Michigan has been hurting economically. What is the impact of stopping this type of mining?Are there any jobs at stake?
The proposed sulfide mines and processing operation support few jobs overall and fewer still will go to local workers. Most of the jobs created by the mines are temporary at best and will go to specialized workers imported from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Also it is clear mining giants like Rio Tinto are fast moving away from using human miners at all and moving toward automated, robotic mining techniques. At the same time, one of the fastest growing jobs sectors in Michigan is in alternative and sustainable energy which relies on clean, fresh water sources. In addition, recreation and tourism is Michigan’s third largest economic sector and the potential devastation by this type of mining could have a severe adverse economic impact on this important and growing sector that was the inspiration behind the award-winning Pure Michigan spots. In fact ,with the growth of areas such as wind energy including manufacturing wind turbines here in Michigan, it could be argued that the
