Another way we can learn from and support efforts of our good neighbors in
Wisconsin.
Right now we can stand up and speak up....or be in a similar situation as
they.
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 | Protecting our heritage of healthy water,
air, land and government. |
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Statement from Midwest Environmental Advocates on the signing of mining
deregulation in Wisconsin
Today the Governor’s signing of a mining deregulation law will be the
last step in a broken legislative process throughout which the voices of
citizens, the treaty rights of a sovereign nation, and the weight of scientific
evidence have been ignored. For two years, state lawmakers have disregarded the
majority of their constituents who are opposed to exempting mining corporations
from environmental protections in order to push through a bad bill written
largely by an out-of-state company. And from the beginning, neither state
legislators nor the Executive Office has engaged the sovereign nation whose
health and way of life are put at risk by the largest proposed iron mine in our
state’s history.
As an organization that works every day to help citizens use the power
of the law to protect our heritage of healthy water, air, land and government,
Midwest Environmental Advocates will be closely watching the implementation of
the new law. We continue to have deep concerns about how the law conflicts with
long-established tribal treaty rights and the Public Trust Doctrine in our state
constitution. This mining deregulation legislation comes closely on the heels of
recent changes in laws that protect our wetlands which create a faulty,
backwards mitigation scheme that attempts to fix environmental damage after it
has been done and allows destruction of irreplaceable, pristine
wetlands.
“This legislature and governor have gutted the capacity of DNR,
while at the same time inserted political pressure for special interest lobbies
over the judgment of professional, experienced staff,” said Kimberlee Wright,
Midwest Environmental Advocates. “The proposed mine would be the largest, most
destructive activity in the history of the state. We haven’t seen anything at
this scale of destruction since the great cutover of our Northern forests.
Instead of diminishing citizen rights and tying the hands of state regulators,
this law should have enhanced science-based protections of our air, land and
water. This law literally puts the profits of one company above the long-term
health and well-being of people for centuries to come. The people of Wisconsin
have worked together throughout most of our history to protect our precious
natural heritage, we will not give away the rights of future generations because
big, dirty money bought enough votes to pass a bad law.”
The people of Wisconsin and of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa shouldn’t have to bear the cost of turning to the courts to protect
their natural resources. This law takes one more step toward weakening the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Our state’s most important regulatory
agency entrusted with protecting our natural resources will now be prohibited
from stepping in to stop iron mining activities found to be dangerous to public
health and the environment. Further, the size and scope of a proposed mine in
the Penokee Range demands an autonomous and science-based review of the impact a
mine would have on the landscape and on the water, but this law places an
unreasonable limit to what this science costs. Our WNDR does not have the
funding, staffing or autonomy to issue and enforce routine permits across the
state, let alone properly review and approve the largest open pit mine in the
nation. Midwest Environmental Advocates will also be closely watching whether or
not our WDNR has the resources and autonomy it needs to assess the environmental
impact of open-pit mining.
Midwest Environmental Advocates will support the people of Bad River
in whatever way we can to work through the courts to address the continued
environmental concerns with this law before significant damage is done to an
internationally important natural area. Despite hopeful promises by legislators
who are satisfied with the mining deregulation bill Governor Walker signed into
law today, there is still not a clear path to an open-pit mine in the Penokee
Hills. This fight has just begun and the numbers of people standing together to
protect the rights of future generations grows every single day.
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Midwest Environmental Advocates
612 West Main Street, Suite 302
Madison, WI 53703
608-251-5047
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