Sierra Club volunteer Jeff Reigle offered common sense to legislators in some amazing testimony you can watch here. Our SierraAction volunteers are being trained to do this too -- you can too, join our SierraAction team.
Peter Wagenius, Sierra Club Legislative & Political Director
The 2020 legislative session is underway! Always unique in many ways, today Minnesota is the only state in America with a divided legislature where Democrats control one house and the Republicans control the other house. While sometimes a recipe for gridlock, it’s still an opportunity to advance Sierra Club’s vision of a sustainable and equitable future.
Let’s set the stage. 2020 is the second year of the biennial session. That means all the bills introduced in 2019 are still alive in 2020. Like a really long movie or play with an intermission that lasts for seven months, it’s helpful to look back and remember what happened in the first half.
Year One
2019 was a “budget year” and passing a budget was the focus of most of the media coverage. But in 2019 the House of Representatives also passed serious legislation to address climate change. This included a bill for 100% Clean Energy by 2050 and an Omnibus Transportation Bill with real funding for expanding transit. Unfortunately, Republicans opposed both those bills. House Republicans even voted overwhelmingly against a simple bill to acknowledge that climate change is real and caused by human activity. Senate Republicans took a similar, but not identical, vote.
For those of us who recognize the science that climate change is real, that’s more than frustrating. But we keep pushing.
Year Two
2020 offers us different opportunities to make our case. 2020 is not a “budget year” but there is a over a billion surplus of one-time cash. The legislature expects to decide what to do with that revenue. 2020 is also a “bonding year” when the state will approve funding for building projects around the state.
The biggest bills we are following are around addressing the Climate Crisis.
On the positive side these include:
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a series of Can-Do Climate Actions,
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dedicated long-term funding for Transit, Walking & Biking Funding,
- the House version of Clean Energy First.
And on the negative side:
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stopping rollbacks to standards to Clean Car Standards,
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the Felony Free Speech Bill,
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the deliberately misleading Senate version of “Clean” Energy First.
You can find a full list of our legislative priorities here and more details on how these bills are faring at the legislature below.
How You Can Impact Legislation
The 2020 Legislative Session will decide how we spend hundreds of millions of dollars, our clean energy future, and much more. We are building a team of volunteers ready to respond.
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Join SierraAction: This volunteer team is a critical link that brings our grassroots power into the State Capitol. It is supported with the latest information from our lobbyist and organizers and is backed by the power of the Sierra Club’s 80,000 Minnesotan supporters. SierraAction volunteer roles include: calling and emailing members, attending hearings at the capitol, hosting events with your representative and more.
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Attend a SierraAction Phone Bank. Join us Wednesdays from 6:00 - 8:30 pm to reach out to current and potential Sierra Club volunteers in order to motivate them to contact their representatives or join us at an upcoming event. Pizza, snacks, and a good time. Find all the dates and RSVP on our calendar: sc.org/mn
Minnesota Can-Do Climate Actions
The Minnesota Climate Action Caucus, chaired by Rep. Patty Acomb, unveiled a serious proposal of one-time appropriations to address the climate crisis. The new investments of over $191 million would reduce greenhouse gases and benefit public schools, homeowners, local governments, and nursing homes. Sierra Club immediately endorsed this proposal. A fact sheet with more information is available here.
You can also watch a 13 minutes video announcing it here. We are encouraging people to tell their legislator why these Can-Do Climate Actions are important to them.
“Clean Energy First?” or “All of the Above including Coal”
Last year when the House passed 100% Clean Energy by 2050, they also passed a real “Clean Energy First” policy to go with it. But the Senate wouldn't agree to either bill. This year, the Senators who previously voted to deny the science of climate change are feeling the heat from their constituents.
Unfortunately the opponents of real action aren’t looking at the science and changing their minds. They’re just changing tactics from climate denial to false solutions. That’s not surprising. Big Coal and Big Oil still have a lot of power.
So the Senate is promoting an “All of the Above including Coal” bill and calling it “Clean Energy First.” Read our response in the StarTribune here.
The Sierra Club is working to stop the fake Senate version which is really only about "Clean Energy First" in name alone. We hope you will join us at upcoming hearings and in telling your legislators that we need real solutions, like the House version.
The House version of Clean Energy First would prioritize and incentivize clean energy -- wind, solar, energy storage, energy efficiency and demand management; make it more difficult for the Public Utilities Commission to approve new fracked gas plants; and support local, Minnesota clean energy jobs and communities transitioning away from coal.
Walz, Reigle & Clean Cars
Last Year Governor Walz announced his Clean Cars plan, which would promote electric vehicles in Minnesota. Senate Republicans have been attacking the Governor’s initiative, proposing to strip his administration of the ability to implement Clean Cars.
Among other benefits, local car-buyers would finally be able to choose among all the electric vehicle options, many of which are not currently available in Minnesota. One Senator actually suggested that local electric car buyers should just fly to California (?!) and then buy and drive home the vehicle of their choice. Call me crazy, but I think most car owners like having the option to get their car serviced at the dealership where they bought it. For context, if you had to tow your car from Duluth to Los Angeles, that’s 1,986 miles.
Our Sierra Club volunteer Jeff Reigle offered more common sense in some amazing testimony you can watch here. Our SierraAction volunteers are being supported in bringing their voice and power to the legislators too. And we invite you to join the SierraAction Team too.
We plan to provide regular updates on our efforts at the State Capitol so stay tuned and tell us what you want to hear more about!