Hoyt Lakes Mayor Mark Skelton wrote powerful letter to the editor that published in the Strib today. In it, he argues that the PolyMet copper-nickel-precious metals mine would be the Super…
After nearly eight years in office, Gov. Dayton still doesn’t get it. He’s threatening to veto a bill that’s sailing through the legislature with bipartisan support to scrap an unenforceable,…
How about Iron County? That’s the latest suggested name for the huge swath of St. Louis County that Commissioner Tom Rukavina would like to split off from the rest…
Better late than never. That’s the takeaway from what should be the final stage of approval for the PolyMet copper mine in northeastern Minnesota. The Duluth News Tribune marks what…
The federal government took another step this week to roll back the Obama administration’s last-ditch effort to sabotage responsible mineral development on the Iron Range for decades. The Forest Service…
You know there’s something really questionable about a regulation when both industry and environmental activists strongly oppose it. But that’s what happened with a controversial water quality proposal from the…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota
The dean of Iron Range editors has issued the equivalent of a Surgeon General’s warning over the implications of Sen. Tina Smith’s rise to power for northern Minnesota. Recently retired Mesabi Daily…
Northern Minnesotans looking to reverse the Obama administration’s last-minute arbitrary ban on mineral exploration just got an unexpected holiday gift out of the blue to the shock of just about everyone,…
The Obama administration’s last-minute ban on mineral exploration in northern Minnesota would be history under legislation passed late last week by the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure still needs…
Despite getting the cold shoulder from the Dayton administration and its enviro activist allies, big-time mining companies continue to signal their renewed interest in northern Minnesota’s treasure trove of mineral…
Yesterday, Gov. Dayton said something that we at the Center have been arguing for a long time; “I’ve always believed environmental protection and economic growth can be complementary objectives”. Everybody…
Iron Range mining, union and community leaders have their backs against the wall again, thanks to environmental activists and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. They say an unenforceable proposed MPCA…
Gov. Dayton's offer to Amazon is likely to include tax breaks. If so, that would be an admission that low tax rates attract business.
Minnesota's population is aging. The state will need the wealth generated by high productivity jobs, such as mining, to support its seniors
Whichever party it is, subsidizing business is a bad idea. If 'progressives' have discovered that, the Foxconn money may have been well spent after all
Northern Minnesotans sent a message to the Trump administration this week in the Iron Range city of Virginia. Hundreds of residents spilled into the streets to make sure Washington understands…
Northern Minnesotans came out swinging this week in the Star Tribune, ripping the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management on mining. The tough talk came via a full-page…
What if Rudy Perpich were still fighting for school choice?
What if the U.S. Forest Service held a public hearing on the Obama administration’s last-minute moratorium on mining in northern Minnesota and nobody came? Nobody, that is, except for Twin…
Another breakthrough moment for the Minnesota mining industry occurred this week. But will it matter, given environmentalists’ reflexive opposition to mining, no matter how responsibly done? The Duluth News Tribune…
A month before leaving office, President Obama basically banned copper mining in the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota with a stroke of his pen. The post-election executive order went…
No one blinks anymore when activist city councils pass kooky or feel-good resolutions on the politically correct issue du jour. Potholes, garbage collection and other consequential, but mundane issues should hardly…
Charlie Nickoloff, president of St. Paul-based Medical Equities Investments, is a new member of the board of directors at Center of the American Experiment.