In his op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, State Rep. Tom Casperson (who has represented Michigan's 108th district in the Upper Peninsula since 2002 and is a member of the Tourism, Forestry and Outdoor Recreation Committee) holds up jobs that would potentially created by the proposed Kennecott Eagle Mine and paints the venture with broad and glowing strokes. For example, he touts the role of "environmental watchdogs" including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation (who oppose the project) and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (who should) in the creation of Michigan's sulfide mining laws and brushes away heavy metal discharge at Wisconsin's Ladysmith mine.

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters blog responds to these few hundred jobs with:

The rallying cry of Rep. Casperson’s column is the 100+ jobs it will create–and the many more that could come from subsequent projects. However, tourism has long been one of the top three industries in Michigan, providing an estimated 193,000 jobs to Michiganders. It is rapidly becoming our number one industry, and stripped mine sites are not exactly tourist attractions–especially when the land they are on is fenced off for decades. The benefits of a couple hundred jobs are needed, but not at the cost of thousands of others–and not when most of the revenue from mining won’t even stay in Michigan.

Read Casperson’s OpEd on Proposed Sulfide Mine Misses the Facts–and the Point from the [con]serving Michigan.