Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want a cleaner environment in Minnesota do we have to give up metals needed for green energy?

See Trump and Walz Can Agree on One Thing: Mining in Minnesota: A decadelong drama with personal relevance for both candidates has taken on new urgency by Maggie Severns, Katy Stech Ferek and James V. Grimaldi of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The debate over whether to build the mine, known as Twin Metals, has stretched for nearly 15 years and three presidents. Initially it pit environmentalists and progressives—many of whom live in populous Minneapolis and St. Paul—against labor unions in rural parts of the state. The debate has grown more complicated, reflecting the competing environmental interest of mining metals needed for solar panels and batteries."

"Rom [Becky Rom, a retired lawyer who leads the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters advocacy group] and others said they are worried that water could rinse off those exposed rocks [scrap rock used in mining], taking sulfides and heavy metals such as arsenic with it into the interconnected waterways."

"Northeastern Minnesota is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped mineral deposits, including what is estimated to be the third-largest nickel deposit and second-largest copper deposit in the world, according to labor-union figures. Humans will need to mine more copper by 2050 than was mined in all of human history up to 2018 to keep up with current growth trends, one study found, and converting to electric vehicles will only further strain that demand."

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