May 27-28, 2014
May 27 13:39 Environmental activist caught lying, Part II May 27 09:09 Back when government worked May 28 01:10 Environmental activist caught lying, Part III May 28 12:40 Environmental activist caught lying, Part IV May 28 01:06 Mesabi Daily News LTE is posted May 28 01:30 Franken: VA scandal a disgrace, sorta May 28 12:36 Higher ed that works
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Environmental activist caught lying, Part II
When the Ely Echo caught environmental activist Becky Rom lying , they exposed the tactics environmental activists use in thwarting honest reviews of the mining process.
Since he's taken office, Sen. Franken hasn't stood with the miners in any meaningful way. He's issued wishy-washy statements like this:
"Mining is a great Minnesota tradition, and so is protection of our environment and natural resources," he said. "There's no question that we need to take into account the environmental impact of any proposed project, but Minnesota and the federal government already have rigorous processes in place to make sure that happens. There's no reason to have an overly burdensome process. I've been talking with the Forest Service about this issue and I will continue to engage them."
Predictably, Sen. Franken has taken an on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand approach while attempting to walk a perilous political tightrope.
Now that Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and Conservation Minnesota have been exposed as dishonest, it's time for Sen. Franken to start taking the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects seriously. Thus far, Sen. Franken has taken an arms-length approach to those important projects.
There are some issues that are routine. Senators and congressmen handle them with little fanfare. Thus far, Sen. Franken has taken that approach to Twin Metals and PolyMet. Those projects shouldn't be treated routinely because they're the difference between St. Louis County's median household income and Minnesota's median household income is $12,895 a year, with St. Louis County, the heart of the Iron Range, getting the shaft without getting the mines. In 2008-2012, 11.2% of Minnesotans lived below the poverty line. In St. Louis County, that percentage was 16.1%. That means St. Louis County's percentage of people living below the poverty line was 43.75% higher than Minnesota's poverty rate.
I might say that that's unacceptable but that's too mild. The difference in the quality of life between St. Louis County and the state of Minnesota is disgusting and totally preventable. It's only preventable, though, if Sen. Franken stands up to the Becky Roms of the world. It's only preventable if Sen. Franken substantively stands with the hard working people of the Range.
If he won't substantively stand with the Range, then we'll find someone who will. I'll have more on that in a later post in this series.
Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2014 1:39 PM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 27-May-14 05:58 PM
I chanced to hear Becky Rom make her "Sustainable Ely" presentation recently. She's an excellent presenter, I'll give her that. And I can't blame her much for trying to hold on to the Ely that once was, however futile. But her fibbing goes beyond what you and the Ely Echo found out.
Her OMG! science is faulty, claiming that runoff of sulfur bearing compounds will magically form sulfuric acid. I remember enough Chemistry to know that would require considerable energy (several hundred degrees hot) as a quick Google search confirmed. That's what makes a lead-acid car battery work, drawing down the stored energy in the acid. She also gave no information on the concentration nor how much naturally must certainly seep out from rainfall.
She also kept talking of Ely needing a "sustainable" economy of permanent jobs, not temporary mining jobs that last only 20-30 years. Just what those "good" jobs are she doesn't say, but I bet it's the same "education and health care" model I've heard other Greater Minnesota politicians claim is their towns' future. No, education and health care are secondary industries, supported by primary industries like agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and yes, mining. It doesn't seem that long ago that liberals hated the service-based economy, wailing that we can't just press each other's pants. Oh, but we can just educate each other's children or take turns healing each other.
The Ely Echo exactly summarized this presentation I saw, that as regards mining, "[for] Rom it can't be done. Ever. Period."
Comment 2 by Nancy McReady at 29-May-14 09:41 AM
Becky Rom's issues are apparent from this reporting, but where does Conservation Minnesota fit in? Last I saw, she had nothing to do with that group. Hate on them all you want, but if we start being deceptive in how we describe mining opponents, we lose the high ground that Becky was so nice to surrender to us with her deceptive acts.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 29-May-14 11:02 AM
Conservation Minnesota created a website called MiningTruth.org. Here's one of the lies on MiningTruth's website:
No sulfide mine has ever operated without polluting its nearby waters.
