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DULUTH — As the DFL convention in Duluth starts its second day, delegates will debate more than 100 items that will set the party's agenda this year. Looming among those is a proposed ban on copper-nickel mining, also called copper-sulfide mining, which lacks a proven track record of complying with state and federal environmental laws.

Following a failure to bring such legislation forward this year, the issue may come to a head this weekend, with what looks like a choice for the DFL: Promote mining and union jobs, or protect the environment.

Historically, the DFL has sought a balance on mining issues in the Iron Range. However, the issue has been fertile ground for the St. Louis County Republican Party, whose pro-mining and increasingly pro-union stance has attracted growing support from unionized miners and working-class voters in northeastern Minnesota. That has led to frustration in another DFL core constituency, environmentalists.

DFL party leaders declined to comment on the proposed mining ban and surrounding issues, saying it is an agenda item that delegates will discuss this weekend.

The two traditional centers of DFL power in Minnesota, the Twin Cities and the Iron Range, are increasingly at odds over how to manage the state's natural resources, says Pete Marshall, communications director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, an environmental advocacy group.

While northeastern Minnesota has generally focused on labor and mining, the Twin Cities have sided on taking active measures to conserve the wilderness area, Marshall said, adding that while he's seeing more people moving toward clean water initiatives in the Iron Range, he has also seen people shift right on socially conservative issues in the Northland.

"On a statewide level, it's a safe gamble for (the DFL) to oppose clean water acts because the environmental caucus is pretty much a captured constituency," Marshall said.

Supporters of the legislation have pushed for about a decade to have the issue debated by legislators, according to Marshall.

"Minnesota is uniquely blessed with the amount of water we have, and we need to take some active measures to protect it, given all the threats that are there," he said. "I think the DFL leadership should at least hear out what their constituents say, hear out what a lot of their supporters say about clean water and not be afraid of the issue."

While drinking water safety continues to be a watershed issue for factions of DFLers, Marshall said he's looking forward to this weekend's debate.

"There can still be room for discussion on pretty divisive issues in the party," he said.

The mining issue is one of many the DFL faces in the 2024 election, including what has been a decades-long accusation leveled at the party by conservatives: that it is soft on crime. This comes at a time when the state's crime rate is at a 60-year low, according to an

Despite its history as a DFL stronghold, the Iron Range has, in some ways, . Iron Range Republicans have and social issues such as abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and have been used by Republicans to divide Minnesota's, and the nation's, working class further.

Such issues, playing out at the ballot box, could threaten the DFL's razor-thin margins in the House, which the party holds by just six seats. Adding on to the urgency of party messaging in an election year, , leaving a possible grab for Republicans in northeastern Minnesota.

Another topic sure to be brought up this weekend is the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. There are at least five resolutions by local party members regarding the war that will be brought up during the convention. Some call for a ceasefire or ending financial support to Israel until it complies with international law, while others are focused on the right of Israel to exist as a state.

"We welcome different opinions on a whole host of issues, including Gaza and what's happening in the Middle East," DFL Party Chair Ken Martin previously told Forum News Service . "There's a lot of different ideas and thoughts on that issue within our party, and you'll see that talked about this upcoming week."

The DFL, especially in Greater Minnesota, has a tough needle to thread this election, according to Hamline political science professor David Schultz.

"How do you support economic development, which may include mining, but at the same time, essentially an agenda that is pro-environment, especially as it is being pushed in the Twin Cities amongst some of the activists?" he said.

While Republicans face an identity crisis, Democrats have seemingly failed to come to a resolution on the mining and environment issue, according to Schultz.

"The Republicans can't figure out who they are and what they stand for, but they know what they're against," he said. "Democrats are fighting the same fights they've been fighting for at least a quarter-century at this point."

That fight was highlighted earlier this year when Sen. Jennifer McEwen, DFL-Duluth, took part in a public hearing to address copper-sulfide mining. She told Forum News Service at the time that corporate interests have kept the issue of copper-sulfide mining off legislators' tables.

"There's a lot of anger and frustration amongst clean water activists in Minnesota with DFL leadership in general, and there's good reason for that," she said.

Contributed

That anger stems from the lack of a hearing in the state Senate on known as the "Prove It First" bill, which states that before a copper-sulfide mine in Minnesota can be permitted, there must be independent scientific proof that a copper-sulfide mine has operated elsewhere in the United States for at least 10 years without causing pollution and that a mine has been closed for at least 10 years without causing pollution. (The House version of the bill is

McEwen, lead author of the Senate bill, said the Legislature has not heard a bill regarding copper-sulfide mining in at least a decade, which she called "legislative malpractice."

"The fact that we have had the Democratic Party leadership in the administration, in the Senate, in the House now, for a number of years and we still haven't had that hearing has a lot of people very upset," she said.

She said the Legislature has a duty to at least hear these types of proposals.

The type of mining the bill seeks to regulate is different than current iron and taconite mining in Minnesota, according to McEwen.

"We are simply asking this industry to prove that they can do this safely before we would consider permitting their projects in such a water-rich environment with so much at stake," she said.