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on April 19, 2019
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American Experiment Receives Warm Welcome at Minnesota Mining Meeting

Written by Isaac Orr
in Mining, Minnesota Economy

On Wednesday, I gave a presentation to the Society of of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) chapter for Minnesota in Duluth, and it was one of the best speaking experiences I've ever been a part of. The title of my talk was Promoting Prosperity: Building Public Support for Non-Ferrous Mining in Minnesota. I started my talk by asking, by show of hands, who was familiar with our report, Unearthing Prosperity: How Environmentally Responsible Mining Will Boost Minnesota's Economy, and nearly everyone in a room of about 200 people raised their hands. That's when I knew I was going to have fun up...

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on April 12, 2019
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Minnesota Citizen’s Utility Board Harms Ratepayers By Advocating For Bad Policy

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

It is clear that the Citizens Utility Board is either unwilling or unable to advocate for the policies that will actually reduce costs for consumers. Center of the American Experiment is the leading advocate for energy consumers in Minnesota, and we can say that utilizing Minnesota's existing coal-fired power plants for the foreseeable future is the single-best way to keep our energy bills low, not adding unreliable and expensive sources like wind and solar. ...

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on April 11, 2019
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The Dirty Little Secret Behind Clean Energy Jobs

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

The Clean Energy Economy Minnesota jobs report will likely draw favorable media coverage, but a deeper look at the numbers exposes the fact that these numbers are artificially inflated by including workers who are only tangentially related to energy efficiency, and that only 2.2 percent of the wind and solar jobs are non-temporary construction jobs....

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on March 24, 2019
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Would You Like Some Child Labor with That Electric Car?

Written by Isaac Orr
in Uncategorized

Governor Walz has made expanding electric vehicle (EV) usage in Minnesota a high priority for his administration. In February, the Department of Transportation announced that transit officials want 20 percent of all cars, SUV's, and light-duty trucks to be electric by 2030, an increase of nearly 194,000 new electric vehicles on the road. We all know that EV's have serious shortcomings in the cold, losing up to 40 percent of their power output when it is 20 degrees above zero, but what will Walz's push for EVs do to the environment? It's a question that is worth examining, because despite the clean...

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on March 20, 2019
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Statewide View: Skyrocketing Electricity Prices Threaten Minnesota Mining

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Mining, Minnesota Economy

Renewable-energy advocates often cite increasing demand for steel, copper, nickel, and cobalt as a reason why Minnesotans on the Iron Range should support more renewable-energy mandates. There is no doubt that doubling the renewable-energy mandate would increase Minnesota's demand for these metals, but we won't be able to afford to mine them here....

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on February 15, 2019
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Green New Delusion Would Require Lots of Mining, But Will Walz Allow it in MN?

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Mining

The Green New Deal (GND) has become the talk of the down despite the fact that Ernie Moniz, the head of the Department of Energy under the Obama administration, has called the deal impractical. However, renewable energy advocates are pressuring lawmakers in St. Paul to push ahead with their own GND for Minnesota, but the question remains, where will the copper, nickel, cobalt, and manganese come from? An article from Geologyforinvestors.com suggests there will be as many as 125 million electric cars on the road within the next decade, which may be overly optimistic, but we'll see. The more important point...

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on January 22, 2019
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Center of the American Experiment Submits Comments Supporting Twin Metals Minnesota Mineral Lease Renewal

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Greater Minnesota, Mining, Minnesota Economy

Center of the American Experiment continues to support responsible mining in Minnesota by submitting public comments to the Bureau of Land Management urging them to renew the mineral leases for the Twin Metals Minnesota. These comments discuss the massive economic benefits expanded mining would bring to Minnesota, discuss the myriad shortcomings in the letter written to the U.S. Forest Service written by Harvard economist James Stock, and emphasizes the strong environmental track record of modern mines. You can read the comments at the link below....

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on January 21, 2019
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With Rise of Electric Vehicles, a New Foreign Energy Dependence Looms

Written by Isaac Orr
in Environment, Mining, Minnesota Economy

Self-identified environmentalists in Minnesota want to increase the adoption of wind, solar, and electric vehicles in our state, but they also generally oppose opening new mines in Minnesota that would help provide the copper, nickel, and cobalt that will be needed to actually build the wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars they profess to care so much about. [caption id="attachment_11096" align="aligncenter" width="748"] One 3-MW turbine contains. 335 tons of steel. 4.7 tons of copper. 1,200 tons of concrete (cement and aggregates) 3 tons of aluminum. 2 tons of rare earth elements. aluminum. zinc. molybdenum. (NW Mining Association)[/caption]   Cobalt is an especially...

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