Gov. Mark Dayton

One of the legs is about to be kicked out of the three legged stool of taconite, timber and tourism. Following a late-night move by the Minnesota state legislature and a signature by Gov. Mark Dayton, the state’s wood chipping operations were sold to the lobbyist-driven Xcel Energy.  This was back room politics pure and simple now covered up by altruistic sound bites on how the deal will save money for Xcel’s customers. Hogwash. …For 11 years, the system worked flawlessly. Then the political winds shifted and Xcel found enough votes to renege on the deal it had agreed to. …Nobody wants to tell loggers who collectively invested millions of dollars in equipment that come this spring they are out of luck.