Clean energy journalism for a cooler tomorrow

Bill seeks to open books on Minnesota coal project

A bill in the Minnesota legislature seeks to repeal a provision that exempts a tax-funded state development agency from open records laws.
By Ken Paulman

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A bill in the Minnesota legislature seeks to repeal a provision that exempts a tax-funded state development agency from open records laws, Minnesota Public Radio reports this morning.

The Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board, which is funded by mining tax revenue, was the source of a $9.5 million loan to the Mesaba Energy Project, a proposed ​“clean coal” plant in northern Minnesota that we reported on last April.

When opponents of the plant sought in 2010 to access IRRRB financial records related to the project, they found the agency had been exempted from releasing that information under a little-known provision inserted into a conference bill in 2008.

MPR reports the bill to repeal that provision has been approved by the House, but does not have a Senate counterpart.

Read the full story at MPR News.

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Ken Paulman is the director of impact at Canary Media. He was previously the founder and director of the Energy News Network, which merged with Canary Media in 2025.

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