Hi team,
It's been awhile since our last petition update, and much has happened. Here's a fast recap:
- Hundreds of you sent in written comments to the Michigan Strategic Fund, and around a hundred registered to speak at the February and March board meetings. Thank you so much for your support. In the end, and perhaps in large part due to the unexpected scale of our opposition, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a greatly altered version of the grant proposal. Now, instead of receiving $50M will no strings attached, the mining company must first raise $150M on their own two feet before receiving even a single copper penny. This is a significant hurdle for a junior company, and though this may not be the outright victory we were hoping for, realistically it may have been the best outcome possible. They have until the end of 2025 to raise that money, and so that's our deadline to stop them! For an excellent overview of the Michigan Strategic Fund decision, please read the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve's analysis.
- As Dr. Al Gedicks details in his presentation, "Defending Water, Defending Life," now available on our YouTube channel, the concept of SOCIAL LICENSE is of supreme importance to those considering investing capital in mining endeavors. So the best way to stop the company from receiving that $150M is to keep doing exactly what we've been doing: building momentum, spreading word, having conversations online and in-person with anyone who will listen (and trying to win over those who won't!). Copperwood would be right next door to the most beautiful State Park in America and would install the closest metallic sulfide waste facility to Lake Superior in history— there are millions of people out there who need to know this information, just waiting for you to tell them!
- In other news, ProtectThePorkies will have a table at the April 20th Oakland County Earth Day Fair. Please stop by and say hi!
- Our friends at Copperwood were recently featured on both Sesame Street and South Park— congratulations!
- Mark your calendar for the next ProtectThePorkies Town Hall on April 27th @ 10am CST / 11am EST. After sharing campaign updates, we'll hear from Michael Kellet of the RESTORE campaign, who will explore the question, "Is it time for a North Woods National Park?" Registration is now open!
The petition has had five thousand signatures in the last two weeks, media coverage is amping up, and heads are turning. But we must not succumb to the boom-and-bust rhythm of mining— no, instead we'll fuel ourselves with the stable and sustained energy of Nature, which embraces healthy fluctuations in order to be ever-adaptable and resilient in the face of all obstacles. So we'll take a moment to catch our breath when needed, but we'll never give up!
In solidarity,
Tom
————————————————
Thank you to everyone who has donated to promote the petition. Please note that all those funds go to Change.org. If you would like to help the campaign, direct donations allow for far more flexible and constructive use of funding.