webodec3ARCHIVEPreview
Open in TheBrain

Cline, C

==

https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-0

Florida-based Mining Corporation Buys Rewrite of Wisconsin Law

December 2014

Billionaire Chris Cline’s mining corporation, Cline Group, purchased the right to construct an iron mine in northern Wisconsin. The deal was made in 2010 at a price of $1.5 billion. The state’s permitting process was much too slow for Cline’s liking, however, and speeding it up would be no easy matter. It required a change in Wisconsin law.

Over the next two years, the Cline Group made stellar use of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling of early 2010. That decision gave corporations, corporate front groups (nonprofits) and unions a green light to spend without limit in the electoral system if the cash supported issue education and remained independent of candidates.Better yet, when money was funneled through certain nonprofit groups the donor’s identity remained under wraps. Such gifts are called “dark money.”

The 2010 ruling rested on two earlier decisions by the Supreme Court: equating corporations with “persons under law,” and equating money to “free speech” in our political life. The story that follows is a consequence of those two major legal falsehoods.

The Florida-based Cline Group, in league with its Wisconsin subsidiary, Gogebic Taconite Corporation, set out to influence legislators’ votes and shape the language of the new mine-permitting bill. Business corporations have the authority to write laws that impact the actions of their industry. The revised Wisconsin law would both speed the process and ax environmental protections, allowing the company to dump its mining wastes in wetlands and streams if it constructed new wetlands elsewhere.

But the early 2012 Senate vote on the corporate-written law was defeated, so the Cline Group revved up its donating “rights” to change the make-up of the Wisconsin Senate in the 2012 elections. Funds in excess of $3.5 million to two Wisconsin nonprofits, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Issues Mobilization Council (WMC) and Wisconsin Club for Growth, brought a flood of phone calls, attack ads and mailings.  Evidence shows that the money resulted in a state senate favorable to the company’s wishes.

Surprisingly, the two nonprofits reported no political spending in their 2012 tax returns, claiming their support of the mining bill was simply like any other pro-business legislative effort!But State Senators Jessica King, D-Oshkosh, and Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, know differently. They voted against the law’s rewrite when it made its debut in the Wisconsin Senate. Later that year both candidate’s re-election campaigns were relentlessly assaulted by company media attacks. Schultz retained his seat but in King’s case, the WMC and Wisconsin Club for Growth outspent the candidate by more than six to one. She lost the race by 600 votes in a voter count of 85,000. Not until August 2014 did we have proof of the corporate role in King’s defeat when a legal contribution filing was accidently made public.

Following the election the bill’s second go-round in the Wisconsin Senate won narrow approval. Voters and even lawmakers were surprised to learn two years later of all the corporate cash behind that victory.

“The Gogebic spending – I don’t think anybody was aware of the amount or the degree until after the legislation was signed into law,” said a legislator who supported the bill.

Why should voters in this country have to wonder where election ads originate? Why should campaign ads be paid for by corporate entities under any circumstances? Why should we allow corporations to prowl the corridors of our legislative offices or have the power to shape mining policy, write mining law or law on any issue? Surely there is no democracy when corporations have such legal authority.

To read more, see:

==

People who do not limit their dissent to petition signing can expect harsher treatment. Opponents of Walker’s mine deregulation legislation, crafted specifically to allow Florida billionaire Chris Cline to open an iron mine in northern Wisconsin (and Walker’s one and only “jobs initiative”) have been attacked openly in right-wing outlets like the Bradley-funded “Media Trackers,” and behind the scenes by state legislators. Mine opponents have had their jobs threatened, sometimes with success. Many have received death threats.

==

==

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chris_Cline

chris Cline is the majority owner of the private firm Foresight Reserves, LP, which owns or controls more than three billion tons of coal reserves in the Illinois and Northern Appalachian coal basins.[1].Cline also owns The Cline Group, a parent company to Hillsboro Energy and Gogebic Taconite.[2] In his online biography, Cline describes himself, "[Cline] has developed and operated over 25 coal mining, processing and transportation facilities in the Appalachian Region and the Illinois Basin, including some of the most productive long wall mining operations in the country. Today, Mr. Cline controls more than three billion tons of coal reserves in Illinois and Central Appalachia."[3]

As of March 2013, Clines net worth is listed at $1.2 billion.[4]

Contents

  [hide] 

Background

"As far as the social acceptability of coal, I like to think I'm part of supplying the cheapest energy in America," he said.[5]

Cline told Bloomberg reporters John Lippert and Mario Parker that "we in the industry probably do the worst job in the world getting out the story of the good lives we're helping people live. Changing that is certainly a big interest of mine."[5]Cline's operations and lifestyle were profiled by Bloomberg Magazine in the October, 2010, article "New King Coal." The article discusses how Cline tried to distribute literature at his childrens' school suggesting that climate change may be caused by clusters of sunspots or the Earth wobbling on its axis, not just carbon. When the school refused due to lack of scientific support for these theories, he complained to school fundraisers. He calls coal "a moral imperative" for the world's poor, and describes Massey Energy's Don Blankenship, CEO during the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, as one of the coal industry’s "most talented leaders."[5]

