Cecil D. Andrus is the former four-term governor of Idaho and Secretary of the Interior

Idaho Statesman
By Cecil D. Andrus
September 30, 2009

Micron and Idaho agricultural products compete with low-cost producers in far corners of the globe. China holds massive amounts of U.S. debt. The Nikkei index in Tokyo is often an early predictor of what happens later in the day to the Dow Industrials. It is all part of globalization, and the signs are everywhere.

At the same time, the word sustainability increasingly defines how we think about our - Idaho's and the nation's - place in a shrinking world. There are probably as many definitions of sustainability as there are of globalization, but the one I prefer is straightforward. To me it means understanding the interconnections among economy, society and environment.

Why worry about these forces that often seem beyond our control? Again, my answer is straightforward: We will be hard pressed to truly create a sustainable economy here at home unless we both insist on stringent environmental standards globally and get a whole lot better at preventing the steady transfer of our basic manufacturing capabilities offshore.

Over the last 30 years, I have watched with growing concern the steady deterioration of what I think of as basic U.S. industry. The steel industry is essentially gone. When our grandkids think of Detroit, the Big Three won't even cross their minds. As the National Association of Manufacturers has noted, "as the 21st century begins, we find our position as the world leader being challenged."

Idaho has an opportunity right now to maintain world leadership in the manufacture of two critical commodities that will allow us to shape a sustainable future. The nation's only primary cobalt mine - the Idaho Cobalt Project - is edging toward production in Lemhi County. One of the world's truly "green" metals, cobalt is utilized in everything from high tech jet engines to hybrid automobiles, from medical devices to rechargeable batteries. The project will create jobs with great sensitivity to the environment and produce a fundamentally important product right here at home. Without a domestic source of cobalt, we will continue to be dependent for supplies in places like the Congo, Zambia and Russia.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management is about to release an environmental impact statement on another project that can help maintain Idaho's leadership in manufacturing and do so in a sustainable way. Monsanto, an Idaho corporate citizen since 1952, is seeking to permit a new source of phosphate ore, a core element in the manufacture of Roundup, the herbicide that helps keep American agriculture at the forefront of feeding the world.

Monsanto's proposed Blackfoot Bridge Mine, north of Soda Springs, will provide a long-term source - the only practical domestic source - of raw material for the company's Idaho manufacturing facility and preserve more than 700 jobs. If maintaining 700-plus family wage jobs while providing a product that helps American farmers feed the world while reducing their fuel consumption doesn't meet the definition of sustainability, I don't know what does.

I am also convinced that the mine will help Monsanto establish an innovative, forward-looking level of stewardship that sets the environmental bar higher for future projects. The company is proposing to utilize a high-tech, synthetic liner, not unlike a landfill liner, to control selenium and protect the Blackfoot River.

Water quality will be protected and a fundamentally important product will continue to be produced in Idaho, while farmers secure certainty around an indispensible production tool.

The only real alternative to keeping manufacturing alive here at home is to allow China to become the world's supplier of elemental phosphorous. That may be global, but it's hardly sustainable.

Cecil D. Andrus is the former four-term governor of Idaho and Secretary of the Interior