Should Minnesota try to attract more water-intensive companies?

Lake Superior
Lake Superior waves crash on the shore in Duluth, Minn. on Monday, April 16, 2012. MPR Photo/Dan Kraker

"Charles Fishman thinks Minnesota should sell its water. No, not the way that you might be thinking, in a pipeline from Lake Superior to someplace in the desert like Las Vegas. But as an asset, to water-intensive industries like microchip makers, and on one big condition – that they give the water back in the same condition they take it," writes Ground Level editor Dave Peters.

“Why the hell does Intel build microchip factories in Phoenix, where there is no water, when those factories gulp water like they were industrial scale farms,” Fishman said the other day. “Why aren’t they building the microchip factories in Minnesota?

Why don’t you sell the availability of water as an asset, especially to people who have water-dependent businesses? And the caveat is, ‘You have to appreciate that part of our water culture is there’s lots of water and you have to give it back to the environment in the condition you took it in.’ ”

Today's Question: Should Minnesota try to attract more water-intensive companies?

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