Like a lot of Minnesotans, Robert Rees enjoyed the Minnesota state hockey tournament last weekend on television. After a while, however, he became irritated by the number of commercials from a particular advertiser — PolyMet.
"What does it take to play on a tournament team?" the ads began, as video of teens working out in the gym or running flickered on the screen. "The same kind of commitment it takes to open Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine — and protect what we all treasure."
Message: Open-pit mining is like a healthy jog in the park.
PolyMet is a Canadian company in the midst of trying to get approval for a controversial plan to operate a sulfide mine to extract copper and nickel from the land between Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes, and too near for some to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA).
The issue has been hotly debated, with more than 4,000 people attending several public meetings about the potential benefits and dangers of a mine, which would bring hundreds of jobs but also could threaten the pristine wilderness in the area.
The ability for the public to comment to the Department of Natural Resources ends March 13, so PolyMet's decision to sponsor the hockey tournament days before a very political issue comes to a deadline could be seen as either genius or evil genius, depending on how you feel about mining as an economic driver.
It was certainly what you'd call a power play. But it was nothing new. PolyMet was a sponsor last year, too, just as the issue heated up.
"Yes, KSTP has the right to sell advertising time to whomever it chooses, and PolyMet has the right to purchase as many minutes of advertising airtime as it desires," said hockey fan Rees. "But I don't recall the last time that a company acted so brazenly to put its trademark [and unique spin] forward at a time when a political decision needs to be made about a proposed copper and nickel mine adjacent to the BWCAW.
