Our view: How did Pawlenty help the Northland?

Asked what he considered his proudest, Northland-benefitting accomplishment, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recalled his early days in office and the grave concern then that the mining industry was imploding.

"It looked really dire," he said this week. "What has happened since then is the largest expansion and largest renaissance of the natural resources economy, as it relates to mining in Northeastern Minnesota, in the history of the state.

"It would be unfair for me or for anyone to take undue credit for that. What really happened was that China and India and the global economy started to ferociously consume," Pawlenty continued. "There has been more economic development projects started and advanced in Northeastern Minnesota in the last eight years, under a Republican's watch, than in any other time in the modern history of the state. I think that's going to be a good record and a good legacy."

After the News Tribune editorial board's exclusive interview with Pawlenty, the governor's office provided a list of specific ways Pawlenty said he has benefited our region. The list included his support for:

--Vermillion State Park

--More than $44 million in bonding projects at the University of Minnesota Duluth

--$38 million in bonding for the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center and Amsoil Arena

--$13 million in bonding for Lake Superior College

--Mesabi Nugget, the world's first commercial iron nugget plant

--Essar Steel Minnesota, a proposed iron ore pellet, direct-reduced iron, and steel slab mini mill

--Magnetation, which produces iron ore concentrate from natural iron ore tailings

--Laurentian Energy Authority, a municipal wood biomass electrical production effort

--Silicon Energy, a manufacturing facility under construction that will produce high-quality solar panels

--The Duluth International Airport's $64.9 million terminal expansion ($11.7 million was appropriated in a bonding bill the governor signed in March; previously, the state provided planning money)

--PolyMet, and specifically a timely environmental permitting process

--An expansion of Cirrus Design

--Northeastern Minnesota manufacturers, mines, timber interests, ports and others via his foreign trade trips

--A new mission for the Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth after the wing was targeted for closure in 2005

--Industrial parks in Duluth, Cloquet, Grand Rapids, Chisholm, Hibbing and Mountain Iron

--Numerous JOBZ projects

--Class and program changes at colleges in Northeastern Minnesota to better support the mining and timber-products industries