Mining interests

In 2009, ExxonMobil sold the Shay Mine No. 1 to Macoupin Energy LLC, part of the Cline Group, also owned by Chris Cline. The Cline Group also owns Hillsboro Energy and has mines elsewhere in Illinois and West Virginia.[6]

The following companies and mines have been directly or indirectly affiliated with Chris Cline:

April 2011, the Cline Group began digging at the Deer Run Mine in Illinois. The early production is “development coal” that must be removed to allow construction of the underground mine. The mine remains the subject of a 2-year-old appeal of its operating permit. The appeal was filed by a group of landowners called Citizens Against Longwall Mining in early 2009, who contend the longwall mining method to be used at Deer Run will hurt farmland values, filing the appeal after the Illinois Department of Natural Resources approved an operating permit for Deer Run mine. The group argues that longwall mining will damage farmland by causing long-term mine subsidence. Brian Perbix of the Prairie Rivers Network/Sierra Club said opponents are hoping for a decision this summer 2011, and added that there is still time to halt the operation. Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Januri Smith said the administrative review remains in the discovery process and that a timeline has not been set for a ruling.[27]

Coal Transport

In June 2011, Canadian National Railway said it will sell assets of its indirect subsidiary, IC RailMarine Terminal Co, for $73 million to an affiliate of Foresight Energy and the Cline Group. CN also said it had entered a related 10-year coal transportation agreement with another affiliate of Foresight and Cline - Savatran LLC - to increase its participation in the growing export of Illinois Basin coal.

Foresight Energy has about 3 billion tons of coal reserves and coal production from four mining complexes in Illinois. The IC RailMarine terminal, which is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River at Convent, Louisiana, stores and transfers bulk commodities and liquids globally between rail, ship and barge. Foresight said it will double the capacity of the terminal to 8 million tons of export coal per year, with the potential for an additional expansion of 8 million tons

CN said it will enter the rail transportation agreement with Savatran LLC after the terminal deal closes. The coal transportation agreement entails hauling of coal from four Illinois mines to the Convent transfer facility. Under the terms of the deal, Savatran will ship a minimum annual volume of coal via CN.[28]

Lobbying and campaign contributions

Tony Mayville

From 2008 to 2013, companies of Cline contributed thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Tony Mayville, who served as acting director of Mines and Minerals at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Contributions were made while Cline was seeking mining permits; Mayville was already collecting coal industry campaign contributions when Illinois Governor Pat Quinn made him acting director of the Office of Mines and Minerals, where he would oversee the mine permitting process.[29]

Gogebic Taconite and Wisconsin 2012 mining bill

Chris Cline is the president of the Cline Group which is the parent company of Gogebic Taconite, a strong and early proponent of the controversial Wisconsin mining bill originally introduced on December 8th, 2011 with no official author.The Center for Media and Democracy 's *PR Watch* article states "many had criticized the process, suggesting that no legislators were listed as authors of the bill because Gogebic Taconite was the true author." If passed, the bill will help Gogebic Taconite implement a 21 mile long iron-ore strip mine in northern Wisconsin. Even before the mining legislation became public, CMD found:[17]

"Walker received $10,000 for his gubernatorial campaign, $8,000 directly from Cline and $2,000 from one of Cline's fellow mining executives."Cline and his cohorts donated another $29,750, split between two Assembly candidates and one Senate candidate. Many suspect that Gogebic Taconite actually wrote the bill that is currently before the legislature."

Gogebic Taconite also executed its own economic analysis reporting that its project would create 700 mining jobs in Wisconsin.[17]

