Wisconsin's Selective Free Markets

Many in the Wisconsin Senate want to relax the "restrictive regulations" on permits for iron mining.  Others claim that those restrictions will ensure protection for the water and land near the proposed mine. "Updated:(Gogebic Abandons Mine Plans!) Wisconsin Mining Bill Sent Back To Committee", Eric Bau, Daily Kos.

A few years ago there was a big hullabaloo about a high-voltage line in Wisconsin.  Many who lived in the area of the right-of-way were opposed.  I don't remember what setback was required for the line, but many residents felt that it was too little.  There were also strong complaints about property rights.  The project went through and the line was built.

Now a company is trying to put wind turbines in several areas of Wisconsin.  Some landowners object to the size of the setbacks and the amount of access to be granted the wind companies.  Suddenly, the Wisconsin legislature is falling all over itself to increase the setbacks and other regulations on the wind companies.

What is so different about the third case that doesn't apply in the first two cases?  That is, why do large companies' interests trump the rights of individual property owners in the first two cases, but the rights of individual property owners should be paramount in the third case.

I have my suspicions, but I would need a lot more documentation than I care to look for now.

Where have all the Iron Range jobs gone?

In the Grams-Oberstar debates, one of the arguments is the loss of jobs on the Iron Range. Most of the blame seems that a U.S. Representative should be held responsible for this loss. However, there are technical and economic reasons for a smaller work force.

The biggest technical reason is productivity. One has only to go to the Tower-Soudan mine and compare it to modern open pit mining. The Tower-Soudan mine employed 475 men working three shifts with picks, shovels, and explosives. They loaded the ore into small cars to be hauled to elevators. It closed in 1967 because other techniques were less costly. See Pioneer Mine. Open pit mining involves huge electric shovels loading trucks holding 240 tons of ore. That is less than the fifth of a day's production from the Tower-Soudan mine. See the size of equipment used in "The Taconite Breakthrough".

One economic reason for the reduced Iron Range smaller work force is competition from other sources. Mini-mills produce steel at less cost from scrap metal than the taconite process.

I wonder if a single person in Congress can control forces like these.