DFLEC Legislative Forum!
It was a great forum. We have some things for you to do.
Happy Earth Day! With many thanks to Friends of the Boundary Waters and MN350 for including us in the Earth Day Rally at the Capitol!
Some of us were around In the 60s when we were dumping barrels of nuclear waste in the oceans and untreated sewage in our rivers, burning leaded gasoline in our cars, spraying DDT to kill mosquitoes, heating our homes with dirty fuel oil, and using ozone depleting CFC’s in aerosols, cleaners and coolants.
And then, in 1970, there was an awakening. WI Representative Gaylord Nelson recruited activist Denis Hayes to help him start the first Earth Day as a campus teach-in and scaled it up with over 20 million Americans taking to the streets.
This led to the establishment of the EPA and landmark legislation to protect our air, water, and endangered species. We did that. We fought for those changes and we sure as hell aren’t going back!
CALL TO ACTION
Monday’s Legislative forum included several calls to action that we need every one of you to take to protect the progress we’ve made on climate and environmental protections. The omnibus bills are moving their way through key committees such as Taxes, Finance, and Ways and Means, and will start to arrive on the House Floor for votes as early as this week.
The House Energy Omnibus Bill
Rep. Patty Acomb, DFL Chair of the House Energy Committee shared her frustration in not being able to come to an agreement on finances with her GOP Co chair, Rep. Chris Swedzinski. It is her hope that they will create a clean finance bill that does not contain any policy language.
Call your Representative and tell them you want HF2442 to be a clean energy omnibus bill with NO policy included.
The House Environment Omnibus Bill
HF 2439 passed out of the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday without any amendments or policy added. It is now headed to the House floor for a vote. It contains $2.28 billion in funding with $10 million in cuts to BWSR, DNR, MPCA
We oppose these Republican policy bills that they may try to add as amendments on the House floor. Call your rep and tell them you want HF 2439 to be a clean finance bill without any of these harmful policies and that would take us backwards.
SF577 Modifies the Wetland Conservation Act regarding permitting
HF1882 / SF2086 Allows site-specific modifications to sulfate water quality standards
HF 3050 weakens the standards for reactive mine waste
Oppose efforts to gut Amara’s Law.
Support E-Waste Legislation For Minnesota
SF 1690 had strong bipartisan support until Google, Apple and Best Buy voiced opposition. It will likely be heard in the Senate Commerce Committee next. It made it into the Senate Omnibus Bill but is down to 1 Republican sponsor and has not had a hearing in the house. Please let your senator and representative know that you support this legislation.
SF 1690 requires the manufacturer to cover the costs of collecting their products. This will greatly reduce the problem of homeowners who stash away old electronics or illegally put them in the trash to avoid the cost of proper disposal. Urge your representatives to support SF1690 to keep toxic heavy metals out of our landfills and incinerators, and to help us reach our clean energy goals, with benefits to our economy and health, and our environment.
The House Transportation Omnibus Bill
HF2438 (Koznick) Omnibus Transportation Budget Bill
Call your Minnesota House Representative and ask them to vote NO on HF2438.
Heard Wednesday, 12:30 in the Ways and Means Committee
Location: Capitol 120, Chair: Rep. Paul Torkelson, Alternate Chair: Zack Stephenson
If it gets approved in this committee it will go to the house floor for a vote. That could happen as early as next week. CALL YOUR REP. TODAY. Tell them to vote NO on HF2438.
Includes a Delay of “Climate Impact of Highways”
In 2023, the legislature passed a law that requires the Department of Transportation to adhere to both greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction targets. This important “Climate Impact of Highways” Law went into effect this past February. But now the House Transportation bill HF2438 reportedly includes a three and a half year delay (Feb 1, 2025 to Aug 1, 2028) in implementation.
Key points:
Climate change is real: We don’t have time for delay. The proposed 3/12 year delay in implementing GHG/VMT reduction targets would ignore for three and a half more years the climate crisis. We do not have time for this delay.
All transportation projects require workers. It takes workers to build roads. It also takes workers to build transit, bike and pedestrian projects.
Endlessly adding more car lanes is not just environmentally unsustainable. It is also financially unsustainable. Minnesota has the 4th biggest road system in America. We don’t have the money to maintain what we have already built.
Leader Hortman obtained an agreement from Speaker Demuth to do budget bills, not policy. Why is this huge policy change in the bill? It has no budget impact.
Cuts funding for transit, walking and biking
Now is not the time to make it harder for people to get around without being required to drive. Many people cannot drive to meet their needs. The cost of living is going up, especially the cost of driving which averages above $12,000 a year. Cutbacks in federal support for alternatives will make this worse.
Raises registration fee for electric vehicles from $75 to $200.
Information provided by Peter Wagenius, Sierra Club Northstar Chapter Legislative and Political Director and a member of our April 21 panel.
Many thanks to our presenters!
April 21, our 7th Legislative Update
Representative Patty Acomb
45B, DFL Chair of the House Energy Finance and Policy Committee
Sarah Mooradian
Government Relations and Policy Director for CURE MN
Peter Wagenius
Legislative and Political Director for the Sierra Club Northstar Chapter
Avonna Starck
State Director for Clean Water Action
Maria Jensen
Recycling Electronics for Climate Action
Matt Doll
Operations and Engagement Director for Minnesota Environmental Partnership, Vice Chair of the DFL Environmental Caucus
And thank you all for your work to act on climate and protect our environment for the next 7 generations!
In unity,
Veda and Greg