Articles and resources

Sources

  1. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Portfolio: Foresight Reserves, LP, The Carlyle Group, accessed October 12, 2010.
  2. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Harriet Rowen,Wisconsin GOP Attempts to Ram Through Special Interest Mining Bill, PR Watch, February 22, 2012.
  3. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Chris Cline Biography, Personal website, accessed May 31st, 2013.
  4. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ The World's Billionaires, Forbes, March 2013.
  5. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:5.0 5.1 5.2 John Lippert and Mario Parker, "New King Coal," Bloomberg Markets Magazine, October 12, 2010.
  6. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ John L. Lewis, "ExxonMobil sells Monterey coal mine – Will new owners keep the Union?" Union News, January 27, 2009.
  7. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Form 4: Satement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, May 22, 2009.
  8. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Bruce Rushton, "The Return of King Coal," IllinoisTimes, March 23, 2006
  9. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Gatling investing $75 million in mine facility," Pomeroy Daily Sentinel, accessed October 12, 2010
  10. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Portfolio: Foresight Reserves, LP, The Carlyle Group, accessed October 12, 2010.
  11. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Cline Resource and Development Company," Mantra, accessed October 12, 2010.
  12. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Bruce Rushton, "The Return of King Coal," IllinoisTimes, March 23, 2006
  13. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Portfolio: Foresight Reserves, LP, The Carlyle Group, accessed October 12, 2010.
  14. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Foresight Energy LLC" Corporation Wiki, accessed October 12, 2010.
  15. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Gatling High Sulfur Coal Mine under Construction in West Virginia Will Supply Nearby Power Plant, an Industrial Info News Alert," Business Wire, March 24, 2006
  16. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Gatling Ohio responds to rumors about mine, Point Pleasant Register, accessed October 12, 2010
  17. ↑ ^Jump ^up to:17.0 17.1 17.2 Harriet Rowen,Wisconsin GOP Attempts to Ram Through Special Interest Mining Bill, PR Watch, February 22, 2012.
  18. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ John L. Lewis, "ExxonMobil sells Monterey coal mine – Will new owners keep the Union?" Union News, January 27, 2009
  19. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ John L. Lewis, "ExxonMobil sells Monterey coal mine – Will new owners keep the Union?" Union News, January 27, 2009
  20. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "NRP Enters Into an Agreement With The Cline Group to Acquire Significant Coal Reserves and Coal Transportation Assets," Red Orbit, December 14, 2006.
  21. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Portfolio: Foresight Reserves, LP, The Carlyle Group, accessed October 12, 2010.
  22. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ John Lippert and Mario Parker, "Coal's Comeback," Washington Post, October 31, 2010
  23. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ John L. Lewis, "ExxonMobil sells Monterey coal mine – Will new owners keep the Union?" Union News, January 27, 2009
  24. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "New Illinois Mines Could Boost State’s Production" Coal Age, March 24, 2011.
  25. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "Gatling investing $75 million in mine facility," Pomeroy Daily Sentinel, accessed October 12, 2010
  26. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Gatling Ohio responds to rumors about mine, Point Pleasant Register, accessed October 12, 2010
  27. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Tim Landis, "Deer Run producing 'development coal'" State Journal Register, Apr 26, 2011.
  28. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ "CN to sell IC RailMarine Terminal's assets to Raven Energy" Progressive Railroading, June 16, 2011.
  29. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Will Reynolds, "Illinois Mine Safety Head Took Thousands in Campaign Contributions from Coal Baron Chris Cline," Ecowatch, February 8, 2014.

Related SourceWatch articles

Related PRWatch articles

Gogebic Taconite and Wisconsin Mining Bill

External resources

External articles

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

==

But much of the dirty work of intimidation is carried out by a network of right-wing groups that operate with a wink and nod from the administration, allied with unscrupulous legislators, Koch-funded lobbyists, and new right-wing media outlets set up by out-of-state billionaires. The most obvious of these intimidation efforts is a digitized, searchable online database of the one million people who signed a petition demanding Walker’s recall. The barely unstated purpose of this list is to keep petition signers from being hired by pro-Walker businesses. Walker himself withdrew the student representative nominee for the Board of Regents because his name appeared on the list.

People who do not limit their dissent to petition signing can expect harsher treatment. Opponents of Walker’s mine deregulation legislation, crafted specifically to allow Florida billionaire Chris Cline to open an iron mine in northern Wisconsin (and Walker’s one and only “jobs initiative”) have been attacked openly in right-wing outlets like the Bradley-funded “Media Trackers,” and behind the scenes by state legislators. Mine opponents have had their jobs threatened, sometimes with success. Many have received death threats.

==

WI Senate Fast-Tracks Bill To Close Forest to Benefit Out-of-State Mining Firm

by Alex Oberley [1] — September 11, 2013 - 8:29am

 Share this [5]

A controversial out-of-state mining company is closer to gaining control over a 3,600-acre swath of publicly available forest near where it is planning a massive open-pit iron ore mine in Northern Wisconsin. The Florida firm, Gogebic Taconite, has begun test drilling in the area and has already stirred controversy by hiring out-of-state armed security with automatic assault weapons to guard their activities. The Arizona firm was kicked out of the state after the media uncovered they were not licensed here. Now Gogebic Taconite is attempting to shut down whole forests to keep its controversial mining activities from protestors and curious eyes.

Armed guards from AZ Bulletproof Securities in WI (source: The UpTake)The Wisconsin Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining, and Revenue passed Senate Bill 278 [6], which would give Gogebic Taconite the right to close the forest for up to 18 months, on a party line 3-2 vote in a hurried executive session last week. The bill is headed to the full Senate, when it reconvenes later this month.

Managed Forests Would Be Closed to Hunting, Fishing, and Winter Recreation

The land in contention has been enrolled in the state's Managed Forest Law [7] program. Wisconsin has long encouraged landowners to maintain open and accessible forests with tax breaks. Managed forest land is used by thousands of Wisconsinites across the state, and most specifically in the vast North Woods, for hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing, and cross-country skiing. The bill rushed through the Senate committee last week would turnover public access decisions to the firm.

