Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership On June 30, Great River Energy announced that it planned to sell its Coal Creek Station power plant to Rainbow Energy, a North Dakota company. This plan contradicts Great River’s pledge, made a little over a year ago, to shut the coal plant down due to its high cost to… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Last Wednesday, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop was pushed out of office after Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka informed her that the Senate would vote against confirming her, effectively removing her from her position. The Republican-controlled Senate had announced a few days earlier that they would be holding… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership The Minnesota Legislature passed a number of investments in the state’s natural environment this year. Apart from passing the overdue Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund appropriations, the Legislature provided $4 million for incentivizing farmers to implement cover crops, $1.35 million for other soil healthy farming practices, and $4 million for… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership As the Minnesota Legislature began its first special session 2021 last week, the DFL-controlled house and GOP-controlled Senate faced a deadline of June 30tht to reach deals on state budgets and policy – otherwise, a government shutdown was on the horizon. As of this writing, a shutdown seems unlikely, with… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Last weekend, northern Minnesota was the site where the Treaty People Gathering, an activist mobilization against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, began. More than two thousand people from around the country assembled in the forests near Park Rapids to protest the pipeline, share knowledge and solidarity, and in some cases… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Last week, the Minnesota Department of Health released new guidance on fish consumption in Minnesota that indicate an emerging harm present in our ecosystem. It’s a sign that longstanding threats like mercury – while still dangerous – aren’t the only toxins accumulating in Minnesota food chains. The newer villain PFOS has made… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership This week, major legal and political changes rocked the global oil industry and indicated that ambitious climate action is gaining momentum. But while we’re thinking globally, let’s act locally. A court in the Netherlands ruled that energy giant Shell must reduce its carbon dioxide emissions in the country by 45%… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership The 2021 Minnesota Legislative Session ended on Monday, May 17 with little fanfare. While the House, Senate, and Governor agreed on overall budget targets, they did not pass a budget bill, and numerous provisions are still on the table. The Legislature will reconvene by June 14 for a special session,… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership This week, the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline due to a cyberattack led to surges in fuel prices across the eastern U.S. before it was brought back online on May 13. The attack on the largest oil pipeline in the country was the largest of its kind in history. Meanwhile,… Read more »
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership On Tuesday, May 4, through the Chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee, the Minnesota Senate issued an ultimatum on the state’s environmental budget, seeking to end the Clean Cars rulemaking currently underway by the Walz Administration. In an exchange in the Legislature’s Environment Omnibus Bill Conference Committee, Senator… Read more »