———————— Let there be DARK: A Virtual Event ————————
Please join us on Tuesday, February 25th, at 6 pm CST / 7pm EST in an exciting virtual event being held to celebrate our ecological and cultural connection to darkness and night skies, as well as to open the conversation regarding overturning the prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the Upper Peninsula.
We will be treated to presentations and discussion from several panelists:
- Aimee Cree Dunn — Professor of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University
- Cynthia Jaye — Beaver Island State Research Area, Michigan's first International Dark Sky Sanctuary
- Robert Parrish — Lawless Park in Cass County, an International Dark Sky Park
- Robyn Porteen — Dark Sky Michigan
- Tom Grotewohl — Protect the Porkies
- Kathleen Heideman — Save the Wild UP and the UPEC Mining Action Group
- Brad Barnett — Executive Director of Visit Keweenaw
You won't want to miss this, so secure your spot and REGISTER TODAY!
———————— Copperwood Updates ————————
On Wednesday, February 12th, the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners approved a Resolution of Support requesting $50 million taxpayer dollars for the proposed Copperwood Mine.
Such resolutions are purely symbolic and have been approved on multiple occasions in the past. This is, however, a clear signal that renewed efforts are underway to secure a corporate welfare handout from our own pockets for the sake of funding a foreign company to mine next to and beneath our most beloved old growth State Park, ship the copper to Canada, and leave behind both a 30-million ton waste pile upstream from Lake Superior and a power grid that will open the floodgates for more industry long after the mine boards up shop.
Although the resolution was not on the agenda at last week's meeting, every single community member present spoke in opposition to the mine, including a representative from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, who submitted a letter expressing "vehement opposition" to the project. Despite pushback from the community, the resolution was passed without discussion. This may be a violation of the Open Meetings Act, which requires all deliberation to take place in the public domain so that constituents can understand the justification for decisions.
Again, we should anticipate that this resolution will be used in the company's third attempt to secure a $50 million Michigan grant. Will the third time be the charm? Not for them, but perhaps for us!
Let's use this opportunity to reach out to the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to demand that they reject the grant should it ever reach their desks. You'll find ample talking points on the website.
To Michigan residents: those 50 million bucks will come from all of our pockets, so your voices are needed.
To those from out-of-state: Do entities like Lake Superior, the Porcupine Mountains, and the North Country Trail "belong" to a single township? Of course they do not — if anything, they belong to everyone, and on a deeper level, they belong to no one but themselves.
Please find a few moments to join us in writing and calling our Senators to tell them that your tourist dollars, the State's reputation, and perhaps even your votes are on the line:
E-mail Addresses (copy and paste the full list into the To: field of an email)
SenSAnthony@senate.michigan.gov, SenSMcCann@senate.michigan.gov, SenJCherry@senate.michigan.gov, SenRBayer@senate.michigan.gov, SenSSantana@senate.michigan.gov, SenJIrwin@senate.michigan.gov, SenKHertel@senate.michigan.gov, SenDCamilleri@senate.michigan.gov, SenVKlinefelt@senate.michigan.gov, SenMMcMorrow@senate.michigan.gov, SenMCavanagh@senate.michigan.gov, SenJBumstead@senate.michigan.gov, SenTAlbert@senate.michigan.gov, SenJDamoose@senate.michigan.gov, SenMHuizenga@senate.michigan.gov, SenROutman@senate.michigan.gov, SenLTheis@senate.michigan.gov
Phone Numbers
Sarah Anthony (Majority Chair) 517-373-6960
Sean McCann (Majority Vice Chair) 517-373-5100
John Cherry 517-373-0142
Rosemary Bayer 517-373-2417
Sylvia Santana 517-373-0990
Jeff Irwin 517-373-2406
Kevin Hertel 517-373-7315
Darin Camilleri 517-373-7918
Veronica Klinefelt 517-373-7670
Mallory McMorrow 517-373-2523
Mary Cavanagh 517-373-7748
John Bumstead (Minority Vice Chair) 517-373-1635
Thomas Albert 517-373-1734
John Damoose 517-373-2413
Mark Huizenga 517-373-0797
Rick Outman 517-373-3760
Lana Theis 517-373-2420
A few more resources for those wishing to go deeper:
- This excellent study funded by Friends of the Land of Keweenaw regarding the economic impacts of reviving industrial resource extraction in the Western U.P.
- A policy brief from Amanda Leat regarding the proposed grant to the Copperwood Mine
- The letter submitted last Wednesday from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
This will not be the last time we call upon you to lend a few minutes of your time to this important cause, but it's important that we remain proactive: Protect the Porkies is a decentralized movement requiring the participation of many thousands throughout Michigan and beyond. We are just the messenger: now that you have the message, what will you do?
In solidarity,
Tom and the Protect The Porkies team
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End the Prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the Upper Peninsula