Another option the firm has is to withdraw the land from the managed forest program, but then the company would lose its tax break, costing it some $477,000 in back taxes and a higher tax rate in the future.

"The bottom line is that they are about to shut off thousands of acres of land that is not being mined any time in the near future," with a goal, "to limit recreational activity and give a special benefit to one company alone," said Democratic Senator Bob Jauch.

Proponents of the bill say it is needed because of a June incident when a small group of protesters confronted company staff, shouting obscenities. The incident led to criminal charges against a Stevens Point woman for theft of a camera. Committee chair Republican Senator Tom Tiffany started the hearing with video of mining protesters [8]. He repeatedly invoked the specter of "eco-terrorism" during the five-hour hearing.

In response to the June 11 incident, the company hired anArizona-based private security firm, Bulletproof Securities[9]. Bulletproof employees created a stir when they were spotted incamouflage and masks with automatic assault weapons in hand. The firm was ultimately removed from the site [10] for not securing a license to operate in Wisconsin.Bob Seitz, the Gogebic lobbyist, said the firm has spent nearly a half-million dollars onBulletproof [11] so far,and was ready to spend much more. If Gogebic Taconite secures permission for further sampling of mineral deposits, the security firm may return [12].

Al Gedicks, a professor emeritus of environmental sociology at UW-La Crosse, testified at the hearing yesterday against thefurther militarization [13]of mining activity and resource extraction. Comparing the presence of Bulletproof Security to "psychological warfare," he says the real target is not 15 protesters but growing resistance from 11 Indian tribes and the local communities.

Florida Firm Builds Four Mile Pit in the Penokee Range

Referred to as "The Alps of Wisconsin [14]," the Penokee Range has long been considered a crown jewel of the state, if not the Midwest. A pristine area with dense forest, rushing streams, and hilly ranges, people visit the area from all over the country.

Gogebic Taconite is based [15] in Florida and is a subsidiary of the Cline Resource and Development Group of West Virginia. Billionaire CEO Chris Cline was heralded as the "New King Coal" [16] by Bloomberg in 2010.After experiencing great windfalls with mountaintop-removal with West Virginia coal-mining, Cline wants to bring those practices to Wisconsin. 

The proposed mine would be the largest in Wisconsin's history, a $1.5 billion open-pit iron ore mine stretching from Ashland to Iron counties. It would be 4½ miles long and one mile wide. Gogebic Taconite has a $20,000-a-year lease option [17] on the mineral rights of approximately 3,600 acres in the Penokee Range. It has leased the land from RGGS Land & Minerals, LaPointe Iron Company, and Chester Co. Limited, all participants in the Managed Forest Law program. Gogebic Taconite claims it will operate for 35 years there. 

Among the opponents to the mining are Wisconsin tribes, who have long been concerned about the hazards posed by this dirty extractive industry to the vital Bad River watershed [18]. Gogebic Taconite has threatened [19] the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa with legal action if a wetlands expert came on the mining site. Heavy industrial work such as mining is generally prohibited in wetlands; legislators already rewrote state laws earlier this year to allow mining in these ecologically vulnerable areas.

In March of this year, members of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe began a Treaty Harvest and Education Project [20], often referred to as the harvest camp [21], in the forest near the site of the mine. The camp is both an effort to educate the public about the ecology of the region and part of a legalstrategy [22] to assert treaty rights. 

“The water is sacred to our people and vitally important to the survival of the all the people in Northern Wisconsin. Tribal members depend on clean, healthy water to meet their physical, social, cultural, economic, and spiritual needs. Any activity, mining or otherwise, that threatens those resources must be the subject of careful and thorough scrutiny, including input from all aspects of Wisconsin, so a proper healthy decision can be made," states Lac Courte Oreilles Chairman Gordon Thayer. 

Senator Tiffany claims the harvest camp will not be affected and they will respect native tribes' sovereignty. Yet on the radio recently he denounced the harvest camp as a "squatters' camp."

Gogebic Taconite Continues to Write WI Law

Senator Tiffany repeatedly made clear during the public hearing this is a "narrowly designed bill," essentially written solely on Gogebic Taconite's behalf. CMD has reported previously [23], that the original bill permitting the iron ore mine and exempted Gogebic Taconite from major provisions of Wisconsin's environmental laws, appeared to be written by the company itself, a claim confirmedby Senate leadership [24]. Tiffany repeatedly looked at Gogebic Taconite's lobbyist Bob Seitz as questions were raised that he could not answer about the bill.

CMD has reported that "grassroots" support for the mine has come chiefly from out-of-state Republican political organizations including David Koch's Americans for Prosperity [25] and Club for Growth. [23]

All Republican members on the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining, and Revenue have receivedsignificant campaign donations from the mining industry [26]. Mine supporters contributed $15.6 million in total [26] to Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature, reports the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Those contributions outweighed environmental groups opposing mining deregulation by a $610 to $1 ratio, with 79 percent of the contributions going to Republicans.

