Central Minnesotans Tell Xcel, “We’re NO Fools!”

ST CLOUD, MN -- Earlier today, community members from across Central Minnesota held a press conference demanding that Xcel Energy commit to 100% clean, renewable energy, to express opposition to building a new fossil gas plant and gas pipeline in Becker, and to remind the utility that Minnesotans are not fossil fools.

“Through community and rooftop solar, through independent community wind farms, Xcel can ensure that homeowners and wind farms can benefit economically,” said Sue Hedtke, Monticello resident, Wright County Indivisible coordinator, grandma, and retired teacher. “Instead, Xcel is proposing a massive fossil gas plant that would emit over three million metric tons of carbon a year!  I am blessed to be a mother of 4 adult children and grandmother of 9 beautiful grandchildren, and I fear for the earth and my grandchildren and others if something is not done now.”

“For the sake of our children and future generations, we must move to clean energy,” said Dr. Khaldoun Ahmad, St. Cloud Technical & Community College Environmental Science Professor. “The evidence is clear that climate change is worsening because of greenhouse gasses, including methane that comes from burning fracked gas. Protect your kids, my kids, and our future generations, and focus on clean and renewable energy.”

“Ever since I was young, I had an extreme passion for the outdoors,” said Clay Mewes, St. Cloud State University, junior Environmental Studies major, SCSU Environmental and Technological Studies Club president. “I’ve backpacked through Mexico, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and hiked hundreds of miles in the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota. I’ve truly fallen in love with nature, maintaining it, and protecting it, from litter on the trails to pollution coming out of factories and power plants. In Minnesota, saving the earth starts with our power grid. One day, I want to show my child all the beauties of the natural world, like I had the opportunity to see. But decisions like this ‘natural’ gas plant dictate what we’ll be able to show them: Dark and polluted, or vibrant and bright. Minnesota, it’s our time to choose.”

"Focusing on renewable energy means that our money will stay in Minnesota, instead of purchasing coal and gas from other states, or even other countries," said David Winkelman of Winkelman Solar Developers. "Our small company has brought in over ten million dollars of revenue from solar in the last five years, just around central Minnesota. Statewide, we are in the hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per year from solar. There are jobs right now for hundreds of people in solar in Minnesota, waiting to be filled."

“The message could not be clearer,” said Jessica Trisch, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative with the Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign. “Organizations and individuals across Minnesota are demanding that Xcel Energy commit to 100% clean, renewable energy, and make that transition as quickly as possible. Building a new fossil gas plant and pipeline jeopardizes the health and safety of all Minnesotans, of our natural environment, and of the climate itself.”