Does the Wisconsin legislature - - forging ahead with
a mining bill that will allow wetlands' filling and acidic mine runoff into the Lake Superior watershed - - know, or care, that US and Canadian officials just updated
their international agreement that aims to
reduce Great Lakes pollution and increase the water quality? From the US EPA:
On Sept. 7, 2012, Canada and the United States amended the Agreement.
The updated Agreement facilitates United States and Canadian action on
threats to Great Lakes water quality and includes measures to prevent
ecological harm.
New provisions address the nearshore environment,
aquatic invasive species, habitat degradation, and the effects of
climate change. It also supports continued work on existing threats to
people's health and the environment in the Great Lakes basin such as
harmful algae, toxic chemicals, and discharges from vessels.
Thanks to
this fine posting by Gary Wilson at Great Lakes Echo for the reference.
I think this is Scott Walker's divide and conquer on job creation. He knows it will take forever, if ever, to get this through the lawsuits that will be filed by the Tribe. That's why he doesn't care about their imput, not that he would anyway. This way, when his lousy job record is questioned he can say, "Hey, I tried to create jobs, but the Indians wouldn't let me."
ReplyDeleteAre we missing a bait-and-switch job here? Maybe there's no real interest in mining this range for ore (a mineral, by the way, that this company has never mined before). Maybe the goal is to change the law to be able to mine other areas for other things and this is just a diversion to get a bill passed. Perhaps that's why is doesn't matter if the Native Americans block the mining in Ashland, they really aren't interested in that site anyway. Can you or someone else look into that possibility?
ReplyDeleteGood question
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