That's a lie. I exposed that lie in this post:
A massive clean-up operation began in 1994 involving the removal of pond sediment and six additional inches of underlying native soil. The material removed from Daybreak was permanently relocated to the Kennecott Blue Water Repository as part of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) clean up. At this time, some sediment, with a low concentration of lead and arsenic but an elevated sulfate concentration were consolidated onsite and capped with topsoil and re-vegetated. In 2001, the EPA issued a Record of Decision stating that the removal action adequately satisfied the remedial objectives and EPA determined that no further action was required. An Operation and Maintenance Plan (O&M Plan) was established to address
further management of the consolidation site.
Pursuant to agreements between the EPA, UDEQ and Kennecott, Kennecott began removing the remaining sediments at the consolidation site under the guideline of the O&M Plan. In 2006, Kennecott, the EPA and the UDEQ entered into an agreement solidifying the unrestricted residential and commercial use clean-up standards for the entire site.
In early 2007, the consolidated pond sediment removal project was completed. In 2008, the EPA and UDEQ issued a Consent Decree for the ground water cleanup efforts.
Conservation Minnesota didn't lie about the PEIS but they lied about precious metals mines polluting the land.
Comment 3 by Nancy McReady at 30-May-14 07:55 AM
So, more accurately, the answer is no, they have nothing to do with Becky Rom. Your desire to tar and feather them is admirable. But in this case, it comes off as a major over reach. There are plenty of facts here to guide your reporting...
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 30-May-14 08:13 AM
My intent was to show that there's a network within the DFL that actively supports the anti-mining agenda. If I overreached, then I apologize. What I won't apologize for, however, is exposing that network.
Environmental activist caught lying, Part III
Thanks to Twin Metals-Minnesota's FOIA request and the Ely Echo's investigative reporting, Becky Rom was caught lying about her organization's role in proposing a programmatic environmental impact statement, aka a PEIS. Here's the key part of the Echo's reporting:
So we called Rom and asked her if she or any of the groups she is affiliated with formally requested a PEIS from the Forest Service. As a former attorney, Rom is skilled at not answering questions. So we pressed and pressed some more. Here's the best of answers we could get:
- 'I've encouraged the agencies to do what's required under the law and using the best science.'
- 'Nobody is pushing for an extra layer or extra delays or costs or more money. I'm just saying this is really important and doing right is following the law and basing decisions on the best science.'
- 'I did not pen any letter but I've had these discussions.'
- 'As far as I know there's no formal process for a request like a petition.'
We specifically asked if Rom had approached U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Robert Bonnie (who oversees the USFS).
'I never talked about this to Mr. Bonnie.'
We put a phone call into the USFS office in Duluth but weren't able to get any answers prior to deadline on the Thursday prior to Memorial Day weekend.
We checked the news releases of the various groups who have been accused of asking for the PEIS and found nothing. Nobody wants to claim they asked for this. Then, late Thursday a Freedom of Information Act request by Twin Metals-Minnesota was granted. Upon request, they shared those documents with us. If anyone would like a copy, just send us an email.
In the documents provided by the Bureau of Land Management was a letter asking for the PEIS. The agency requesting the PEIS? Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. And who is the vice-chair of NEMW? Becky Rom . NEMW and Conservation Minnesota have both lied to Minnesotans about precious metals mining. Meanwhile, Gov. Dayton has sat idly by while CM, NEMW and other militant environmental activist organizations have spread their lies in their attempt to stop the PolyMet and Twin Metals-Minnensota mining projects dead in their tracks.
Gov. Dayton has tried walking the same perilous political tightrope that Sen. Franken is attempting to navigate. He's tried to say as little as possible in his attempt to keep the miners and environmental activists on his side. For those who haven't paid attention to this issue, miners and environmental activists interact together like oil and water.
Several times, Gov. Dayton delayed action on mining leases . State Auditor Rebecca Otto sent out a fundraising appeal after the Executive Council voted to delay approval of mining leases. In that fundraising appeal, Otto bragged how she stood up to the miners.
While Gov. Dayton wasn't foolish enough to do that, he did vote against approving the leases. That clearly demonstrates who he's sided with on mining. Here's what Kent Kaiser wrote about Gov. Dayton's delaying tactics:
This month, Minnesota's State Executive Council, which includes the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor, voted to delay 77 leases to explore for copper and nickel on private lands in northern Minnesota. This short-sighted action was initiated by Gov. Mark Dayton and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie .
If Gov. Dayton won't actively side with the miners against these dishonest environmental activists, then it's time that Iron Rangers help elect a pro-mining governor and pro-mining senators.
