Wisconsin’s state senate approved an open pit mine bill with a one vote margin yesterday: 17-16. The bill will next be taken up by the state assembly where a GOP majority will pass it. It then travels to Scott Walker’s desk for his signature and it is widely predicted to land in court to face lawsuits.

Though the legislative process is ugly, the protest process is not. Visiting tribe members and citizens filled the rotunda with drumming, beauty, song, and solidarity:

This photo is from Jenna Pope. [More at her facebook profile and her blog, JennaPope.com]



Below are the comments I shared online that resonated the most with fellow netizens:

WI Senate is still debating the WI mine bill. The routine goes like this: Amendments are put up [17 in all], the GOP tables them and all the Dems can do is offer up more amendments because they are 1 vote short of what they need. So why do it? They are educating you about the bill. They’ve let us know that the WI GOP mine bill will mandate filling in of wetlands. They’re letting us know that the bill will land in court immediately, for one reason, because the Army Corp of Engineers is being ignored and they will have great difficulty syncing federal regulations with this bill written by a mining corporation. And there is more and more and more information to share….

A farmer from Sen.Vinehout’s district compared the mine deal to myth of Jacob and Esau – Wisconsin selling its birthright for a bowl of pottage

The fact of the matter is that this legislature set the stage for the way this bill was dealt with for the next year. The company intent can be summed up in 5 words: give us what we want. They have been served well. The public has not. – Sen Jauch on the mine bill, speaking on the WI Senate flr. just now