Testify!
We need people to testify in person (or possibly virtually) to House committees on Tuesday and/or Thursday.
Please help us kill two bills
This is an urgent message to ask you to attend a short zoom meeting Sunday, at 3 pm. We are looking for people to testify in person (or virtually, but we are not sure if we can do that) to the House Energy Committee Meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 1 pm regarding HF9 and on Thursday at 1 pm in the House Environment Committee regarding HF8. We oppose both bills. The meeting Sunday PM is prep for this.
Register for the zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8irdO-5qQ4mXeWnFFYev3w
Please come to this meeting to learn more about these bills, our strategies, and how you can help.
Testify on Tuesday, Feb. 11
Tuesday, Feb 11th at 1:00 pm House Energy, Finance and Policy Committee, Location: Capitol 123. Chair: Rep. Chris Swedzinski, in opposition to HF 9.
This bill would add or encourage the use of large hydroelectric plants, allowing them to qualify as “carbon neutral” when counting carbon-free sources in our energy policy. This is a controversial idea that may sound good to some folks. The problem is that we don’t have much hydro in our state, and we have a hard time imagining where large hydro plants would be developed in the absence of large steep valleys with major rivers running through them. Large hydro plants in Minnesota, if they are even possible, would be an environmental disaster. In addition, this bill would:
lift the moratorium on new nuclear power
grant a 3-year delay in meeting 2040 clean electricity goals
prohibit demolishing fossil fuel generating plants
support carbon capture and sequestration
If you wish to testify, please email aj.borowiak@house.mn.gov by 1:00 PM on 2/10/2025.
Testify Thursday, Feb 13th
HF 8 is a permitting reform bill is to be heard in the House Environment Committee on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 1 pm. The companion bill to this in the Senate has 3 DFL sponsors, Hauschild, Frentz, and Kupec. This is a big and complex bill that would change the way permitting happens in a manner that would constitute a relaxation of our environmental controls.
Thursday Feb 13th at 1:00 PM at the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee, at the Capitol, Room G3.
TESTIMONY AND MATERIALS SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Individuals wishing to testify or submit written testimony or handouts for the hearing must e-mail the committee administrator by 1 p.m. the day prior to the hearing. Handouts must be in PDF format with OCR capability. In-person testimony may be limited due to committee time constraints.
AMENDMENT DEADLINE: Amendments must be e-mailed to the committee administrator by 1 p.m. the day prior to the hearing.
Register for the 3 pm Sunday, Feb. 9 Zoom meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8irdO-5qQ4mXeWnFFYev3w
See you at the meeting
We’ll discuss the details of how this all works and answer your questions at the meeting: Register here!