Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved all funding items on their desk with the notable exception of the grant to Copperwood. A final meeting was scheduled for this morning, leaving the door open for the consideration of the grant — but at the last minute, the meeting was canceled.
Sources close to the campaign have confirmed that the $50 million taxpayer-funded handout to Copperwood has been defeated.
This is a major victory for all of us, especially for our more-than-human relatives who call the Porkies and the surrounding lands and waters their home. Before celebrating, let's emphasize two points:
- With Lansing due for a political shakeup in 2025 from newly elected officials, we should anticipate that efforts will be made to reintroduce the grant, perhaps under a new guise and with fresh tactics. We will remain vigilant.
- Even without State funding, Copperwood may still advance through private investment. In the last two years they've rerouted streams, destroyed wetlands, and clearcut dozens of acres of forest, all for the sake of a project which lacks both the funding and the preliminary infrastructure to reach the construction phase.
Keeping these qualifications in mind, the rejection of the Copperwood grant in its current iteration delivers an extremely powerful message to the mining company and their funders: This project is not welcome in Michigan. It has no social license. Investors would be wise to take their cash elsewhere! Weeks ago in corporate presentations, investors already could heard anxiously asking about the delay in the grant. In the coming days, we will take steps to maximize the impact of the grant's rejection. Our ongoing strategy is to build such a large, vigorous, and public resistance that investment in the project will be seen as financial suicide. Eventually, we hope to see the permanent protection of the area in question.
Thank you everyone for your solidarity in this fight. Over 10,000 people filled out the Fast Action Form to contact their legislators, and many thousands more reached out to lawmakers directly via phone and email. Dozens of you even visited the Capitol in person!
We were featured in MIRS Monday — the largest political podcast in Lansing — and we also received national coverage in Newsweek.
It's safe to say that, although this may not be a permanent victory, we clearly have the momentum on our side: each day our network is larger, stronger, and more equipped to take action on behalf of our majestic lands and precious waters.
Read the press release here.
In solidarity,
Tom and the Protect The Porkies team
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