By Marya Hart
Campaign teams advocate for legislative change on environmental issues.
Stop Line Three
The team has worked tirelessly to stop the construction of Line 3 and is devastated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Authority’s (MPCA) approval of Enbridge’s 401 Water Quality Certification. We are effectively at the end of the regulatory line in the state of Minnesota; neither Governor Walz nor MPCA chief Laura Bishop has been swayed by protests, testimony, nor by thousands of comments and phone calls urging that Line 3 be stopped.
Last week, MPCA granted Enbridge a water permit. In response, all but five members of the MPCA Environmental Justice Advisory Board quit in protest. The Army Corps of Engineers will surely rubber-stamp the project. The final approval needed before pipeline construction could begin is a construction permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
Court challenges continue from White Earth, Red Lake, and Mille Lacs Native nations, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Sierra Club, Youth Climate Intervenors, Honor the Earth, Friends of the Headwaters, and others. There is a real possibility that construction on the line could start within a week.
The Sierra Club will step in with legal challenges if there are environmental violations during construction. We also note that Enbridge is contributing money to militarize police departments and sheriffs' offices along the line’s route, in anticipation of protests and civil disobedience. We stand in solidarity with the Native communities who are fighting for their survival, and against a corporate-police state that ravages water, wetlands and human lives.
Clean Energy
The Clean Energy Team continues to seek comments on Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and its proposed approach to community solar gardens. These gardens represent a way for all of us to use more solar energy, but Xcel doesn’t like them, as it decreases their provision of power from traditional (fossil fuel) sources. Xcel is already delaying the existing gardens’ operations.
Land Use and Transportation
The LUT team is celebrating a big win this month. After many long months of numerous special sessions, the state legislature passed a bonding bill in October that will fund the B and D Bus Rapid Transit lines. The team spent a lot of energy on phone-banking and volunteering during this election cycle and were elated to see how many climate champions in Minnesota and beyond were elected as a result of its hard work. To close out 2020, LUT is pushing for Minnesota to be the first state in the Midwest to adopt California’s clean car standards and is engaging further with communities and elected officials to bring about an ambitious vision for rethinking I-94.
Zero Waste Task Force
In addition to national efforts, the Zero Waste Task Force will be starting a campaign to encourage local McDonald’s franchises to stop using per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their packaging—it will include direct action, a petition, and a letter writing campaign,
The team continues to work on legislative priorities, including a ban on styrofoam (around 100 city restaurants and businesses have already taken the steps of changing to sustainable takeout containers), Right to Repair, banning hazardous chemicals in cosmetics, and banning single-use plastics and bags.
They will also be collaborating with the Girls Scouts USA to create a fun patch the scouts can earn while they learn about specific interventions to decrease waste in their daily lives.