I wrote here how important this issue is to the mining families of St. Louis County. If Gov. Dayton doesn't change direction on this important issue soon, he should be fired this November.
Hard working Iron Range families can't wait.
Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014 1:10 AM
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Environmental activist caught lying, Part IV
According to the Ely Echo's editorial , Rick Nolan gave one of the strongest statements opposing a Programatic Environmental Impact Statement, aka PEIS:
One of the best responses to this whole PEIS political football came from Rep. Nolan who has the advantage of serving in the House prior to the 1978 BWCA Act and being back in D.C. today. He told the Mesabi Daily News the issue 'has already been resolved as policy. It was resolved a long time ago during the Boundary Waters debate in 1978.'
He said a deal was made when 1.1 million acres for the BWCAW were taken out of multiple use, 'the remaining federal lands were supposed to be used for mining and forestry. It's a matter of law and public policy.'
Nolan's political gamesmanship is impressive if playing political games is important. If getting important things done is more important, political gamesmanship isn't helpful. Now that it looks like PolyMet will become a reality, Nolan is sounding like the miners' best friend. It wasn't always that way. When running in the primary, Nolan took a totally unserious approach to mining :
DFL congressional candidate Rick Nolan proposed on Wednesday, July 18, development of a new federal technical institute on mining and the environment to help the industry overcome production and environmental issues to create more jobs, an idea immediately panned by his opponents as expensive and ineffective.
Nolan said the institute would help push applied research that would help mining companies overcome technical problems such as how to extract more mineral from the same rock, but also to overcome environmental issues like reducing waste rock and making sure mine runoff doesn't damage local waterways.
That was Rick Nolan's response when his political opponent accused him of not being pro-mining. Let's call that candidate Nolan 1.0. Then there's the Rick Nolan who voted for a bill to streamline permitting. That version of Nolan quickly retreated when environmental activist Jesse Peterson lit into him :
The reaction of the those who gathered in Bohannon Hall on that Saturday afternoon is perhaps best summed up by 32-year-old Jesse Peterson, who characterized Nolan's responses and actions with respect to HR 761 as 'incredibly deceptive and reflecting a willingness to be phony .'
Here's how Nolan 2.0 played right into Peterson's statement:
It's fitting that tracking 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan's position on a bill that deregulates the mining industry and fast tracks the permitting process for PolyMet is a bit like watching a fish flopping around on a dock: first he's against it, then he's for it and now he once again opposes it, this time promising to vote against the legislation if it 'comes anywhere near close to becoming law.'
That brings us to this Nolan, which I'll call Nolan 3.0. Apparently, Rick Nolan will say anything that'll get him through a difficult political moment. I can't imagine why people on the Iron Range would trust him to represent him. He hasn't shown that he'll consistently represent their interests. In fact, his constituents can't know what he'll do on anything. That's because he isn't unprincipled. He's the epitome of a political panderer.
Thanks to Ms. Rom's lying, she's brought attention to the Democrats', especially Nolan's, attempts to walk the political tightrope that is the divide between miners and environmental activists. As the saying goes, a house (or, in this case, a political party) divided against itself can't stand.
Rick Nolan fits that description perfectly.
Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014 12:40 PM
Comment 1 by Jethro at 29-May-14 11:35 AM
There is so much DFL lying when it comes to the Minnesota mining industry, Gary could write "Part 1000" and still have room to spare. Why the mining industry would continue to vote DFL is simply insane.
Back when government worked
Most recent college grads are too young to remember the last time government ran efficiently. Bill Clinton was president and John Kasich was chairman of the House Budget Committee. The reason I mention that is because Byron York's column about the Obama administration got me thinking.
In 2016, we will have suffered through 8 years of utter incompetence. The Obama administration, apart from their misguided priorities, has repeatedly shown that they're utterly incompetent of running government. First, I'll start by saying that things weren't all rosy during the Bush administration. President Bush's mishandling of Katrina was embarassing.
That being said, President Bush's handling of the war on terror, back when government admitted that terrorists were dangerous people, was pretty good. During Bush's administration, the intel agencies actually talked with each other. Fast forward to the Obama administration, when the Secretary of State didn't even talk with her ambassadors serving in dangerous parts of the world.
But I digress.
