Michele Tafoya, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, praised H.J.Res. 140, the resolution that ended a 20-year ban on mineral leasing on 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, calling it "an important first step" and, after Rep. Pete Stauber posted on April 27, 2026 that President Trump had signed it, "A great thing for northeast Minnesota." In a December 2025 Impact Research poll, 57% of Minnesotans opposed sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed.
Tafoya also pledges to protect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which ends the tax credits for new wind and solar power, moved the start of the methane charge on oil and gas companies to 2034 and rescinded clean-air funds. Energy Innovation projects that the law and other federal energy changes will raise Minnesota's healthcare costs by $240 million through 2040 from worse air pollution.
Michele Tafoya's Statements on the Boundary Waters and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Climate Rollbacks
- Tafoya Praised Ending the Mining Ban Upstream of the Boundary Waters, Which 57 Percent of Minnesotans Oppose. On April 17, 2026, the day after the Senate passed H.J.Res. 140 by 50 to 49, Michele Tafoya posted that "we can develop our natural resources and protect the Boundary Waters" and wrote "This is an important first step in securing energy independence." On April 27, 2026, quoting Rep. Pete Stauber's post that President Trump had signed the resolution, she posted "A great thing for northeast Minnesota, Minnesota as a whole, and for the US economy and national security! Thank you, @RepPeteStauber and @POTUS" The resolution nullified Public Land Order 7917, which in 2023 withdrew 225,504 acres in Cook, Lake and Saint Louis counties from mineral leasing for 20 years to protect and preserve the fragile and vital social and natural resources of the Rainy River Watershed and the Boundary Waters, and the wild rice and other resources the Bois Forte, Grand Portage and Fond du Lac bands rely on. In a December 2025 Impact Research poll for Save the Boundary Waters, an advocacy group, 57% of Minnesotans opposed sulfide-ore copper mining in the watershed and 23% favored it.
- Tafoya Pledged to Protect the Law That Ended Clean-Energy Credits and Delayed the Methane Fee to 2034. As of October 25, 2026, Michele Tafoya's Senate campaign website pledges to "Protect working families' tax cuts" and says "The far left wants to repeal the Working Family Tax Cuts that just put thousands of dollars back in Minnesotans' pockets." The House of Representatives' April 2026 resolution on the law states that Public Law 119-21, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is commonly known as the "Working Families Tax Cuts." That pledge covers the law's climate provisions: it repealed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, rescinded unobligated funds from the methane reduction program, moved the start of the methane charge on oil and gas companies from calendar year 2024 to calendar year 2034, and ends the tax credits for new wind and solar power. Rhodium Group now thinks the U.S. is on pace to reduce emissions 27-44 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, down from the 38-56 percent cut it predicted before the law, Scientific American reported, and Rhodium projects 27-41 million fewer EVs in the light-duty vehicle stock in 2035 under the law.
- The Law Tafoya Pledged to Protect Took Back Money to Cut Air Pollution at Schools and in Polluted Neighborhoods. The law Michele Tafoya pledges to protect rescinded unobligated funds for environmental and climate justice block grants and for programs to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants at schools in low-income communities. The law also rescinded unobligated portions of the Inflation Reduction Act that provided funding to address air pollution, including money for diesel emissions reductions, according to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.
What the Rollbacks Michele Tafoya Backs Mean for Minnesota's Land and Air
- Air pollution and health. Energy Innovation projects that worsening local air pollution from the law and other federal energy policy changes will raise Minnesota's healthcare costs by $240 million from 2026 to 2040, with annual increases of $19 million in 2035.
- Outdoor economy. A 2019 University of Minnesota paper found that the economic damages to the outdoor industry from sulfide-ore mining near the Boundary Waters would likely outweigh the mine's benefits if the wilderness were exposed to toxins like sulfuric acid, KAXE reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michele Tafoya on Climate and the environment
What is Michele Tafoya's record on climate and the environment under Trump?
Michele Tafoya praised H.J.Res. 140, which ended the 20-year mining withdrawal upstream of the Boundary Waters, and she pledges to protect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which ends clean-energy credits, delayed the methane fee on oil and gas companies to 2034 and rescinded clean-air funds. Most Minnesotans oppose copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed in a December 2025 poll.
Does Michele Tafoya support copper mining near the Boundary Waters?
Yes. Michele Tafoya backed Rep. Pete Stauber's resolution to end the mining ban near the Boundary Waters and told a Bemidji audience in May 2026 "We can mine cleanly and safely." The Twin Metals copper-nickel project would use sulfide-ore mining, a method not yet done in Minnesota, KAXE reported.
What happens to the Twin Metals leases now that the Boundary Waters mining ban is gone?
The resolution Michele Tafoya praised removed the 20-year withdrawal, and the Twin Metals leases are the next step: Interior reinstated a 2017 legal opinion from President Donald Trump's first term in August 2025 that lets the company renew them, and on June 3, 2026 the House Appropriations Committee approved language that would reinstate two federal mineral leases sought by Twin Metals.
Last updated: 2026-10-25