“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The symbolism in 1906 is now somewhat outdated, and here we offer a new interpretation that closely uses the original concepts.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.
This is a story about pollution in a place far far away from Minnesota. Chicago. But the story is familiar to any one following environmental issues in Minneapolis.
Tucked into the city’s Southwest Side, the once-industrial corridor is now a part of the region’s quickly growing warehouse and logistics network. What does that lead to? Air pollution. More diesel air pollution than anywhere else in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. What that doesn’t lead to: well-paying jobs. Nearly 45 percent of children and 30 percent of adults live in poverty. In addition, there’s the lethal combination of over-policing and incarceration, compounded by the area’s racial makeup — 67 percent Latino and 30 percent Black. It’s also home to the Cook County Jail, the largest jail in America.
But in this seemingly dismal setting, there has emerged a great success story. According to a recently published peer reviewed study,
Residential energy use represents roughly 17% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States… Legacy housing policies and financial lending practices have negatively impacted housing quality and home ownership in non-Caucasian and immigrant communities. Both factors are key determinants of household energy use… We estimate energy use and emissions of 60 million household to clarify how energy efficiency and carbon emissions vary by race, ethnicity, and home ownership. We find that per capita emissions are higher in Caucasian neighborhoods than in African-American neighborhoods, even though the former live in more energy-efficient homes (low energy use intensity). This emissions paradox is explained by differences in building age, rates of home ownership, and floor area in these communities. In African-American neighborhoods, homes are older, home ownership is lower (reducing the likelihood of energy retrofits), and there is less floor area per person compared to Caucasian neighborhoods. Statistical models suggest that historical housing policies, particularly “redlining”, partially explain these differences….
Mahoney brings the paradox to Chicago’s Southwest Side:
Chicago’s 60623 zip code illuminates this. The average resident in the zip code emits the least amount of greenhouse gases out of all the city’s 67 zip codes, according to the study. Households in the community are also extremely energy efficient. In comparison, the average resident in the city’s affluent, majority-white Near North Side emits 2.8 times more greenhouse gases than those in the Southwest Side community. Homes in 60623 are also 1.5 times more energy-efficient than those on the Near North Side.
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!
There is tension in the air as we await a verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin. There is also righteous anger over the wrongful death of Duante Wright, along with far too many Minnesotans, disproportionately people of color, at the hand of law enforcement officers.
We believe that every Minnesotan, regardless of background, zip code, or way of life, has the right to openly criticize how our private and public institutions work, and to speak out against oppressive activities of law enforcement officers and agencies. We support the right of Indigenous communities to stand in protest against the assault on their lands and cultural heritage. We support the rights of members of the press to observe and report on activities without fear of harassment, injury, or oppression by police. Recent police activities connected to protests in and near Brooklyn Center, Minnesota are greatly concerning.
We call on our leaders in government and law enforcement, including Governor Walz, Commissioner of Minnesota Department of Public Safety John Harrington, Col. Matt Langer, Chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson, to take action to stop dangerous, and oppressive activities being carried out by any or all police or National Guard forces that have been deployed. We stand with the people of the affected communities in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, and nearby communities.
We stand together as Democrats to ask for meaningful and swift reform of policing and public safety practices. We support the passage of comprehensive police reform bills now in the Minnesota State Legislature, including the Omnibus Public Safety Bill (HF 1078) and the bill to End the Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Deaths by Police (HF 717, SF 2021). We also support HF 593/SF 1489 to Outlaw White Supremacy in MN Law Enforcement.
Veda Kanitz, Chair, and members of the
DFL Environmental Caucus Executive Committee
