Once again, the team spent most of their past meeting discussing legislative priorities. A particular concern was the failure of several environmental agencies to promote the agencies’ mission (which is a nice way of saying that they aren’t doing their jobs) There were two views: Perhaps a bill could put pressure on said agencies. On the other hand, why pass a law telling agencies that they have to adhere to already-established laws? Discussions continue.
The team has tentatively decided on the following priorities:
- “Clean heat,” mirroring the 100% Clean Energy law and applying a decarbonization model to fossil gas..
- A bill reducing or ideally eliminating carbon pipelines in the state.
- Funding for the East Phillips Neighborhood urban farm.
- A bill to simplify the solar approval process in cities across the state.
The last would help solve a serious problem: There is no uniform standard for solar panels in many cities. When a resident requests approval of a pending project, many cities have to start the review process from scratch, developing new standards. The proposal would set statewide standards for such processes, considerably reducing the timeline and saving cities the time and expense of developing their own. This will speed things up and save everyone money—not bad!