Nine businesses and utilities headquartered in the Great Lakes are among 60 organizations that signed a letter urging U.S. Senate action on energy and climate legislation (PDF).
The Great Lakes businesses are: General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler, Dow Chemical Co. and DTE Energy in Michigan; Deere & Co. and Excelon Corp. in Illinois; Owens Corning Corp. in Ohio; and Johnson Controls in Wisconsin.
Another company with connections to a hotly contested mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula also signed the letter.
The letter says that “the time is now” to act on legislation “that preserves and creates American jobs while protecting our environment.”
The signatories — which also include Google, General Electric and the Nature Conservancy — cite a future low-carbon economy as an opportunity for innovation and economic growth.
“It’s time for Democrats and Republicans to unite behind bipartisan, national energy and climate legislation that increases our security, limits emissions, and protects our environment while preserving and creating American jobs,” the letter says.
The Rio Tinto Group, a multinational mining giant, also signed the letter. The group owns Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co., which is pursuing a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Kennecott has all the state environmental permits it needs to build the mine, which could bring 70 full time jobs to the area. Opponents worry that the mine will destroy ceremonial land important to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and contaminate nearby streams and Lake Superior.
Police arrested two protesters near the site of the planned mine Thursday morning.