September 23-24, 2021, survey of 662 Minnesota voters by Public Policy Polling
A majority of Minnesotans agree Gov. Walz should Move On from PolyMet.
The PolyMet copper-nickel mine proposal has had all four of its major permits rejected or suspended by the courts. Do you think Governor Tim Walz should move on from PolyMet and propose a different economic development plan for the area, or do you think he should stay the course on PolyMet and continue to defend the company’s application?
51% think Governor Tim Walz should move on from PolyMet and propose a different economic development plan for the area.
21% think he should stay the course on PolyMet and continue to defend the company’s application.
29% are not sure.
A plurality of Democrats, Republicans, Independents agree…
Minnesotans are unsure about PolyMet, but when they get information about the proposal, they turn strongly against it.
PolyMet is a proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota near Hoyt Lakes, upstream of Lake Superior. Based on what you know, do you support or oppose the PolyMet copper-nickel mine?
36% Support
33% Oppose
31% Not sure
Glencore, the owner of PolyMet has had employees convicted of bribery and corruption, the vast majority of Minnesotans say we shouldn’t do business with a company like that.
One proposed copper-nickel mine is owned by a corporation whose employees have been convicted of bribery and corruption for its operations in other countries. Do you think Minnesota should give a permit for a copper-nickel mine to a global corporation that has engaged in bribery and corruption in its other operations, or not?
14% Yes
67% No
19% Not sure
Nearly half of Minnesotans agree, upstream dams should be banned.
After several mine dams collapsed, killing hundreds of people, the countries of Brazil, Chile, and Peru banned mine dams constructed using an “upstream” method, where the dam is raised over time using waste rock from the operation. Do you think Minnesota should ban upstream mine dams, or not?
46% Yes
22% No
33% Not sure
Minnesotans oppose hundreds of years of pollution in exchange for 20 years of copper-nickel mining operation.
One proposed copper-nickel mine in Minnesota would operate for 20 years but would require ongoing treatment of polluted water and maintenance of the site for hundreds of years after it closed. Based on this information, do you support or oppose this proposed copper-nickel mine?
34% Support
44% Oppose
22% Not sure
METHODOLOGY
662 Minnesota voters were surveyed by landline and text on September 23-24 (margin of sampling error +/-3.8%) by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Raleigh, North Carolina. PPP holds an A- rating from poll aggregator Fivethirtyeight.com. The survey asked questions on an array of Minnesota environmental issues, this release is a portion of the full questionnaire. The full questionnaire and cross-tabs will be released next week, after release of all of the sections of the poll. Full question wording, the order the questions were asked and demographic cross-tabs are available for each section of the poll. Survey was paid for by Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Click here to read the poll section on PolyMet with the full cross tabs.