Probably not. Also, take your flower pots in for the winter, and get rid of that hockey net, and no way are you putting holiday lights out after January 15th, buster!
(Oh, and don’t get me started on lawn signs.)
Home Owners Associations (HOAs) are notorious bastions of often dictatorial rulemaking, and much of that may be for good reason. But some of it is not, and some of it is not keeping up with the times. Right now we are in a climate emergency, and overcooked proclivities of controlling HOA boards should be gently but firmly moved aside to make way for a sun-drenched future.
There are two bills in play in the Minnesota Legislature that may help with this: HF0357(Rep. Ami Wazlawik, DFL-White Bear Township) and its companion SF2267 (Sen. Karin Housley, R- Stillwater). A truly bipartisan effort.
This legislation would allow HOAs to place reasonable restrictions on solar arrays but not block them outright…
Twenty-seven other states have similar legislation in place, including neighboring Iowa and Wisconsin. We have 7,725 HOAs in our state, making us 15th in the country for number of HOAs. There are 1.5 million Minnesotans living in these HOAs, just over 1 in 4 Minnesotans. Many HOA homes like mine are perfect for solar arrays, with large, flat roofs with no shading from trees.
… This legislation will immediately make more solar possible to meet our clean energy needs. It would mean more jobs for solar installers. I believe in renewable energy and that the consequences of not moving forward are real.
“The Progress of the State of Minnesota” is a quadriga, a type of sculpture involving four horses, a chariot, and one or more individuals, meant to symbolize grandiose or highly significant concepts or people. This one was made by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter, and was finished and installed in 1906. It is made of steel and copper, with gold leaf.
The symbolism in 1906 is now somewhat outdated, and here we offer a new interpretation that closely uses the original concepts.
The chariot is being drawn by four horses, representing the four major non-fossil fuel types of energy we hope to use as our only sources by 2050: geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro-power. The two women represent American-based highly efficient zero-carbon industry and business (the woman on the left), and renewable, regenerative, and forever green agriculture (the woman on the right). The man in the chariot stands in for the state of Minnesota, and he carries a cornucopia, which represents our society of wealth and privilege, which the legislature, courts, and Governor carefully curate and put to use to make all Minnesotans equal parts in a broad based, humanitarian, society lacking want and uncertainty. He is non binary.
Key DFL legislators from the Minnesota House and Senate give us their take on this year’s legislative priorities. Meet and greet the movers and shakers we elected to represent our environmental interests in the State Legislature. Learn how you can help get key bills heard and passed.
There is a new study out from Cornell concerning bald eagles and lead. The short version: Hunters kill land mammals using lead shot, field dress the prey, and the remains are scavenged by bears, badgers, and everybody else including Bald Eagles. The study by Brenda Hanley and others, published in Wildlife Management, links the lead shot ingested by scavenging eagles to stunted growth. Stunted, the eagles’ physiological buffer against disease or periods of food stress is reduced.
This lead poisoning of wildlife by hunters’ activity probably applies to all of the scavengers of lead ammo using hunters’ waste, but in this study, only eagles were addressed.
Krysten Schuler, one of the study’s authors, says, “Hopefully, this report will add information that compels hunters, as conservationists, to think about their ammunition choices. Even though the population seems like it’s recovered, some perturbation could come along that could cause eagles to decline again.”
A press release from Cornell is here, and the original study is here.
Lead is a poison at any level, and we continue to put it in our environment, affecting other animals, as well as humans. If you think this should be addressed, please bring this resolution to your precinct caucuses in order to give us (lead free) ammunition to help compel our legislators to address lead. If you are reading this after February 1st, 2022, you can still contact your legislators in the Minnesota House and Senate and encourage them to get the lead out!
Conference of The Parties 26 is a climate summit being held in Glasgow. This is widely called the “last best chance” to address climate change.
Commentary and excellent perspective by Michael Mann, author of <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088RN8FCF/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B088RN8FCF&linkCode=as2&tag=grlasbl0a-20&linkId=76c3e66df083df4c2bf17d8f9ac4bc16″ rel=”noopener”>The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet</a> (Amazon associates link*) interviewed on CNN:
Climate communicator Dana Nuccitelli has a piece discussing how “new research quantifies how actions to curb climate change will yield immediate benefits from cleaner air, better health, and longer lives.” It is HERE. In it, Dana refers to this new study on evaluating and valuing rapid decarbonization of the global energy system. ‘
A recent study out of Germany shows that the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted as part of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda provide more co-benefits than trade-offs. Technologies such as carbon capture and nuclear energy would not have these benefits.
From the study, “Improving energy efficiency, reducing energy-services demand and switching to renewables provide the most co-benefits. In contrast, carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy likely lead to multiple trade-offs.”
The study also looks at the likelihood of a given policy being adapted, and finds “…that measures with more co-benefits are more frequently adopted.”
This is yet another in a growing body of studies that demonstrate that we should be optimistic about our physical and technological ability to electrify and decarbonize.
The study, which is not behind a paywall, can be found HERE.
A DFLEC forum on PFAS, recorded on September 28th, at 6:30 PM on Zooom
The term “PFAS” refers to a large class of synthetic chemicals that include perflourooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulonate, “GenX”, and a host of others. The US EPA lists over 8,000 of them. Ultimately, these chemicals are used in the production of stain repellents, polishes, paints, and other coatings. They are something of a wonder molecule, with amazing properties and many uses. Unfortunately, there are also health and environmental concerns. They are linked, sometimes more clearly, sometimes less, to a wide range of health issues. They are also persistent in the environment, thus the nickname “forever chemicals.”
