natural resources is not a partisan issue. It crosses all sorts of boundaries.

We promise to be informed, eloquent, passionate and fierce in our David vs. Goliath fight for Michigan and Great Lakes water and a better future for our state.

I was not surprised that all the UP Democrats lined up against our effort (the sulfide mining interests and misguided UP union leaders have been very persuasive) but I was hoping you would have waited a bit before choosing sides.

We hired John Pirich and others to make sure that we crafted a very sound law that is

  • Legal and will stand up in court
  • Effective by raising the bar to protect our most valuable resource: water
  • Can win the hearts, minds and votes of all those in Michigan who know there is No Pure Michigan Without Pure Water.

We have engaged National Petition Management to help us gather the signatures so that we will get this on the ballot. And we will do everything possible to garner the signatures and votes needed in the Mitten, where the signatures and votes are, to win. 

A few things…

  1. We do not ban sulfide or uranium mining.
  2. Currently there are no regulations in Michigan pertaining to uranium mining — this measure takes the common sense approach of requiring rules be put in place before such mining can occur
  3. The jobs and economic arguments are mired in the old economy. The mining companies have been holding out false promises of jobs. This is not the traditional mining of the UP. Very few jobs will go to UP folks. Rio Tinto, owner of Kennecott which is pushing the Eagle Mine project near Big Bay, is leading the way toward using robots not people in its mines.

As you know manufacturing jobs and mining jobs are not coming back in any great numbers. Both industries will continue to move toward automation and robotics. Increasingly MI’s economy is growing in the areas of tourism, green jobs and entrepreneurship. Mining is by its nature extractive and temporary. It goes away.

The Mackinac Center seems to want it both ways — Russ Harding blasts us and David Littman makes our case by showing where the economy is going and where the job growth will be.

Hint: it’s not in mining.

We look forward to working with many in and near your district including Governor Milliken in making a very strong and well thought out case.

Many Republicans are increasingly aware that our party cannot, and must not be mired in the past. I have the feeling I am not the only Michigan or Great Lakes Republican sporting a green R these days.

I guess we both are living proof that politics makes for strange bedfellows.

There is a long way to go before November 2010 — we plan to use that time wisely to make our case.

Respectfully,

Maura Campbell 
A determined David in this fight for pure water

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  • houghtoniteatheart
    Michigan is such a poster child for how well "green jobs" have revitalized the economy. Wow, what is Michigans unemployment rate now it must be under 3% with all the smug downstaters secure in all their "green jobs". We should celebrate the destruction of all those evil polluting manufacturing and heavy industry jobs that Michiganders didn't want anyway. Autos, chemicals, steel, machinery, ect. Michigan doesn't need any of those icky polluting industries to feed its children, or send them to college. Why worry that that the once all mighty Unions, are now a shell of themselves due to the loss of most of Michigans manufacturing base. Thank god I can work in Houghton or Marquette and make 6,no 7 maybe even 8 dollars and hour catering to tourists who come up to snowmobile or go boating, and while at it probably pollute more than the aformentioned mining operation ever will. Who really needed White Pine, Michigan down in the ever so bustling green jobs corredor of Flint, We were glad to see it disspear in the 90's, now with both the snowmobile based jobs there it more than makes up for all the mining jobs lost. maybe we call fill Lake Superior with wind tubined to intercept all the migrating Ducks and Geese, I'm pretty sure solar won't work too well in the UP.
  • David681
    The battle to save the UP from systemic, generational water pollution, via sulfide mining, was begun, homegrown, in the UP, Joe.

    We need help from anyone who cares to battle a company or companies that will take our treasure and leave us with a polluted mess. We welcome everyone because the battle is against MULTI-NATIONAL and FOREIGN companies with billions of dollars to buy our DEQ and politicians off.
  • David681
    Hey Joe,

    Remember when the UP just went away in the winter? What happened was snowmobiling, which is PURE tourism. Now, all kinds of business' thrive through the winter because of snowmobile support, creating many jobs. And, did you know that mining companies are turning to robotics, eliminating a large amount of jobs for this industry? Rio Tinto is leading the way with this by the way.

    And lastly, look it up, study. If you take a job in some nickel extraction mine the chances are great your health will be badly effected. One reason why robotics is taking over. So you make yer money in a boom/bust job but make sure you set aside enough to cover your health issues. I'd rather be poor and scrape by, picking berries for my family-who needs this kind of job??
  • David681
    Without a doubt this comment from Prusi's office is the worst, collectively signed statement from any form of state gov't that I have ever read-and that after living in Michigan, Colorado, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas for extended periods of time. Perhaps nothing as stupid as this from the Federal Gov't either.

    Mr. Prusi does not want folks below the bridge telling yoopers what to do, but is willing to take orders from a multi-national company with no affiliation whatsoever to Michigan??? He thinks this metal will go to Michigan??? IT is a statement so badly worded, ill-conceived and misinformed that even Kennecott could not possibly have given a nod to it. Perhaps these folks think everyone is quite un-educated and will rally to the side of working class of the UP??? Even this provincial rhetoric is a slap in the face of the few who might get a job related to mine activity.

    Maybe, just maybe, it was created to actually get the folks of the UP and Michigan fired up? I say BRILLIANT....cuz it worked fantastically !! Let's get the job done. Call everyday, everyone of these idiots, (some of their mailboxes are full already!) until they crack and get the message.
  • Joe
    I live in the U.P. and I consider this ballot proposal to be a slap in the face of those of us who actually live here. We need jobs, not to be treated as uneducated folks who need direction from people in southeast Michigan.
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