According to Fox News reporting on August 19, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is facing fierce backlash for openly defying President Trump on a key energy policy decision.
The progressive Midwestern governor signed an executive order on Tuesday blocking the issuance of mining permits and leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. A significant portion of that wilderness area falls under federal jurisdiction.
Back in April, Trump had signed a bill overturning a Biden-era directive that prohibited new mining leases within 20 years of the Boundary Waters.
Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the highest-ranking member of Congress from the state, called Walz’s move “stupid” and “dangerous.”
“This outgoing loser is trying to make us more dependent on our adversaries for energy and minerals,” Emmer said.
And of course, he had to drag China into it.
He claimed the order would “hurt Minnesota” and “hurt good-paying union jobs in northern Minnesota,” while “putting our defense at greater risk against enemies and adversaries like China.”
Walz’s executive order specifically targets the extraction of metals like copper and nickel, which are used in everything from ship components and electric vehicle parts to military equipment and commercial electronics.
Northeastern Minnesota is home to the Duluth Complex, the largest known undeveloped nickel and copper deposit in North America.
Emmer argued that without developing these resources, the U.S. would fall behind in competition with China’s metal mining industry.
According to MPR News, mining is already prohibited inside the Boundary Waters, but environmental groups supporting Walz’s order warn that mining on protected land even outside the buffer zone could still cause damage to the interior areas.
“Earlier this year, the federal government sold out our canoe country by canceling protections that took years of effort and the voices of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans to achieve — completely ignoring science and public will,” said Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save The Boundary Waters, in a statement.
“Now our governor is doing the right thing for Minnesota by doing everything in his power to keep risky copper mining out of the headwaters of the Boundary Waters, while also calling on the legislature to act and permanently finish this protection. Thank you to the governor for taking action today to save the Boundary Waters and lay the groundwork for protecting this place for generations to come.”
When asked about environmental groups’ support for Walz’s order, Emmer dismissed it as a “flimsy argument.”
“We’re all environmentalists. I emphasize that because nobody gets to claim the moral high ground. It’s like someone saying, ‘I’m more conservative than you.’ No. We all care about the environment, we all want clean water, we all want clean air,” he said.
“What you’re really saying is, ‘I’d rather let the Chinese and other adversaries do their mining the old-fashioned way than let us do it right here in Minnesota — where we have one of the world’s top precious metal deposits.’… And I’ll tell you, we have the strictest environmental laws on the planet, and those laws ensure mining can be done safely, protecting both the people who do that work and the environment.”