Prior to the Republican landslide of 1994, Bill Clinton was mostly unfocused, adrift on policies. Enter Chairman Kasich. Shortly after Kasich got the Budget Committee's gavel, he floated a radical idea, namely balancing the federal budget. Suddenly, President Clinton got engaged.
The end result was that Clinton didn't expand the federal government's regulatory reach like the Obama administration did. They didn't have any moments when people wondered if Clinton had the basic skillset to run the federal government.
Fast forward to 2014. John Kasich is now Ohio's governor. He's turned the state around. First, he defeated the incumbent governor, Ted Strickland, campaigning on a reform agenda. Once he was sworn in, he started implementing that reform agenda.
Not surprisingly, Ohio's economic health has returned. At least, it's returned as much as possible while President Obama's policies are still in effect. Gov. Kasich's ideas, unlike President Obama's, actually make sense. Gov. Kasich's ideas have actually been used before and worked.
Gov. Kasich's Office of Workforce Training, aka OWT, is brilliant on multiple levels. Check it out here . Here are the key takeaways:
Marketing Ohio's In-Demand Jobs
Update in-demand jobs data regularly
Market in-demand jobs to students, job seekers, business and local workforce
Align Training Programs to Ohio's Workforce Needs (Implementation)
Increase career pathway opportunities in our education system, from K-J (Kindergarten to Job)
Increase experiential learning opportunities
Expand and enhance career tech opportunities
Unify and Align State's Workforce Programs
Improve support of businesses struggling to find workers
Prioritize veterans as a ready workforce by providing support to transitioning veterans and marketing opportunities to veterans and businesses
In other words, the system is integrated. That eliminates the possibility of duplicative programs and excessive overhead, aka an overglut of bureaucrats. Best of all, it fits training with verified needs.
That's the approach we need to make government work again. Please understand this. I don't want government reaching into places that it doesn't belong. Higher education is something that state governments are involved with. Here's part of Gov. Kasich's plan for implementing his OWT initiative:
Create a dashboard to highlight aligned workforce success measures:
- Expand business resources center currently housed at Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
- Create virtual online access and single point of entry for business and job seeker
- Enhance online tools and access to the tools for career pathway exploration for Ohio students
In other words, it's an integrated system that's user friendly and focused on Ohio's workforce needs. That's what government looks like when it works.
Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2014 9:09 AM
Comment 1 by Crimson Trace at 27-May-14 09:25 AM
Glad to see Ohio is taking higher education and getting their graduates ready for the workforce. Tennessee is another state that is also serious about reform:
The state's Race to the Top proposal focused on the following key areas of improvement: Standards and Assessments, Data Systems to Support Instructions, Great Teachers and Leaders, Turning Around Low-Performing Schools, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education. Institutions of higher education and THEC will be instrumental in ensuring the success of the Race to the Top initiatives and will play significant roles in achieving the program's overall goals.
http://www.tn.gov/thec/Divisions/fttt/documents/Higher%20Education's%20Involvement%20in%20First%20to%20the%20Top.pdf
Mesabi Daily News LTE is posted
This past weekend, I submitted an LTE to the Mesabi Daily News. It's now published here .
I also wrote a guest column for the MDN. That column will be published Sunday.
The LTE and the column both talk about the DFL's indifference towards mining. Thanks to Chip Cravaack's campaign, people are finally criticizing the DFL's anti-mining actions. That's way too late but it's better than never.
Make sure to check them both out.
Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014 1:06 AM
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Franken: VA scandal a disgrace, sorta
Sen. Franken finally responded to the VA scandal:
Here's what Sens. Franken and Klobuchar are really thinking:
Franken hasn't yet called for Shinseki's resignation, but he is among those pressing for more information. "It's outrageous and disgraceful if there has been a cover up of that, and a secret list. I think we need to get to the bottom of this, and people need to be held accountable," Franken told KARE.
Similarly, Klobuchar wants to know more about what actually happened before passing judgment on Shinseki. "I'm a prosecutor. I like to see the evidence. And as much as we love the news, we can't base everything on news reports. We actually have to look at the facts on the ground," she explained.
Ms. Prosecutor, here's some evidence to consider. The VA has the authority to send veterans to private hospitals if VA hospitals can't treat patients quickly enough. Under Gen. Shinseki's administration, that wasn't done. That's proof he didn't use the options available to him.
That's reason enough to terminate Gen. Shinseki.
