Hearing set on Resolution Copper land exchange

A bill to exchange public and private lands to allow the Resolution Copper mine to be developed will have a hearing in the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests on July 9 in Washington DC. The bill (S3157) was introduced last month by Sen. Jon Kyl to try to resolve issues holding up the mining operation.

The Arizona Republic newspaper this morning ran an editorial entitled "Shiny Outlook," noting the economic benefits of the mine and endorsing efforts to work out the environmental and cultural issues that may be affected. Interestingly, they praised the average $60,000 wages expected for the 1,200 workers at the mine.

In contrast, last week, the Tucson Citizen ran an editorial blasting the proposed Rosemont copper mine south of Tucson for it's expected $59,000 average salaries, arguing that surely some workers would make a lot more than that, so others would actually be making low wages with no benefits, and we don't need more low wage employers.

I urge you to read and compare the two editorials.