By Mary Blitzer
Campaign teams advocate for legislative change on environmental issues.
Clean Air
The Clean Air team is submitting an alternative modern plan to Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan in hopes that the utilities-board members will see things from a different perspective based on the differences in the chapter’s plan and the “official” plan from Xcel. Additionally, access to solar energy through community solar gardens is mostly limited to Xcel customers with good credit, and the team is working to expand access.
We are also lobbying the Minnesota City Council on the disproportionate effect of environmental policy on lower-income people and racial minorities, such as the trash-burning facility (HERC) in North Minneapolis.
Land Use and Transportation
The June heat wave has LUT-ers motivated to fight for clean transportation and lower emissions. During the legislature’s special session, Sierra Club is advocating for bus rapid transit funding and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The Met Council is developing a Climate Action Plan focusing on 3-5 year strategies to build climate resilience, with potential engagement opportunities coming soon.
The draft Purpose and Need comment period for the I-94/252 highway project ends June 19th.
How you can help:
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Leave a comment to let MNDOT know that we must prioritize air quality and transit access, not moving cars and trucks.
Stop Line 3
In June, the Stop Line 3 Team organized Sierra Solidarity, a support effort to gather volunteers for the Treaty People Gathering June 5th through 8th. In the largest direct action against Line 3 to date, more than 2,000 people from all over the country stood together in northern Minnesota. Construction activity was halted for at least 30 hours while people blocked roads, locked themselves to machinery at a pump station, and camped overnight at a place where Enbridge plans to cross the Mississippi, all in sweltering heat. The police and state patrol were out in riot gear, and about 200 were arrested on Monday. Indigenous and non-Indigenous water protectors held space on the banks of the Mississippi headwaters in the pathway of construction for 8 days. See coverage here and here.
On Monday, in a divided decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled against the Sierra Club, three Native nations, the Minnesota Dept of Commerce, and other advocacy groups by siding with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to uphold the permit they granted Enbridge. Read the chapter’s press statement here.
The Stop Line 3 team will continue to focus on the Biden administration, calling on the president to revoke Line 3's permits. Federal permits for Line 3 were hastily granted in the final days of the Trump administration. Leave the White House a message here.
How you can help:
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Follow the social media feeds of those leading the work. Start with the Welcome Water Protector Center, who are asking people to join them on the banks of the Mississippi
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Share #StopLine3 posts on your social media and don’t forget to tag Biden and Walz
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Sign up for email updates here
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Join the every-other-week call led by MN350 with Sierra Club support
Stop PolyMet
From produce farmers in Southern Minnesota to wild rice harvesters on the Iron Range, we value our state’s abundance of fresh water. The proposed sulfide mine, Polymet, is not consistent with our values and threatens the health of all downstream communities.
Governor Walz was not governor when PolyMet was given permits in 2018, but the main permit has been reversed. It's past time for Governor Walz to acknowledge that PolyMet is a failed proposal, and that the permits issued do not protect the public.
How you can help:
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Sign this petition to tell Governor Walz it’s time to move on from PolyMet and set a better course for Minnesota