As for Sen. Klobuchar's statement that "we can't base everything on news reports", I'd tell her to pass that word along to President Obama and Jay Carney. Apparently, President Obama hasn't gotten briefed by the Treasury Secretary about the IRS scanda. Apparently, he didn't get briefed by Hillary Clinton about the Benghazi cover-up. Now, he apparently didn't get briefed by Gen. Shinseki about the VA crisis.
After all, Jay Carney said that President Obama learned about those things through the news.
Sen. Franken, if you don't know what happened, how can you say that what happened is "outrageous and disgraceful"? Also, Sen. Franken, you say "if this happened" as though we don't have proof. Dr. Foote is a whistleblower who came forward and told Congress that they're cooking the books. Since then, more people have stepped forward with their stories. How much more eyewitness testimony is required before we admit that these are verified facts?
The truth is that Sen. Franken is trying to play this both ways. He's expressing outrage while pretending that the allegations might not check out. Sen. Franken knows that the allegations have checked out. More than a dozen whistleblowers have stepped forward attesting to the VA's practices.
It's time for Sen. Franken and Sen. Klobuchar to admit that the federal government is terrible at providing health care. It's time to change directions. It's time to privatize the VA system.
Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014 1:30 AM
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Higher ed that works
Earlier this week, I wrote about Gov. Kasich's Office of Workforce Transformation, aka OWT, in this post . I wrote about it because it made tons of sense from a policy standpoint. Here's a little refresher on Gov. Kasich's OWT initiative:
Marketing Ohio's In-Demand Jobs
Update in-demand jobs data regularly
Market in-demand jobs to students, job seekers, business and local workforce
Align Training Programs to Ohio's Workforce Needs (Implementation)
Increase career pathway opportunities in our education system, from K-J (Kindergarten to Job)
Increase experiential learning opportunities
Expand and enhance career tech opportunities
Unify and Align State's Workforce Programs
Improve support of businesses struggling to find workers
Prioritize veterans as a ready workforce by providing support to transitioning veterans and marketing opportunities to veterans and businesses
In other words, Ohio put together a policy that measures achievement while meeting Ohio's workforce needs. In short, Gov. Kasich's OWT initiative insists on institutional accountability and individual productivity. Ohio isn't the only state that's implementing policies that deliver excellence. Tennessee is moving in that direction, too. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission put together this report explaining why they scrapped Tennessee's enrollment-based funding formula and implemented an outcomes-based funding formula. Jaimie Merisotis, the CEO of the Lumina Foundation, cites these important statistics about Tennessee's community college system:
[Tennessee] now uses an outcomes based formula which accounts for 70% of higher education funding. Outcomes based funding drives postsecondary programs that produce graduates that are employable for the workforce.
70% of Tennessee's community college students graduate. 80% of community college graduates get jobs.
Here's some insight into how THEC put the plan together:
THEC convened a Formula Review Committee to discuss and debate the new formula design.
- The Committee included representatives from higher education and state government.
- Meetings each month in spring and summer 2010.
- Throughout the process, THEC consulted outside experts.
That's one step in the process. Here's another part of the process:
Formula Review Committee (FRC)
- Broad membership
- Multiple formal FRC meetings
- Explicit institutional feedback and input
- Regional town halls
- Staff background briefings with UT, TBR, Constitutional officers and legislative members
- External consultant input
In short, they employed the right process in arriving at a policy that apparently is working.
Ohio and Tennessee should be applauded for their insistence on accountability and productivity. It tells me that they're using the taxpayers' money wisely.
MnSCU's Charting the Future initiative is an inferior model compared with Ohio's and Tennessee's models. Based on this information, CtF is built on the wrong foundation:
The current model creates competition among colleges and universities for continuing education and customized training opportunities. This internal competition hinders our ability to meet the growing competition from private training providers, for-profit higher education, corporate training departments and industry associations.
A system that's built on the premise of collaboration instead of competition is missing the point. What if the plan that's put into place doesn't work? Then all of the schools suffer a setback, which costs money and time. That's exactly the wrong method. Instead, MnSCU should establish a set of goals for their universities, community colleges and tech colleges to meet, then let those campuses establish a plan to meet those goals.
By establishing that process, each university, tech and community college is judged based on their results. Each school is responsible for achieving excellence. That implements the principles of competition, productivity and accountability into the system.
That's the only method that will work in the 21st Century.
Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014 12:36 PM
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