The last week has been buzzing with talk about who might become the new Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  A couple of folks from the conservation community have made it into the rumor mix, so let’s go beyond the Deputy Commissioner Holsten logic and speculate… (more…)

In perhaps the most entertaining piece of Transportation Amendment analysis, several University of Minnesota students wrote a piece titled, “Roads and Transit Tie the Knot” in this week’s Minnesota Daily.

“For years we’d been gently encouraging Roads to propose to Transit,” say the students. ”We had even set up romantic dates at the legislature but time and again, Roads left Transit hanging at the altar. Last year, Transit had even chosen a dress by the time Roads came down with a bad case of cold feet and black ice and ran off with his drinking buddy, the Governor. But, finally, even the Governor realized that Roads had to change lanes or be stuck in a rut for the next decade. Otherwise, next thing you knew, Roads would have been lamenting on the rural route to nowhere with a potbelly to match his potholes, wondering where he took a wrong turn.”

It gets better. Check it out.

The Pioneer Press is reporting that former St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly has been named “deputy associate administrator for intergovernmental affairs” for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  (titles like that make me appreciate where small-government advocates are coming from). 

I’m a little stunned… (more…)

Today’s topics: Department of Natural Resources, Development, Energy, Feedlots, Food, Forests, Global Warming, Lake Superior, Mercury, Transportation, and Wildlife.
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Governor Pawlenty has announced that Gene Merriam is leaving his position as the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources.  The announcement for this, and some other commissioner changes, is available on the Polinaut website.

There was some speculation that this might happen a couple of weeks ago.  At the time, the most obvious choice for a replacement was Deputy Commissioner Mark Holsten.  His time as a State Representative earned him a particular reputation amongst the environmental crowd, but some do point out that his being promoted to commissioner would actually decrease the amount of time he would be at the legislature lobbying on DNR issues (which is part of his current job description).   I guess we’ll learn more in the very near future.

Update: The following link will take you to the DNR press release.

Today’s topics: Development, Energy, Great Lakes, Mining, Pesticides, Septics, Water, and Wetlands
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Now that Eric Schlosser’s classic mealtime muckraking book, Fast Food Nation, has been Hollywoodized, Americans are again talking about where those McNuggets and fries come from and how they arrive in our stomachs. It’s a teachable moment and perhaps the film will help maintain the momentum that Fast Food Nation set in motion when it was published in 2001. But too often the debate around the Fast Food Nation phenomenon centers almost exclusively around the contents of those Big Macs and Super Slurpies. That’s why we’re seeing moves to ban trans fats in restaurant foods or attempts to sue fast food restaurants for allegedly making diners fat and sassy. It should be kept in mind the real reason Schlosser’s book was so revelatory wasn’t because it alerted us to the disgusting ingredients that go into a McShake—other journalists and nutrition experts have been doing that for decades. Schlosser’s real contribution to the dialogue on our food and farming system is that he showed clearly and in an entertaining manner how the “fast food mentality” has seeped into every aspect of our lives. That means we are a fast food republic in every sense of the word, not just in terms of how we produce, process and consume food. The McDonald’s way of doing things determines how we build houses, receive medical care and educate our children. The problem isn’t McDonald’s. The problem is the McDonald’s philosophy of doing business. (more…)

We’ve got the Legislative Citizens Committee on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and in August Governor Pawlenty signed an executive order creating the Conservation Legacy Council (CLC). The LCCMR comprises 10 legislative representatives and seven citizen members; CLC comprises 11 citizens nominated by the governor and four legislative representatives. All this seems to beg the question: Do we need both? (more…)

After a nearly month-long break, the LCCMR met at Fort Snelling State Park on November 28 to review water RFPs received, build the committee’s upcoming calendar, take in a few presentations and begin getting down to the brass tacks of determining what funding recommendations the committee will make to the legislature next year. (more…)

Today’s topics: Energy, Funding, Global Warming, Great Lakes, Mining, Transportation, and Wetlands.
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