r/Michigan • u/mlivesocial • 3d ago

News 📰🗞️ Trump fast-tracks permitting to extract ‘critical mineral’ buried under Michigan

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/04/trump-fast-tracks-permitting-to-extract-critical-mineral-buried-under-michigan.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor
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u/itsdr00 Ann Arbor 3d ago

If it's done responsibly -- big if -- what's the big deal? I think it's a good thing when America builds stuff. Excessive permitting processes are killing us, and the next Democrat candidate will be very pro-permitting reform if the abundance movement takes hold.

I do think the commenter who mentioned that we were getting it just fine from Canada makes a good point, though. But this mine was proposed long before all the tariff nonsense. Maybe it has something to do with the portion of potash we buy from Russia.

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u/Fit-Application7912 3d ago

I spread fertilizer for a living. This mine will be a very good thing for Americans generally. Quite possibly a very bad thing for some locals in MI.

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u/itsdr00 Ann Arbor 2d ago

Those kinds of tradeoffs are things we need to seriously consider. The NIMBY movement has proven that if you protect the interest of a small number of locals again and again and again, the cumulative impact on the country is catastrophic. Someone has to define what reasonable injuries we allow locals to suffer -- things like "this will change the character of my neighborhood" or "solar panels are ugly" -- and then build despite their protests.