"This legislation has nothing to do with mining or job creation. It is simply a brazen act of selfishness by one out-of-state company whose owner continually demonstrates insensitivity to the neighboring communities and is too cheap to pay his responsible share like any other citizen in the managed forest land," said Senator Jauch.

see rep tifany

A representative of the company at the center of the debate over state mining laws says a bill that lost narrowly in March remains the best hope to revive a plan to build an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.

"They've got kind of a wait-and-see attitude," said Bob Seitz, a lobbyist for Gogebic Taconite, which proposed a $1.5 billion iron ore mine in Ashland and Iron counties.

But he said Gogebic is inclined to move forward with an application to build the massive mine, if lawmakers remove language in current law that Gogebic sees as presenting needless delays in the review and regulatory process involving a mine that could operate for decades.

The changes are best embodied in legislation that passed the Assembly and was modified by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, he said. The bill was defeated by a single vote in the Senate, prompting Gogebic to say it was pulling out.

Since then, the company has been tracking developments in Madison from its offices in Hurley as a skeleton crew scouts projects in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and other parts of the country. Gogebic has been drilling for iron deposits in Michigan - something it hasn't done on property in Wisconsin, where the company has an option on land with proven iron ore deposits.

Gogebic is owned by Cline Group, based in Florida, which mines coal in Illinois and Appalachia.

March's close mining vote, and the bitter legislative fight surrounding it, underscored the sharp partisanship that still exists in the Legislature.

Republicans were eager to score a big economic victory as Gov. Scott Walker faced a recall. But Democrats, many of whom favor mining, said the changes sought by Gogebic and the GOP weakened environmental protections.

Democrats and environmentalists continued to voice those concerns last week and raised worries that Gogebic and Republicans are ignoring external factors such as the rights of a Chippewa tribe downstream from the proposed mine site. Democrats are expected to fashion their own changes starting this week, but with the knowledge that Republicans take control of both houses of the Legislature in January.

Starting point

On Thursday, former mining executive Tim Sullivan told a Senate committee that the Assembly bill is a starting point but needs changes. He balked at detailing them, however, frustrating some senators.

Sullivan has expressed private concerns that the Assembly bill's rollback of environmental protections - most Republicans believe there is no weakening of environmental laws - would spur protracted litigation and scare investors for future projects away.

Sullivan emphasized to members of the Senate Select Committee on Mining that Wisconsin is not the only regulatory player. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also are involved. He said a rewrite of state mining laws could put the state at odds with federal authorities, which would then exert the upper hand.

Speaking to reporters, Sullivan said that even with roadblocks removed, it could take five years or more for a company to begin actual mining.

However, Seitz, a former legislative aide who also was a policy aide for Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, said Gogebic expects a faster process than that.

He said the political landscape has changed since March. Republicans will continue to control the Assembly, and the Republican majority in the Senate will increase to 18-15.

"We think that, with who will be in the Legislature, the votes are there," he said.

He noted that 16 members of the incoming Senate, including two members of the Assembly who will be in the Senate, have already voted for mining legislation that Gogebic supports.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) agreed that the Assembly bill is the place to start.

"But things are really fluid right now," he said Friday, emphasizing that lawmakers must act on a mining bill quickly.

On Friday, Fitzgerald tapped Tom Tiffany, a former member of the Assembly from Hazelhurst who was elected to the Senate in November, to chair the Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining and Revenue Committee when lawmakers return in January. Tiffany was a strong supporter of the Assembly bill.

The panel, controlled 3-2 by Republicans, will have a big hand in mining legislation. The other two GOP members on the committee are Sens. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend).

Seitz said Gogebic and Walker have discussed the company's concerns on several occasions.

On Wednesday, Walker said that if a bill is passed early next year, Gogebic could get started in 2013.

Seitz clarified the governor's comments. Passage of a bill would not give Gogebic the go-ahead to start mining. But the new law would include changes the company wants in pre-application work that would let the company start gathering data on streams and wetlands in the spring when water levels are high.

"That's why it's so important to get this done before spring - just a few months and you lose a year," Seitz said.

George Meyer, a leading spokesman for environmental and conservation groups, said the Assembly bill faces roadblocks, even if it passes. A lawyer, he is a former secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources and executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

Meyer predicted that language that would allow a mining company to destroy wetlands by allowing them to be filled would invite litigation because it violates state law.

Also, he said the ability of the Bad River band of Lake Superior Chippewa to regulate water quality is a powerful factor that lies outside the state's control. Based on his experience as DNR secretary, he predicted that the EPA "will lean over backward" to support the tribe because of the federal government's trust responsibilities with Indian tribes.

Gogebic's proposed mine is in the Bad River watershed, which runs through tribal land.

