Today’s posting is a thought piece. You’ll have to do the analysis and draw the conclusions on your own. 

First, here’s a screenshot from a story in the on line version of Thursday’s Duluth News Tribune.

Second, here’s a screenshot from the Federal Reserve’s Ninth District fedgazette article that shows declines in iron mining employment.

Here’s another screenshot from the same article showing the trend of iron commodity prices.

Here’s the question: How many “high-paying” Minnesotan jobs will be created if we need to clean up a mess from mining in Minnesota created by an event similar to the one pictured in Canada?  Another question: would that really be the kind of Minnesota we want for our children? These are not easy questions to answer. Sheila Packa has created a book of poems based on the Iron Range, it’s people and history. Something more to think about. Is history destiny?

This post was written by John Harrington and originally published on My Minnesota. Follow John on Twitter: @JohnHthePoet.

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