The DFL Environmental Caucus’s second legislative forum covered the Prove It First bill, which will assure Minnesota is not harmed by the proposed sulfide mining projects in our water-rich environment. We were joined by Friends of the Boundary Waters and State Sen. Jen McEwen, author of the bill in the Minnesota Senate, for an hour-long forum to discuss the bill and what you can do to help it pass the legislature this session.
We held a forum on the state of energy and climate change related legislation in the Minnesota State House, with the amazing Representative Patty Acomb and the amazing Representative Larry Kraft. Over 80 people attended.
You can download the power point presentation used in this forum here.
The current draft, subject to update, of our legislative ask is here.
A recording of the forum is here:
Dear DFL Environmental Caucus member,
Our Legislative team is organizing events to help inform you about key bills being considered in the House and Senate. We will send you calls to action to show support or opposition to your representatives and other key reps. Please fill out this google survey to let us know of your interests and availability to help.
The time is NOW to move MN forward on climate and other key environmental issues. Make sure your voice is heard!
#1: Participate in the 100% Campaign Lobby Day
Please join the 100% campaign to Lobby for our Future on Jan. 25th!
FIRST: join the 100% Policy Development Training: We are organizing a Policy Development Training. The purpose of this training is to introduce people to the process of bill development. If you want to know how to go from ‘murky problem’ to ‘bill being signed into law’, this is the training for you. We’ll get oriented to the process, apply it to the 2023 legislative session, and workshop a few ideas for equitable climate solutions.
WHAT: Policy Development Training
WHEN: Friday, January 13th from 11:30am-1pm
ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEude6hrj4sG9Uz0zihcaKnsX3tkUkFz1iJ
THEN: Lobby for the Future: A Climate Day at the Capitol: We are planning a Lobby Day for 1/25. You can register here if you want to attend. You should reach out to our Lead Organizer, Ollin Montes, if you want to to get more involved. He’s at ollin@100percentmn.org.
When: Wednesday, January 25, 2023 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM CT
Where: Christ on Capitol Hill, 105 University Ave W, Saint Paul, MN 55103
RSVP: https://secure.everyaction.com/AW_9TQY-CUSp6PnD_SxjJQ2
From the 100% campaign: “Join us and 300 grassroot leaders across MN on the 25th in leveraging this historic opportunity at the capitol to win a bold, and equitable clean energy transition in MN. Participants will receive a brief and intentional training on how to lobby their legislators in support of the 100% Bill HF 7 in the House and it’s companion bill in the Senate SF4 . They’ll then be organized into teams with fellow constituents to lead their lobby meetings with legislators. See ya at the capitol!”
#2: Attend the First DFL Environmental Caucus Legislative Forum
Sunday, Jan 22 at 7 pm the DFL Environmental Caucus will host a legislative forum to highlight some key Climate/Environmental Justice bills and actions you can take to support them. More details to be shared soon! Watch for future forums too around other key issues and let us know what you want to learn more about.
Save the date: January 22 2023, 7:00 PM
Where: Zoom
#3: Legislative Action Webpage
Check out our legislative action webpage (see menu above) for up to date information on the legislative session.
Thank you in advance for helping to make the 2023 legislative session one where our environment is front and center!
In unity,
Megan, Greg, Veda, and the entire DFLEC Executive Committee
From the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:
[The MPCA] today announced the purchase of new, state-of-the art technology to remove and destroy bulk concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water in the environment. This fall, the state will deploy the technology in the East Metro as part of the ongoing work to address PFAS contamination affecting the drinking water for roughly 174,000 residents. The system is paid for with funds from the 3M settlement.
The process works in two parts. The first technology, surface activated foam fractionation (SAFF), injects outdoor air into contaminated water, turning PFAS into foam that can be separated from the water. The foam is then removed, PFAS levels are significantly reduced, and the water is returned to the environment — both cleaner and safer. The PFAS concentrate then goes to the DEFLUORO unit, a second technology where the carbon-fluorine bonds (the backbone of PFAS chemicals) are broken through electrochemical oxidation. Both technologies are mobile and work without adding any chemicals back into the surface or groundwater.
“This pilot project marks the beginning of a new era for PFAS clean-up in Minnesota,” said MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler. “This study will help us address PFAS contamination at the source and develop long-term solutions for cleaner water — ensuring safe drinking water for Minnesotans. We hope to eventually employ this technology around the state including in Greater Minnesota, where PFAS is a growing concern.”
With fewer than 20 systems in existence, the SAFF technology is in high demand across the globe for its innovative ability to separate PFAS from water safely and quickly. Minnesota is the first state government in the country to purchase and implement it. The SAFF unit will deploy at Tablyn Park in Lake Elmo for the first round of testing on groundwater and surface water. It will likely move to other testing locations over the next one to two years. The DEFLUORO unit will be staged at the former Washington County landfill location.
Australian-based OPEC Systems, Ltd. designed the SAFF technology. U.S.-based AECOM designed the DEFLUORO unit. The SAFF unit is in route to Minnesota from Australia and is scheduled to arrive next month.
