{"id":694,"date":"2019-06-02T00:58:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T00:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/?p=694"},"modified":"2023-01-02T21:25:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T21:25:25","slug":"regulatory-capture-at-mns-puc-an-interview-with-willis-mattison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/regulatory-capture-at-mns-puc-an-interview-with-willis-mattison\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulatory Capture at MN’s PUC: An Interview with Willis Mattison"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row swatch=”swatch-white-black”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s Office of the Legislative Auditor has opened an investigation into the Public Utilities Commission Public Engagement Process and held the first public hearing May 31st at 10:00 AM to establish the scope of their investigation.<\/h4>\n

In this video interview outside of the State Office Building, Willis Mattison provides a bit more information about the OLA\u2019s investigation and describes how the PUC is an agency that demonstrated the concept of ‘Regulatory Capture’ in its proceedings on Line 3.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text]

<\/div>[vc_raw_html]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[\/vc_raw_html]
<\/div>[vc_column_text]A self-described career bureaucrat keenly involved with protecting the environment, Mattison comments on the PUC and Line 3 saying \u201cIt\u2019s important that we make agencies more responsive to the public they serve and this was probably, in my career, the worst example I\u2019ve seen of a State agency that was immune to, and resistant to, full public participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many opponents of the proposed Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project experienced issues with the way in which the PUC carried out its permitting process and were in attendance to voice their concerns.<\/p>\n

Testimony from this first meeting in front of the Auditor included grievances on a variety of levels. In one instance, a participant attending the PUC meetings was not allowed to enter the courtroom wearing snow pants when outside temperatures in downtown St. Paul, MN, were below freezing. As a result, the participant entered the courtroom in her undergarment base layer.<\/p>\n

Many voiced concern that to have secured a place in the courtroom during the PUC proceedings, a member of the public would have needed to arrive in the wee hours of the morning (5-6 AM for a 10:00 AM meeting) because the Enbridge-backed \u201cMinnesotan\u2019s for Line 3\u201d group would typically have already formed a line around the block to ensure their branded shirts filled the primary hearing room.<\/p>\n

To submit comments to the Office of the Legislative Auditor in regards to your experience with the PUC\u2019s Public Engagement Process use the following links:<\/p>\n

OLA\u2019s Works In Progress Overview: https:\/\/www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us\/ped\/ped4.htm<\/a>
\nDirect Comment-Submission Link for input on the PUC’s Public Engagement Process: https:\/\/www.snapsurveys.com\/wh\/s.asp?k=155931372301<\/a><\/p>\n

For some interesting interviews with members of \u201cMinnesotan\u2019s for Line 3\u201d who formed a line around the building during the PUC\u2019s hearings in the summer of 2018, click here: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SEEKJOYco\/videos\/980116182171723\/<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row swatch=”swatch-white-black”][vc_column][vc_column_text] Minnesota\u2019s Office of the Legislative Auditor has opened an investigation into the Public Utilities Commission Public Engagement Process and held the first public hearing May 31st at 10:00 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44,40,19,13,3],"tags":[77,133,141,143,45,142],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1679,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/1679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekjoy.co\/mmunity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}