By RICK WHITBECK | POWER THE FUTURE
There are clear ideological differences between Alaska’s and Minnesota’s governors.
Michael J. Dunleavy of Alaska is a conservative Republican and Tim Walz of Minnesota, a liberal Democrat. They seem to disagree on everything, but especially energy.
Perhaps the most glaring example of those differences is their respective responses to the Biden/Harris Administration shutting down the two largest copper mine prospects in the U.S.
Situated on state land that Congress specifically designated for development as part of the lead-up to granting Alaska statehood in 1959, the Pebble prospect in Southwest Alaska is nearly a trillion-dollar cache of copper, gold, molybdenum and rhenium.
Pebble’s operation would employ approximately 700 full-time workers, most with six-figure salaries, for an estimated 20 years. Even by Alaska standards, this area is very rural. Gas prices exceed $8.00 per gallon, and a gallon of milk costs over three times that amount in local stores.
An ugly, 15 -year fight has been waged between Pebble’s owners and a collection of Native, environmental and commercial fishing organizations, with tens of millions of dollars spent to falsely claim Pebble’s development would harm the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery.
That narrative was overcome by science, however. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in July, 2020, it was clear that the Corps believed the mine and fishery could co-exist with little to no risk to the wildlife. In fact, it says it no less than 53 times in their report.
That didn’t stop a massive blitz of misinformation, which was used to justify a denied approval of the a key permit by the Corps, and later, a pre-emptive veto of its clean water permit by the eco-zealots leading team Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Governor Dunleavy was justifiably outraged, and filed a lawsuit in March 2024 over the decision, calling for the federal government to pay $700 billion in lost revenues and royalties. That case is pending, but the fact he stood up for Pebble has gone a long way in the Alaska resource community. Michael Dunleavy is clearly an energy hero for his state.
Contrast that with how Tim Walz handled the rejection of the Twin Metals mine in Northeast Minnesota. Twin Metals is a copper, nickel and cobalt deposit, located in an area that has been designated for mining, logging and other commercial activities. It’s one of the largest undeveloped deposits of these minerals in the world, with more than 4.4 billion tons of ore containing copper, nickel and other strategic minerals. Developing Twin Metals would help the ‘green’ energy movement source key resources domestically.
The mine plan developed by Twin Metals’ owners outlines full-time employment of approximately 750 direct workers, in an area of Minnesota sustained by mining for over a century. The spin-off jobs would be double that, for a total of more than 2,500 paychecks from the prospect.
But, in caving to their extreme environmental base, the Biden/Harris U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) cancelled Twin Metal’s leases in January, 2022, drawing ire from many in the state.
One would think Governor Walz would have fought for his state’s jobs, and for domestic production of components necessary for the energy transition he champions.
Walz did exactly the opposite, ordering the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to follow Interior’s lead and withdraw support for Twin Metals in February, 2022.
In short, Walz put a small minority of extremists ahead of domestic energy security. He declared the jobs less important than following the federal government’s overreach. He established that he’s an energy zero to many Minnesotans.
As Tim Walz tries to appear moderate in his politics, a champion for Minnesota’s place in workforce and energy development, and a candidate for Vice President, remember how he reacted to Twin Metals. Contrast it with Michael Dunleavy and his response to Pebble.
These two examples show only a fraction of the tens of thousands of U.S. families impacted by the disastrous policies of the Biden/Harris administration. Realize that a Harris/Walz White House would only lead to more attacks, decreased mining jobs, enhanced overseas reliance for critical and strategic mineral supplies, and a weakening of U.S. energy security.
Energy is on the ballot on November 5th. Vote as if America’s future depends on it.
Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs and fights back against economy-killing and family-destroying environmental extremism. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @PTFAlaska. This column first appeared in RealClearEnergy.com.