Seitz said the key is to pass a mining bill and address concerns of the tribe later.

But Meyer told senators that tribal issues are huge, and that parties who want a mine built need to establish a closer relationship with the Bad River.

Indian tribes have a value system different from non-Indians and place a greater importance on matters such as clean water that go beyond ecology to cultural and spiritual beliefs, Meyer said.

"Think about what we would do to protect our border," he said. "That's their homeland."

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON – Gogebic Taconite, LLC[2]can tell you about the cost of doing business in Wisconsin.

The mining company, which has spent more than $350,000 lobbying legislators to ease the state’s mining regulations, recently hired private security guards to patrol the northern Wisconsin site where it hopes to build a projected $1.5 billion iron ore mine.

That added cost of doing business seems to be just what anti-industrialization, environmental group Earth First! intended.

“Making the preliminary stages of this mine as expensive as possible to send a clear message to financiers that this is an extremely risky investment is one strategy that was being pursued in the following action,” a blogger writing under the name “some wild coyotes” wrote on the Earth First! news site [3].

The blog recounted 15 protesters wearing bandanas for masks, building barricades to block police response to a planned protest. The blogger wrote that protesters jumped “on trucks and the collection tank and threw pieces of equipment like pickaxes, fire extinguishers, and shovels down the hillside into the thick of the woods. Fences were knocked over and broken and personal cigarettes were raided out of one of the company vehicles as workers and the manager stood in awe.”

Welcome to Wisconsin, where court rulings and legislation have taken the backseat to, at times, violent political demonstrations led by protesters who insist “this is what democracy looks like.”

GTAC, as the mining company is known, brought in security guards weeks after the June 11 protest that ended with the arrest of Katie Kloth, or Krow, as she’s referred to on anti-mining websites. Kloth is accused of taking a geologist’s cell phone and camera. She faces a felony charge of robbery with the use of force and misdemeanor charges of theft and two counts of criminal damage to property.

The group aimed to hit GTAC where it hurts: the company pocketbook.

“We were able to inflict damages upon the company in the form of an entire day of labor costs through the disturbance and subsequent police reports that their workers had to spend their shift doing, as well as shatter their sense of security,” the blogger wrote.

“Another outcome of the protest is that Gogebic Taconite will be forced to hire private security for the company contracted to do exploratory drilling in thePenokee Range … [4]. May the costs continue to be imposed and may the security guards and mining managers cower in fear.”

Meanwhile, Iron County’s deputies worked overtime to monitor the June 11 protests. GTAC picked up that tab, according to the Iron County Sheriff’s Office. Wisconsin Reporter [6] has submitted an open records request for those costs.The environmental group, labeled eco-terrorists by theFBI, supporters of the mine project and defenders of private property rights, got its wish — in the form of mercenary soldiers dressed in camouflage gear and carrying machine guns.

Perhaps adding insult to injury, lawmakers who opposed the new mining regulations publicly called on GTAC CEO Bill Williams to reconsider his strategy to protect the company’s private property.

“These kinds of security forces are common in third world countries but they don’t belong in Northern Wisconsin,” Sen. Bob Jauch [7], D -Poplar, and Rep. Janet Bewley, D-Ashland, wrote in a letter [8] to Williams on Monday.

Jauch and Bewley asked Williams to “immediately remove the heavily armed masked commando security forces” hired to protect GTAC property.

Scott Manley, a lobbyist at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, said the lawmakers “shouldn’t insert themselves into that level of business decision making” and wonders why they weren’t as vocal in condemning the violent protests.

“If Wisconsin gains the unfortunate reputation that your economic activity is going to be disrupted by radicalists, that will absolutely impact investment decisions in a negative way,” Manley said. “The disruptive activities of what I think could be called eco-terrorists, they’re purposely trying to disrupt pre-permitting work and that definitely gives us a black eye. If it becomes pervasive it would become a factor for businesses.”

Manley contends it’s not unusual for a business to hire security and that patrolling acres of woods differs vastly from guarding a front door at a hospital or manufacturing plant.

Iron County Sheriff Tony Furyk told Wisconsin Reporter he hasn’t received any complaints from residents about the armed, masked men.Among Northwoods residents, most of the attention seems to have been generated through anti-mining environmentalist bloggers and media coverage, a tactic promoted at a recent workshop by Central Wisconsin Action Camp [10], another environmental activist group that aims to block the mine.

“A lot of the situation seems to be lacking a sense of fairness,” said Leslie Kolesar, an Iron County board member. “GTAC has a right to protect their company. It’s the prudent thing to do.”

She said the county maintains a positive working relationship with the mining company as the board continues to draft a local zoning ordinance for mining. It recently sent an initial proposal back to committee for more work.

“We expect people to sue from any angle they can get at. We need to make sure our processes and ordinances are air tight,” she said.

