WI = W. VA: Strong Statement On Mining Bill
The iron ore company-written mining bill looks a lot like coal-industry bills written in West Virginia, says one Wisconsin resource expert's op-ed:
The West Virginia model is clear: 1) Mining laws are written by the mining industry. 2) The primary function of government, in relation to mining, is to ensure the profitability of mining as a means to create jobs. 3) Overzealous environmental professionals in state agencies are re-educated by their politically appointed bosses. 4) The process to obtain a state permit avoids open hearings in front of an impartial hearing examiner and thus avoids testimony from objective scientists. 5) Legal challenges are directed to a court likely to be sympathetic to the mining company.
The letter of the mining bill is long and seems complex, but the spirit of the mining bill is simple and crystal clear. Thus, the public policy question is concise: Do the residents of the Penokees and the citizens of Wisconsin want West Virginia-style mining?
3 comments:
And the media told us:
1. Walker is now a moderate
2. This is a "jobs" bill anyhow
3. There are absolutely no changes in environmental standards or protections
4. Wisconsin's mining laws are too draconian.
All lies -- all propaganda repeatedly endlessly and bounced across state for going on 2 years now.
The problem is not scott walker nor the mining companies that wrote this bill.
The problem is the propaganda machine the props it up and a dysfunctional election system the give these folks power.
You generate page views daily with distractions -- never mentioning what the real problems are.
Another long tradition of the mining industry in West Virginia has been the use of company gun thugs to intimidate workers and citizen opponents. Is the newly proposed "Stand Your Ground" law meant to give GTAC security the right to gun people down at will? If it seems preposterous that this would happen in Wisconsin, remember that we now live in a brave new corporatist world.
To Anon 5:50 a.m. - - I have pointed out every one of these issues and others for more than a year in posts on the Journal Sentinel's web page and in hard copy, and on other blogs, aggregator services, Facebook and Twitter.
You choose to take potshots from the anonymous sidelines repeatedly, but with circularity.
Where is you own original work, blog, website?
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