By Mary Blitzer
Campaign teams advocate for legislative change on environmental issues.
Clean Air
With the deadline for comments on the Xcel Integrated Resource Plan behind us, it is now up to the Public Utility Commission to press the issue. Their decision is due this fall, and it is currently unclear whether the Clean Air team’s efforts will have any influence on their decision or how such efforts would be received. The issue continues to be the construction of a new natural gas-fired plant. The team’s stance is that the plant is unnecessary and its construction could slow progress towards 100 percent renewable energy.
On a positive note, Xcel announced that it will not be building a major natural-gas fired plant in Becker after all, which has been a major focus of the team’s lobbying efforts.
Land Use and Transportation
Summer is a season full of wildlife encounters, and the LUT team has experienced plenty, from friendly squirrels to majestic beavers. When not interacting with nature’s engineers, the team advocates for better engineering of human transportation infrastructure.
The state legislative session ended in June, and resulted in some victories for clean and safe transportation. New funding for bus rapid transit lines and electric city buses will help make traveling around the Twin Cities more sustainable, and greater investment in the Safe Routes to School program will provide safe ways for kids to walk, bike, and roll. Due in no small part to the passionate efforts of LUT volunteer, Barb Thoman, service for a second daily Amtrak train from St. Paul to Chicago will begin in 2024. The team continues to fight for environmental justice on the Rethinking I-94 and I-94/252 highway projects by opposing lane expansions and promoting other modes of transportation along these corridors.
Stop Line 3
The fight against Line 3 continues. Construction is ongoing and Indigenous-led water protectors continue to successfully stall and delay construction at various sites in many ways, including by locking down to equipment, sitting in trees, and climbing into the pipeline itself.
In July, movement leader and Honor the Earth Executive Director Winona LaDuke was arrested along with other water protectors defending the Shell River from drilling and was then held by Wadena and Aitkin Counties for three days. Police also arrested 20 people at Red Lake Treaty Camp and shut down highway 32, blocking the camp’s permitted presence on public and 1863 treaty land. To date, nearly 600 people have been arrested or cited resisting Line 3.
Now is the time for us to show up in support and solidarity with the frontlines of this fight. Water protectors from each resistance camp and our partners at Honor the Earth and MN350 are calling for people to join them to stop Line 3.
How you can help:
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Support the resistance camps by showing up and bringing friends: Start by filling out this form or go to stopline3.org/hub.
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Donate resources to support the frontlines here.
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Demand that the Biden administration revoke the Line 3 permits by calling the Army Corps at 202-750-2411, and signing and sharing the petition.
Stop PolyMet
We are proud to join our partners at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Duluth for Clean Water and Friends of the Boundary Waters in a new campaign: moveonfrompolymet.org. With the 2018 PolyMet Permit to Mine back at the DNR for the first time since Walz was elected, it’s time to move on and set a new course for Minnesota that protects and affirms our water and communities. Add your name today.