State agencies are working with city and county representatives to ensure safe handling practices under applicable regulations. None of the water used in this temporary test is connected to the city’s drinking water, which remains safe and well within Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) drinking water guidelines for PFAS impacts.
“Lake Elmo has been ground zero for PFAS contamination for years,” said Lake Elmo City Council member Jeff Holtz. “The City of Lake Elmo is excited to partner with the MPCA on the pilot study. Tablyn Park offers a unique opportunity to test this PFAS destroying technology on both groundwater and surface water sources. We look forward to learning more about how it may improve our valuable natural resources.”
New information obtained during the pilot testing will help determine how and where to treat water in the East Metro. The MPCA, MDH and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have worked diligently to ensure safe drinking water for all East Metro communities, and this project is just one component of the greater strategy to effectively utilize funds from the 3M settlement to clean up PFAS.
This is a press release from the legislative office of Representative Rick Hansen Rick Hansen (52A)
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – With the 2022 Minnesota firearms deer hunting season approaching, concerns around the increasing spread of Chronic Wasting Disease among the state’s Cervidae population are mounting. DFL members of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy committee are calling for immediate action on several measures to combat the disease.
“The Legislature must take immediate action to prevent the spread of CWD which is devastating our deer population. The health of our natural environment hinges on our ability to manage this crisis,” said Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – South Saint Paul), Chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy committee. “Continued inaction will result in irrevocable harm to the white-tailed deer population, and the implication of the potential spread of CWD prions to human populations is cause for great concern.”
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects cervids, including white-tailed deer. The lawmakers are proposing strong measures to combat CWD including an immediate moratorium on deer farms, and a requirement for closure and exclusion plans for deer farms. Deer farms have consistently proven to be hotbeds for CWD and are central to the state’s efforts to combat the disease. They are also promoting expanded funding for hunter-harvested carcass disposal, implementation of hunter service centers instead of surgical kits, and to continue prion research funding.
“In a matter of days, my family and I will join a half-million other Minnesotans when we take part in the deer opener. CWD continues to threaten this cherished tradition and serious action from the Legislature is long overdue,” said Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls). “We have solutions before us that tackle CWD from several different directions, and I hope my Republican colleagues can join us to protect our state’s deer population.”
During the 2021 legislative session, the Minnesota House’s Environment and Natural Resources Finance bill included a series of provisions authored by Rep. Ecklund including additional requirements for deer farms, a live-testing requirement for farmed deer, a prohibition on the importation of farmed deer from other states with CWD, and a ban on new registrations for the possession of farmed white-tailed deer. The bill also would have transferred oversight of farmed deer from the Board of Animal Health to the Department of Natural Resources. The Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider the measures.
The representatives are also proposing expanded deer monitoring for PFAS, and neonicotinoids in deer to track and understand additional factors which impact the health of the deer population.
“Minnesota has a strong tradition of hunting and if we are to continue to pass this tradition on to future generations we must take action to prevent and eliminate CWD,” said Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL – Roseville), lead author of legislation to limit deer farming operations. “As a hunter, the continued inaction from our Republican colleagues has been incredibly frustrating. I urge them to join us in our efforts to fight CWD so we can protect Minnesota’s hunting heritage.”
To learn more about CWD and what actions they can take to prevent its spread, hunters can visit the Minnesota DNR’s CWD web page.
The years long battle to protect wild rice or “Mahnomen” in the state of Minnesota secured a significant boost this week from the federal government. The Environmental Protection agency (EPA) announced that erroneous laws which attempted to restrict the MPCA from including effluent limits on sulfate levels hindered the MPCA from properly issuing permits under the Clean Water Act. NPDES permits from the MPCA must now consider these impacts on waters that contain wild rice stands. This is an important victory in the herculean effort to protect Minnesota’s wild rice and water quality.
This issue has arisen out of the controversies surrounding the Minnesota mining industry which has been skirting regulations that are in place and attempting to undermine bedrock environmental protections that have been a cornerstone of Minnesota’s permitting process since the early 70s.
What’s the deal with wild rice?
Wild rice is an important staple for indigenous nations and their culture throughout the state. Indigenous groups have been harvesting this crop for thousands of years as the semi aquatic grain grows in abundance along the shallow banks of lakes and rivers. Known as the food that grows on water, wild rice provides food and industry for tribal and nontribal Minnesotan’s willing to put in the work to harvest or farm its verdant resource. Actually, a grass and not a species of rice, wild rice grows in the United States and Canada with a historic stronghold in Minnesota. Its seeds are used in a variety of Minnesota delicacies like wild rice soups, pancakes, salads, and other foods that people in Minnesota and beyond can enjoy. Minnesotans love wild rice so much that it was made the official state grain in 1977. But this intrinsic resource has been under a relentless siege.
