By Chris Knopf
No one went to the recent DFL state convention in Duluth expecting surprises. Sen. Amy Klobuchar accepted the party’s nomination and speakers delivered a clear message that revolved around party unity and getting behind Democratic candidates. When people denounced the party, they were met by polished talking points about a big-tent party, and reassurances that they were seen and heard.
In other words, business as usual.
But there was one issue the DFL Party leadership had little appetite to see or to hear.
On the ballot was a resolution to hold hearings on the Prove It First bill. This bill states that before a copper-nickel sulfide mine can operate in Minnesota, there must be independent proof that sulfide mining has been conducted elsewhere in the country without causing pollution.
Despite popular support among elected officials and the DFL base, DFL leadership — which has long sought to appease mining interests — opposes the bill. This was made abundantly clear when, earlier this year, when DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy canceled a hearing on the Prove It First bill.
In response to this attempt to silence debate on the issue, clean-water advocates held an open, public hearing at the Capitol, featuring testimony from Indigenous representatives, mining experts, and witnesses to the impact of mining disasters.
The DFL is the party of labor. It’s also the party of the environment. What most Democrats do not want is to be is the party of big business.
At the convention, the AFL-CIO mustered its considerable resources to fight the resolution to hold a hearing on Prove It First. This was not just revisiting an old fight premised on that worn-out dichotomy of environment versus jobs.
Instead, labor had become an unlikely ally of giant mining corporations.
This is strange. One of the fundamental roles of unions is to check corporate power. In doing so, unions gave us the 40-hour work week, built the middle class, brought dignity to work and fought for health care and other benefits that have made life better for countless millions.
By taking such an extreme stance to oppose even a hearing on Prove It First, the AFL-CIO was working in tandem with some of the most corrupt corporations on the planet. The United Steelworkers has called Glencore — a Swiss-based mining giant seeking to open a copper-sulfide mine in Minnesota — the second worst company in the world to work with, and wrote an entire report, “Glencore’s history of broken promises.”
Now the AFL-CIO is acting as the political arm of this corrupt corporation?
At the convention, the floor debate was overwhelming around the Prove It First resolution. With any debate involving so many voices, there were plenty of straw men, red herrings, mischaracterizations, and, of course, an amendment to weaken the resolution.
Labor introduced an amendment to subtly change the resolution from a hearing on Prove It First, to a hearing on copper-nickel mining in general. Labor dubbed this the “unity” amendment. The tactic was to remove the Prove It First bill from the resolution so there would be no tangible legislation to debate.
Ultimately, the amendment was adopted by just six votes, out of more than 600 votes cast. This amended resolution went on to pass with 62% of the vote. It supports the “Legislature holding hearings on copper nickel mining, and supports withholding all permits for copper nickel mines in Minnesota until it can first be proven that such mines can be operated safely in our water rich environment and not violate state, federal, and tribal water quality standards.”
It isn’t perfect, but the party platform now calls for the first legislative hearings on copper-nickel mining in 14 years. We look forward to next session when we can have this long-overdue discussion.
The DFL talks about being a big tent. For too long, clean water constituents have been left out of that tent. This may be based on a calculation by DFL party leaders who think this is good for their political future, but it hasn’t been good for water, for Minnesotans, or for the environment.
Notes
Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, has worked for more than 25 years to protect, preserve and restore our wild places. Prior to joining the Friends of the Boundary Waters, he was a practicing environmental attorney, served as the Ohio office director for The Trust for Public Land and worked as a major gifts officer with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation.
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