Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday that state support for Essar Global’s Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk is back on after the company assured him it wouldn’t violate U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The whole ordeal became a rather fast and scary lesson in international trade and politics. Fortunately, it has worked out in the favor of the Iron Range.
Today’s Duluth News-Tribune has a comprehensive story. My state Rep. and quasi-neighbor Tom Anzelc said it best, in the future let’s hope that due diligence precedes press conferences. There’s no reason Pawlenty couldn’t have confirmed details with Essar before he declared his potential withdrawal of state support.
Pawlenty got in a good line, though, saying that he needed to clear this matter up before the governor’s hunting opener this weekend near Hibbing (in the heart of the Iron Range) or else “the hunter would become the hunted.” He must have been hearing some of the same things I heard around the Range before yesterday’s good news.
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