The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa [11] chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. announced in March the tribe had established a legal defense fund for future litigation. The tribe has ceded territory north of the potential mine site and can set its own water quality standards that can limit the pollution of their rivers and streams from sources outside the reservation.

Neighboring Ashland County recently approved an ordinance that requires a mining company to obtain a special-use permit. The ordinance requires the company to pay $100,000 to the county for an administrative fee fund, with potential future payments if the balance in the fund drops below $50,000.

Bob Seitz, a spokesman for GTAC, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Ashland County passed “an open checkbook” and that the ordinance, as passed, was “unnecessary and maybe impossible to meet.”

Seitz did not return several calls from Wisconsin Reporter.

Kolesar says Iron County would avoid some of the more burdensome language in Ashland County’s ordinance. Ultimately, though, she hopes representatives from the two counties and the towns of Anderson and Morse can come to an agreement in the Joint Mining Impact Committee that would supersede local ordinance.

“You can’t fault the counties for looking for money somewhere,” she said. “Iron County’s entire budget is under $11 million. One of our other problems is we can’t get to the money in the (state) Mining Investment and Local Impact Fund [12] because there’s no committee. We have to worry about legal expenses and we don’t really have any resources without that fund.”

The stated purpose of the fund is “to distribute moneys from the Mining Fund to local units of government to defray socioeconomic and environmental costs of metallic mineral mining.”

At the end of 2012, the fund had a balance of $205,000 according to the state Department of Revenue.

However, new appointments have not been made to that board. Officials from the Department of Administration and the Department of Revenue did not immediately respond to requests for information in regard to reorganizing the board.

GTAC is required to make three $75,000 payments to the Mining fund, which is supposed to offset costs to the local governmental units. The first was supposed to be made after the company filed a notice of intent in June.

Contact Ryan Ekvall at rekvall@wisconsinreporter.com

Article printed from Watchdog.org: http://watchdog.org

URL to article: http://watchdog.org/94475/environmentalists-mission-make-wi-mine-owner-cower-in-fear/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://watchdog.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/07/StopTheMines.jpg

[2] Gogebic Taconite, LLC : http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/Gogebic.html

[3] Earth First! news site: http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2013/06/14/test-drilling-disrupted-at-penokee-hills-proposed-mining-site/

[4] Penokee Range …: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CF4QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwpt2.org%2Fnpa%2FIW808penokeerange.cfm&ei=An7cUanoEoO49QT984HgDg&usg=AFQjCNEPCcAcuTPqlwDp2L7atlSRqZ7pVw&bvm=bv.48705608,d.eWU

[5] Image: http://watchdog.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/07/mining-protesters.png

[6] Wisconsin Reporter: http://watchdog.orgwisconsinreporter.com

[7] Bob Jauch: http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Bob_Jauch

[8] in a letter: http://wispolitics.com/1006/130708JauchBewley.pdf

[9] Image: http://watchdog.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/07/armed-guard.jpg

[10] Central Wisconsin Action Camp: http://centralwiactioncamp.wordpress.com/about/

[11] Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa: http://watchdog.orgwww.badriver-nsn.gov/‎

[12] Mining Investment and Local Impact Fund: http://watchdog.org/67715/digging-up-tax-warnings-from-wis-mining-past/

wiki

Christopher "Chris" Cline (born July 5, 1958) is an American mining entrepreneur and philanthropist. As of March 2013, he is the majority owner of privately held Foresight Reserves LP, headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida.[2] Regarded by Bloomberg as the New King Coal,[3] Cline is considered responsible for reviving the Illinois coal industry. His company has more than three billion tons of coal reserves across Illinois and the Northern Appalachia.[2] According to Forbes, Cline has a net worth of $1.7 billion, ranking 278th among American billionaires and #736 in the Forbes list.[4]

Contents

  [hide] 

Biography:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Cline's grandfather mined for coal with a pickax around Beckley, West Virginia in the early 20th century. At the age of six, Cline's father, Paul, asked him to fill a paper bag with dirt, paying him a penny for each bag. Cline dug the dirt from under the porch of their bungalow in Isaban, West Virginia. His father used the dirt bags in mine-blasting. Within two years, their porch had collapsed.[5] According to Cline, his father had told him to "support the roof better". In 1980, Cline's father bought out his partner then gave the shares to Cline, who was then 21 years old. At that time, he was studying psychology at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.[3]

Breast cancer claimed Cline's first wife, Sabrina, in 1987. He remarried in 1993, but the relationship with his second wife, Kelly, ended in divorce in 2000. Cline, who has two sons and two daughters, owns a 33,413-square-foot (3,104.2 m2) mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, and a home in his native Beckley, West Virginia, where his 150-acre (0.61 km2) property contains a lake, a go-kart track and pastures for his horses, goats and llamas.[3]

Mine Games:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Cline owns the 164-foot (50 m) luxury yacht Mine Games.[6] Mine Games, which has five staterooms and has its own submarine, was designed and built by Gulf Coast-based Trinity Yachts, owned by entrepreneur and philanthropist Felix Sabates.[7]

Philanthropy:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

The Herald-Dispatch has praised Cline's philanthropy in its July 26, 2011, editorial, commenting that Cline "has not forgotten his roots".[8]

On May 26, 2011, the School of Medicine and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics of West Virginia University received a US$5 million donation from Cline through his Cline Family Foundation.[9] The donation also created the Christopher Cline Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery.

