By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership Over the past week, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has released new data on Minnesota’s progress – and the challenge we face – on reducing pollution in our atmosphere. The first report, released last week, found that Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen, especially in the electricity generation… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership This week, Governor-elect Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor-elect Peggy Flanagan announced new additions to their team of state agency commissioners, including three with significant oversight over Minnesota’s environment: Sarah Strommen for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Laura Bishop for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and Thom Petersen… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership On Monday, January 7, the eight-year administration of Governor Mark Dayton will draw to a close with the inauguration of Governor-Elect Tim Walz. During the final full month of the Dayton administration, state agencies have issued three major decisions that will have wide-ranging consequences for Minnesota’s natural resources and… Read more »
photo credit: Dept. of Energy By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership As the COP24 climate summit wraps up in Poland, there’s no question that climate change is rightly under the global and national spotlight. Countries, states, and companies are working to shape the bold solutions we need to tackle this unprecedented challenge, and Minnesota has… Read more »
On Friday, December 7, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership held our annual meeting for member organizations, gathering together many of the groups around Minnesota that make up our coalition. We discussed the challenges we faced, but also the exciting efforts by hardworking people around the state to build a better future for ourselves and the generations… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership On Tuesday, November 27, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a major piece of legislation, the U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2017, which was passed by the Senate earlier this month. The bill, now awaiting a Presidential signature, contains legislation called the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA),… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership Earlier this week, grassroots rural organization CURE unveiled a new Rural Electric Cooperative Report Card that aims to bring better governance and transparency to Minnesota’s rural electric cooperatives. CURE (an MEP member organization based in Montevideo) evaluated all 44 of the state’s electric co-ops to determine whether they had made several basic categories… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership From September 21st to November 6th, more than two and a half million Minnesotans cast a ballot for the 2018 general election, setting a record for total votes cast and reaching a turnout rate among eligible voters not seen in our state since 2002. Minnesotans elected forty new House… Read more »
photo credit: USDA By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership On Wednesday, October 31, residents of Winona County won a key victory as a District Court Judge in Ramsey County ruled to allow an extended public comment period on the proposed massive expansion of the Daley Farms dairy feedlot. Judge Jennifer Frisch halted the attempt by… Read more »
By Matt Doll – Minnesota Environmental Partnership During this month, two important cases of civil disobedience have been brought before courts in Minnesota with a highly unusual twist. Defendants in Bagley and Duluth have been charged with disruptive action in opposition to oil pipelines, and they’ve been allowed by judges to employ a rarely-used tactic: Minnesota’s… Read more »