It’s as predictable as the spring thaw. The Minnesota Legislature is yet again trying to weaken environmental review of large developments such as factory farms. This time around, the excuse for making the ideas in  Senate File 2761 and House File 3079 into law is “greater efficiency.” Watch out. Read the rest of this entry »

By Linda Taylor, clean energy director, Fresh Energy

So far in 2010, some big things have happened in the area of energy efficiency. It bears repeating time and again: the cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy we don’t use. Improving energy efficiency in our daily lives–meaning doing lots more with less energy–is 70 percent cheaper than generating new energy. The efficiency highlights so far in 2010… Read the rest of this entry »

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – March 12, 2010

“Charge those lines!”
- General Winfield Scott Hancock, Gettysburg, July 2, 1863

That was the command given to Colonel Colvill of the Minnesota 1st in the midst of the second day of fighting outside of the previously unknown and sleepy hamlet of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Colvill, along with only a portion of the famed Minnesota 1st Regiment of 262 men, had just arrived on the battlefield after an arduous 20-mile march toward the sound of the developing battle.  Upon their arrival on the scene, Union forces were in chaos along the soon to become hallowed grounds known as Cemetery Ridge south of Gettysburg.  Sixteen hundred Confederates from Alabama, under the command of Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, moving quickly to take the high ground along this important place on the battlefield. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Pawlenty’s proposed reductions and fund shifts for the state’s 2010 and 2011 budgets run afoul of what voters approved at the polls in November 2008, Conservation Minnesota reported.

To read CM’s analysis of the Governor’s proposals, click here.

Conservation Minnesota said the Governor’s proposed use of conservation funds dedicated to specific natural resources clashes with the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

Spring flood predictions are in the air, and you can bet that within the next several weeks a whole lot of that wayward water will be taking Grade A Midwestern topsoil along for the ride. Read the rest of this entry »

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – March 5, 2010

“I think the agitation that I made on the matter contributed much to the discontinuance by the government of the pernicious practice”
-General Christopher C. Andrews, 1902

Of my favorite of the many Civil War portraits that adorn the Capitol is the one just above the receptionist desk in the Governor’s Office portraying the Minnesota Third Infantry marching into Little Rock, Arkansas. Read the rest of this entry »

Darby Nelson, a member of the Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, says two new bills in the Legislature would capture money from the Outdoor Heritage Fund for unrelated environmental purposes.  It’s highly questionable whether this would be consistent with the voter-approved Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. More here.

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – February 26, 2010

“There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace.  The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten.  It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways in ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfaction.  When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known.”

-Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness, 1956

Read the rest of this entry »

At the state meeting of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota last Saturday, farmer Greg Reynolds opened his presentation on selling food to the Hopkins School District with a simple assessment: “I think it’s the next big thing.” Listen to Reynolds’ presentation on LSP’s podcast (episode 76) and it will become clear why the farmer is so upbeat about this new marketing relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

A 2009 Congressional conservation scorecard released today shows Minnesota members were all over the map on key clean energy, clean water and land protection votes.  To find out more, go to the Conservation Minnesota site and follow links.