On July 20, 2011, Marshall University received a donation of $5 million from the Cline Family Foundation for sports medicine research. The donation was announced during a fundraising event held at Cline's Beckley home. [10]

Threats against family:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

On August 20, 2012, Vivek Shah[who?] was arrested for the attempted extortion of Chris Cline, Harvey Weinstein, and three other unnamed individuals.[11]On or around June 26, 2012, Shah threatened to kill members of Cline's family if $13 million was not wired to an offshore bank account.[12] A seven-count felony indictment against Shah was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles during the last week in September 2012.[13]

Investing in Illinois coal:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Illinois holds a 250-year supply of coal, providing the state with the largest recoverable coal reserve in the United States. The state's coal industry is valued at almost $1 billion, with coal mining operations across 12 counties.[14] One pound of Illinois coal, described as bituminous, can produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity.[15] Cline, spending $300 million on mining rights and equipment in Illinois, had foreseen that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would require power plants to use scrubbers in removing pollutants. Illinois coal has too much sulfur to be safely burned by most power plants.[5]

In 2005, Foresight Energy built its Williamson longwall mining operation south of West Frankfort in Illinois.[16] Eventually, the coal mining division of the Cline Group acquired Exxonmobil's Monterey No. 1 mine, and developed Sugar Camp, Hillsboro, and the Macoupin complex.

SNL Financial reported in 2008 that Deer Run coal mine in Montgomery County, Illinois, a project of Cline's Hillsboro Energy LLC, would produce up to 8 million tons annually until 2016. In the same report, representatives for Cline said that he was aiming for an annual coal production of 60 million tons fromIllinois alone.[17]

Opposition:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Illinois environmental groups, and landowners, have attempted to block Cline's coal mine permitting and also sought to draw attention to his local political contributions.[18][19]

Promoting coal for cheap power:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Cline said that humankind will benefit more from cheap and abundant energy than from overreacting to what he calls minimal increases so far in atmospheric CO2 and the level of the world’s oceans. In an interview with Bloomberg, Cline said "As far as the social acceptability of coal, I like to think I’m part of supplying the cheapest energy in America."[3]

References:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:url(none !important);display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

  1. ^ "Christopher Cline". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  2. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-carlyle1_2-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-carlyle1_2-1) "The Carlyle Group: Foresight Reserves, LP". Carlyle.com. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  3. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-new_king_coal_3-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-new_king_coal_3-1) c(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-new_king_coal_3-2) d(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-new_king_coal_3-3) Lippert, John (October 12, 2010). "New King Coal". Bloomberg Markets Magazine. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved June 23, 2011. "Chris Cline became a billionaire by betting on a dirty fuel the world can’t get enough of. With maps of 675 square miles of his Illinois mines before him, Chris Cline recalls the moment he knew the coal in those mines would be worth billions of dollars."
  4. ^ "Christopher Cline profile". Forbes. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  5. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-bloomberg1970_5-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cline#cite_ref-bloomberg1970_5-1) Lippert, John (2010-10-12). "Cline Talking Clean as Coal Mines Supply Most Energy Since 1970". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  6. ^ Lippert, John (2010-10-12). "New King Coal". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  7. ^ "Trinity Yachts". Trinity Yachts. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  8. ^ "Thumbs up: Cline donation is a big boost for Marshall". The Herald Dispatch. July 26, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  9. ^ "WVU academics receive $5,000,000 gift from Cline family.". Wvutoday.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  10. ^ "Cline Family Foundation makes $5 million gift to Marshall University for sports medicine research" (Press release). Marshall.edu. July 20, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  11. ^ Time Waster. "Man Busted In Harvey Weinstein Extortion Plot". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  12. ^ Time Waster. "Vivek Shah Affidavit". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  13. ^ "Actor Indicted In Harvey Weinstein Extortion Plot". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  14. ^ "Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity–Coal". Commerce.state.il.us. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  15. ^ "Coal in Illinois". Illinois Department of Commerce. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  16. ^ "Foresight Energy Invests in Illinois". Coalage.com. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  17. ^ Cassell, Barry (January 9, 2008). "Cline's Deer Run coal mine to produce up to 8 million tons per year". SNL. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  18. ^ Rushton, Bruce (July 17, 2010). "Activists raise concerns about coal mine slurry injection in Illinois". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  19. ^ Landis, Tim (April 25, 2011). "Deer Run producing 'development coal'". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved March 20, 2012.

Categories: 

Attachments