Our perspective on the recent Rosenmeier Forum "Mining and the Climate"

By Northeastern Minnesota Program Director, JT Haines

“The question isn’t, do we mine in Minnesota or do we mine elsewhere. The right question is, how do we find the metals we need for the clean energy transition in the least damaging possible way? And in a way that protects communities from mining pollution everywhere?” This is the topic MCEA’s Kathryn Hoffman addressed last month at the Rosenmeier Forum in Brainerd in a timely exchange with Julie Lucas of Mining Minnesota.

At this event -- a rare direct exchange with the industry on the topic -- Kathryn and Julie discussed their perspectives on the value of metals like copper and nickel in the energy transition, the role of the industry, and the best options for Minnesota today to produce the metals we need.

As Kathryn said in her introduction, there is indeed much we agree on. The climate crisis is urgent, and the energy transition is part of the solution. But we must be careful about accepting an industry narrative that tends to squeeze out every option to address needs for metals other than -- you guessed it -- more mining.

So what are those better options? We highly recommend this 90 minute exchange between Kathryn and Julie for more on the topic.