Energy & Environment

The debate over extending an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is getting more press. Actress Daryl Hannah was arrested outside the White House last week along with 100 other folks protesting the pipeline, which certainly helped draw attention to the issue.

Minnesota law, with few exceptions, bans Minnesota utilities from adding new coal-fired power to their generation mix. This ban creates substantial economic, environmental, and legal problems. Upon review, it’s clear that lawmakers should repeal the ban on new coal-fired power.

Editor’s note: The following column by my old friend Fred Smith is a friendly amendment to a column of mine that appeared in MinnPost on April 5. My piece centered on President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous Farewell Address warning, in 1961, about an emerging “military-industrial complex,” and argued that his admonition takes on a significantly different meaning when read in the context of what he said immediately before and immediately after. (In short, the former Five-Star General said we really needed the weaponry as the Soviet Union really was a threat.) Fred got in touch right afterwards and correctly noted that there was another critically important warning in Ike’s speech, albeit one which has received far less attention over the last half-century. I asked him to write about it, which he has done here with great insight.

There is no question that the new DNR commissioner should not be learning about mining on the job. He or she needs to understand that the economic impact domestically, and the environmental impact globally, of mining critical nonferrous metals in Minnesota would be very positive.