All posts by dflecorg

Keep Carbon Capture At Bay in the Build Back Better Act

Carbon Capture and Storage technology is not an effective way to address the climate emergency.

Supporters of CCS have sent a letter to Senator Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, asking him to eliminate minimum capture requirements for CCS, claiming they will not be able to do CCS with the requirement that they capture 75% of emissions. Instead of abandoning this technology they are now admitting is ineffective, they are pushing to eliminate minimum capture requirements in the Build Back Better Act.

We hope you will contact Senator Wyden at (202-224-5244) and as well as leader Senator Schumer (202-224-6542) and tell them oppose subsidies for Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, and that you don’t appreciate fossil fuel energy industry attempts to remove guardrails on CCS that are currently included in the Build Back Better Act.

Pleas also contact our Minnesota Senators, Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and express the same thoughts.

Electric Cars Racing to Save The Planet

“[Fossil fuel companies] are going to build oil pipelines, and we’re going to build the future as they build the past.” says DFLEC ally Bob Blake, who is executive director of Native Sun.

The Standing Rock Indian Reservation and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa are hoping to share a $6.7 million infrastructure grant to purchase electric vehicles and install 120 charging stations to link together tribal lands with each other and regional destinations.  Energy News Network has the story. 

Meanwhile, electric vehicle advocates are trying to get  more charging stations in the Midwest, and investors are demanding motor companies do better at producing electric vehicles, speaking with their feet, with electric vehicle company Lordstown Motors’s shares falling some 14% on Friday after reporting production delays.  Everybody wants more electric vehicles, and soon!

But can the grid handle all these new electric vehicles? Yes, of course.  American Electric Power CEO Nick Akin tells us that their grid is prepared “right now” for the expected wave of electric vehicle adoption.

Fundraiser for Lindsey Port Inspires DFLEC Environmentalists

Members of the DFL Environmental Caucus attended an event sponsored by the caucus to help Lindsey Port in her re-election campaign to the Minnesota Senate, District 56. Senator Port turned this senate district from some other color to BLUE  in 2020, and as you know, the entire Senate is up for election again after a short redistricting-imposed two year cycle.  

DFLEC Chair Emeritus Veda Kanitz, Senator Lindsey Port, and the amazing Debbie Nelson.

Senator Port is a strong advocate for our environmental issues (and was endorsed by the caucus).

“A healthy environment is essential to sustain life on earth. It is imperative that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. We must also repair systemic injustices caused by economic inequality and racial discrimination, this includes honoring indigenous people, their sovereignty, and land rights.” – Senator Lindsey Port.

Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan spoke at the event and introduced Senator Port.  The Lieutenant Governor recently participated in a ceremonial bill signing with state tribal leaders to reaffirm the relationship between the state and tribal authorities.

“For far too long, state government has not worked with or for Native people. The Governor and I are committed to changing that, for the long term. I am filled with gratitude for the friendship and partnership – from tribal leaders, from legislators, and from community voices – that got this bill across the finish line and into state law. Today is a historic, important step for the future of tribal state relations in Minnesota.” – Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan

We need to re-elect Senator Port so she can continue her good work in the legislature, and so that when we flip a couple of other seats BLUE  in 2020, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor will have the backing of a full suite of DFLers (of course we have to HOLD THE HOUSE as well!)

Please click through to Senator Port’s web site and sign up to giver her a hand!

“We get the food systems we fund.”

This evening, the DLF’s Scott County and SD 20 organizing units, together with the Environmental Caucus, held the Healthy Farms, Healthy Soils Forum, with special guests Laura Schreiber and Emily Minge from the Land Stewardship Project, Representative Todd Lippert (20B) and Minnesota farmer Dane Seifert. Dana gave a compelling overview of how the transition to healthy soils is working on her farm. (If you want to keep up with Land Stewardship Project events and updates, click here and sign up.)

Soil health matters. Healthy soils play an important role in ecosystems. Farming tends to damage soil and make it less healthy.

Principles of soil health include “armoring the soil” to protect it from erosion and degradation, minimizing disturbance of the soil, increasing and maintaining plant diversity, encouraging healthy roots, and integrating the soil biological activity with livestock. A major goal of healthy soil is to help soil become a better and very effective carbon sink. This also reduces the need for as much chemical treatment of agricultural lands.

Rep. Lippert has a bill that will make it easier, or really, possible, for farmers to change their practices to support healthy soil, with less of the risk that may arise from trying something entirely new.

As noted by Dana: “We get the farm system we fund.”

Check out the Land Stewardship Project white paper: Farming to Capture Carbon and Address Climate Change Through Building Soil Health.

From last session’s Agriculture Committee hearings on HF701, Representative Lippert’s bill:

It was a great forum. We will post the video when it becomes available to us.

Face facts, a birder is the nerd of the outdoor world By Margaret Seibel

Face facts, a birder is the nerd of the outdoor world.  Everyone else is a tough, self-reliant individual who can survive off the land with nothing but matches and a can of DEET.   Even though a fisherman often sits in a cozy craft with a cooler full of beer, a person in the wild would still run to a fisherman for help rather than a birder clunking around with binoculars and a camera.  Rehabilitation of the birder image starts now.
Continue reading Face facts, a birder is the nerd of the outdoor world By Margaret Seibel