PFAS…
In everything—food packaging, goretex, firefighting foam, carpet, fabrics in car, nonstick cookware,
All over the planet—in polar bears, in us, in our water supply, in fish, in bald eagles.
All over the state: problems in Pine Island, Bemidji, Duluth, east metro
This problem is most publicized in the Twin Cities East metro where these chemicals contaminate groundwater used by over 100,000 people. You may have read about the recent $850 million settlement with 3M for landfill dumping, which included:
$700 M for new municipal wells, treatment, POETs
$20 M for natural resource impacts
$30 M for interim projects already funded
$100 M went to the lawyers
As we learn more about health impacts of PFAS, the acceptable limit keeps getting reduced; settlement treats to half of the current HBV (health-based value)
Our guests for the forum:
Jay Eidsness: Health Effects and Pathways to the Environment
Companies continue to release new chemicals (PFOA and PFOS are gone, but replaced with others that have lesser-known impacts)
Action item: strengthen disclosure requirements for manufacturers to aid our state regulators in identifying these chemicals in the environment. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, current detection and testing methods only detect around 1% of PFAS, which is troubling. I think we can all agree that something needs to be done to increase this number.
Representative Ami Waslawik: Food Packaging Legislation from 2021
East Phillips is part of the Phillips Community in Minneapolis, located between Bloomington and Hiawatha avenues, and includes the Little Earth residential community. East Phillips has one of the highest rates of asthma in Minnesota, primarily caused by a concentration of pollution sources (see this map). This is also one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis, and the people who live here have household incomes generally under $35,000. The City has plans to use a facility formerly known as the Old Sears Warehouse in a manner that will bring more pollution, and that ignores a clean and well designed neighborhood project with numerous benefits to the people who live here.
The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) has been fighting for community ownership of this 7.6 acre plot including the old Sears warehouse, to create an important community space, and reduce the impacts of environmental racism.
The EPNI has an ask for our Caucus members. Please help them out:
The City of Minneapolis will vote on the Roof Depot AUGUST 5, 2021. We need to flood the email inboxes of City Council ASAP. We only have a few days left to make our voices heard! If we stay silent, the City will tear down the building. When creating your comment, feel free to copy the Sample Script below or tell your own story of why this matters to you.
Please email Minneapolis City Council at Citycouncilmembers@minneapolismn.gov and epnifarm@gmail.com
Sample Email for City Council – Feel Free to Copy, Paste, and Send!
Dear Minneapolis City Council, East Phillips is Minneapolis’ most diverse neighborhood (83% BIPOC), but also one its poorest and most polluted. These community members have suffered from deadly levels of pollution in their backyards for generations: residents experience the highest rates of asthma, cardiovascular, and lead-poisoning hospitalizations in Minnesota. The Hiawatha Expansion will only worsen the public health crisis in this overburdened community. I oppose the Hiawatha Expansion Project in East Phillips and ask that the City preserve the Roof Depot building. Please support an alternative, community-owned proposal such as the East Phillips Indoor Urban Farm Project. Thank you for standing up for environmental justice and putting people before money!
Caucus members, please note that this is not a city issue. Environmental racism in Minneapolis is an issue that affects all of us. The city council has to understand that the whole state is watching. You don’t have to live in the city of Minneapolis to care about the people who do live there, and you don’t have to live there to write an email to the council.
Goals of the East Phillips Neighborhood Initiative
Save, repurpose, and reuse the old Sears warehouse.
Create green, living-wage jobs for the community
Create second chance job opportunities and job training
Develop an organic, aquaponic, year-round food producing facility
Develop 30% AMI affordable family housing
Develop a world cafe/coffee shop run by neighborhood youth
Develop a community kitchen
Develop cultural markets
Develop a bicycle shop on the Midtown Greenway
Economic and environmental justice for East Phillips
Create an affordable new home for many burned out local businesess
Do all this while adding NO MORE POLLUTION!
Background and History of this Conflict:
Minneapolis City Council candidate Jason Chavez (DFLEC Endorsed) and DFLEC Chair Emeritus Veda Kanitz at a recent EPNI event.In the 1990s, the Minneapolis Department of Public Works made plans to purchase the Roof Depot site, the old Sears building and nearby areas, to use it as a city maintenance yard. This was done without consultation with local community members. It is important to note that it is a long tradition in Minneapolis to involve the local neighborhoods, represented by neighborhood associations, in any planning.
In 2014, an alternative project, the East Phillips Indoor Urban Farm project, was envisioned when neighbors realized that the old Roof Depot site was up for sale. In 2015, the city allowed the Public Works department to purchase the land with the understanding that the community would have access to a good chunk of it, but since then, the City has taken over almost all the space and pushed out the community.
Last June, EPNI sued Minneapolis to have an environmental impact assessment done for the City’s project, and because the city had not properly applied for permits from the Minnesota Pollution Control agency. However, MCEA lawyers studied the environmental Assessment done by the city and said “Minneapolis is failing to account for environmental justice or climate change.”
Over the last several months, EPNI has gained the support of several (but perhaps not all?) City Council Members as well as a potential buyer. The city has now completed the Environmental Assessment Worksheet, but it is inadequate, ignoring important environmental impacts.
Please contact the city council and let them know that you support the wishes and goals of the EPNI!