Though popular and abundant, wild rice has faced a number of challenges in the past few years. The impacts of climate change, invasive species, and heavy metals pollution from industrial mining projects over the past century have left wild rice beds shadows of their historic record. Stands of wild rice are particularly vulnerable to excessive levels of sulfate compounds leaching into the sediments where its seeds germinate and grow. Minnesota’s Sulfate Standard which was adopted in 1973 to regulate sulfate discharges from industrial projects limits sulfate to 10 MG/L. That standard has been under fire for over a decade by mining lobbyists and even the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Several legislative attempts to rollback, limit, and outright eliminate water quality standards regarding sulfates have been attempted since 2010. The main goal of these aggressive actions by industries responsible for the discharge of excess sulfates into surrounding aquifers was to recklessly kick open the door for foreign copper nickel sulfide mining conglomerates with globally recognized environmental and labor rights abuses. Essentially, agencies like the DNR and MPCA were complicit in and actively promoted a broken regulatory process. These agencies were also covering up the abuses of the taconite industry which had been operating virtually without Minnesota DNR and MPCA oversight and with indignant impunity towards the very ecosystems and downstream communities they had been harming for decades.
It may have taken seven years of litigation and activism but the EPA has essentially told the MPCA to do its respective duty and to follow the law. With this most recent ruling by the EPA, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency must return to the regulatory table to properly be the stewards of wild rice in Minnesota. The victory in this case cannot be understated. Protecting one of Minnesota’s iconic treasures and natural wonders for so many is critical for a sustainable future. The MPCA must enforce the Minnesota Sulfate Standard to preserve wild rice for future generations to enjoy.
Please contact your state Representative and Senator to encourage them to support these three bills now working their way past the committee process:
Click here to find out who represents you in the Minnesota Legislature!
Right now, Minnesota has a golden opportunity to lead an agricultural revolution that will serve both people and planet. Just as all our waters flow outward across North America, our adoption of new, environmentally beneficial crops and farming techniques can flow outward into the rest of the world. We can all enjoy the benefits of healthy food, clean water, wildlife habitat, and climate-friendly land use that strengthens our resilience as long as we act now.
At the University of Minnesota, scientists at the Forever Green Initiative are developing a new generation of crops that deliver these environmental benefits and profits for farmers; crops that can be used for food, clean fuel, and sustainable bioplastics. At the same time, farmers, companies, and institutions are working to pave the way for markets and supply chains for these crops. With support from the state at this critical time, they can move forward to bring these crops into the mainstream and turn the tide for Minnesota farmland.
Will you take a moment to ask your Legislators to invest in these efforts?
At a moment when Minnesota’s budget is in great shape, two bipartisan bills at the Legislature would invest in these efforts to support next generation crops:
Thanks to DFLEC and MAP‘s Matt Doll for putting this together!
This is an urgent request for action that requires your immediate attention, before Tuesday March 29th. See the link below to take action.
Everyone in Minnesota deserves a stable climate, clean air, and safe water. Unfortunately, the misnamed “Clean Fuel Standard” (also called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard) is positioned to jeopardize all of these rights.
The Minnesota Clean Fuels Standard Legislation (HF2083 & SF2027) is framed as a climate solution, but it’s actually a corporate handout. Currently, the MN Clean Fuel Standard Legislation is supported by corporate agricultural and oil interests because it channels money into furthering pipeline infrastructure and unsustainable fuel sources such as ethanol. Clean Fuel Standards work well in other states because they have a goal of 100% carbon intensity reduction by 2050 and the revenue from the standards go towards electrification. Right now, HF2083 will get us to 20% emission reduction by 2035, with no other goals and no promise of where the revenue will go. Because of this, the standard will subsidize ethanol without getting us to electrification. This is worse than an ineffective policy – it’s a damaging policy. A bill that doesn’t get us to 100% carbon intensity reduction by 2050 will set Minnesota back.
The other important issue around subsidized ethanol is that its production creates CO2, a pipeline fuel not only energy intensive to transport, but also hazardous. Ethanol plant producers plan to distribute liquid CO2 to different states via a government-subsidized, yet privately-owned pipeline. Not only is a pipeline a waste of resources to build while only putting a small drop in the bucket in our emissions reductions – already out-of-state investors are outbidding local farmers in southern Minnesota for agricultural land and destabilizing local economies. In the future, a CO2 pipeline could actually be used for enhanced oil recovery (a process similar to fracking), making yet another negative impact on climate, water, and air.
We need to tell the legislators at the Minnesota House of Representatives on the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy to vote down any bill that doesn’t commit us to 100% carbon neutral fuels by 2050. The legislation on HF2083 will be heard on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, so contact legislators today!
Click here and do this thing, thanks!.
Our state has made progress in reducing emissions and promoting clean transportation options by adopting Clean Cars Minnesota to provide greater options for consumers to find and purchase low- and zero-emission vehicles. We’ve also invested in mass transit to reduce emissions in the Twin Cities. Passing a Clean Fuels Standard that doesn’t get us to zero emission fuel by 2050 will not benefit Minnesotans – it will only benefit large corporations and out-of-state investors while sending us backwards on our climate goals.
Madi Johnson,
MN350, in cooperation with the DFL Environmental Caucus
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.
The Strib has an opinion piece by Nancy Simmit, of Solar United Neighbors.
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.