…legislation is needed to put an end to the political football of executive orders that are put in place and then overturned

Dear Editor

Dear Editor, I had to chuckle at the Star Tribune editorial on May 4 with the statement that Rep. Pete Stauber’s bipartisan bill H.R. 3195 should be called the “Pandering to Chilean Billionaire Act”, when dark money from outside of the United States has been involved in pushing the extreme environmental, anti-mining agenda for years.

“Dark money” is money spent meant to influence political outcomes. The source of the money is not disclosed.

Johann Georg Wyss known as Hansjörg Wyss is a Swiss billionaire businessman and donor to liberal and environmental causes in the United States, including to the Wilderness Society which Becky Rom has been involved with since 2002.

“Hansjorg Wyss is a godsend to the conservation community,” said Bill Meadows, former president of the Wilderness Society, which has received significant Wyss funding to push their anti- mining agenda.

In 2013, the politically connected Wyss Foundation quietly donated roughly $19 million, much of it to conservation nonprofits that lobby for new wilderness, national monuments and curbs on drilling, mining and grazing on public lands. Basically, against good paying jobs.

Recently Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned Interior Secretary Deb Haaland about the dark money from Wyss that is funneled to the Wilderness Society, and about the off the calendar meetings the Wilderness Society had with the staff of Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland. This was Rom’s doings. (And your editorial makes the claim that Trump worked in secrecy.)

Thank you, Senator Hawley, for obtaining the FOIA and revealing how things are done in Washington D.C. https://youtu.be/BTgTKdh62Q0? si=VwfXX-qMm6En427L Rom did the same thing in the last days of Obama’s Administration, to pull Twin Metals’ leases and put a 20-year moratorium on copper/ nickel mining on over 225,000 acres in the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota.

Former President Trump overturned Obama’s Executive Order, only to have Rom and the Wilderness Society step in again and have Biden’s Administration reinstate the 20-year mining moratorium and pull Twin Metals’ leases.

There are over 95,000 acres of School Trust Lands within this land withdrawal which is meant to generate revenue for ALL Minnesota schools. The moratorium stops any benefit to our schools on these lands.

Your editorial states if mining moves forward, foreign owners would profit. What about the benefits of badly needed jobs to sustain Ely? Yes, there would be an increase of people moving to our community for these jobs, but new people to our town would also aid our tourist industry as well. Right now, Ely doesn’t have the workers to fill positions at restaurants, hotels, resorts, etc. Tourism is suffering greatly in Ely. Tourism alone cannot sustain our community.

Mining permit reform is needed, but more importantly, legislation is needed to put an end to the political football of executive orders that are put in place and then overturned. Permit reform must be included in legislation, allowing Twin Metals and all other mining projects across the country to go through the full environmental process to prove the mining can be done safely.

There is no risk to the Boundary Waters with the proposed Twin Metals underground copper/nickel mine. Eagle Mine, an underground copper mine in Upper Michigan, is just miles away from the world’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior. There is no risk as modern technology is use and mining regulations are in place.

Senator Klobuchar needs to support Stauber’s bill in the Senate, and urge her colleagues to support is also. If Klobuchar won’t introduce a bill of support, voters all across the country need to make their voices heard in November to change the majority party in control of the Senate.

Nancy McReady CWCS President Ely, MN