I live on a bus line. If I want to catch a bus to the other end of downtown St. Paul, I rarely have to wait more than five minutes. Riding the bus is convenient (it’s right outside my door, for pete’s sake), and it’s affordable (bus passes: surprisingly cheap).

Unfortunately, riding the bus isn’t convenient and affordable for everyone. Metro Transit provides over 200,000 rides every weekday, but years of funding cuts have seriously hurt service in the region. Many people depend on buses to reach their jobs; if a person misses a bus, that person can be half an hour to an hour late for work. Many people say they would take a bus or train if it was available; with limited service, these people are forced to drive on congested freeways or find other ways to get around.

What I want–and what most Minnesotans want–from a transportation system and what state policies deliver are increasingly out of balance. This is especially true of transit policies, which often suffer deep cuts despite a growing demand for transit.

Luckily, we have elected officials who want to listen to our thoughts on transit, which is why the Senate Transit Finance Subdivision House Transportation and Transit Policy Subcommittee is conducting a series of field hearings and town hall meetings.

The St. Cloud town hall meeting provided a potent forum to explore transit issues in the St. Cloud area last Saturday. According to the St. Cloud Times, “Near the end of the town hall meeting Saturday, five area residents who had signed up to talk to lawmakers about transportation issues in St. Cloud were no longer present. When Senate Transit Subdivision Chairman Scott Dibble called on Hazel Youngmann, a 10-year resident of St. Cloud, she wheeled to the front of the room at Whitney Senior Center and offered a possible explanation for those who had left. ‘They didn’t want to wait another hour for the next bus,’ Youngmann said.”

Ouch. That kind of testimony drives a message home, though.

We encourage you to attend one of these field hearings and talk about what improved transit means to you. For more information, please contact our organizer, Patience Caso, at 651-767-0298 or PatienceC@tlcminnesota.org.

February 17, 2007. Northwest Suburbs Town Hall Forum on Transit, 10 a.m-12 p.m., Brooklyn Park City Hall, 5200 85th Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN

February 28, 2007. Western Suburbs Legislative Field Hearing on Transit, 7-9 p.m. Minnetonka City Hall (location to be confirmed), 14600 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka, MN.

March 7, 2007. Eastern Suburbs Legislative Field Hearing on Transit, 7-9 p.m. Central Park Atrium, 8595 Central Park Place, Woodbury, MN.

Today, the Minnesota Senate debated and passed the Great Lakes Compact (HF 110)!  The legislation passed the House on February 1. 

After a short discussion, the Senate recommended that the Compact pass on a voice vote.  It has a couple of procedural steps ahead now, but the bottom line is the same: Minnesota is the first state to pass the Compact!

As Dave Dempsey has pointed out before, Minnesota is the headwaters state of not only the Mississippi but also the Great Lakes.  Thus, it is rather fitting that we’d pass the Compact first.  Dave also has a good look at the Compact up on his blog.

Now, it is time for the seven other Great Lakes states to join us in passing the Compact.

Update: For those really interested in legislative process, this is for you: Today, the Senate debated the bill as the “Committee of the Whole” and voted to support the bill during that.  Officially, that means the “final passage” of the bill will be on Thursday, during their next floor session.  This is somewhat of a formality, as there will be no opportunity for amendments on Thursday and it will be, for the most part, just the up or down vote.  In other words, if bads things were going to happen, it should have been today and Thursday they will officially send it to the Governor. 

Update 2-15-07: The Minnesota Senate spent about 30 seconds making it official earlier today (Thursday).  By a vote of 57 to 3, they gave final approval to the Compact and sent the bill on to the Governor.  It is great to see such strong and swift support from the Minnesota Legislature on helping to protect Lake Superior.

It’s going to be a big week at the capitol for sustainable and organic farming. Not only are two sustainable ag hearings scheduled, but various bills related to supporting environmentally-friendly farming will be introduced. It’s important that sustainable and organic agriculture receive financial and moral support in Saint Paul, particularly at a time when the Minnesota Department of Agriculture may still be considering undermining one of the most inovative and successful “green” farming programs in the country. The reception sustainable and organic farming receives at the capitol during the next few days could set the stage for what kind of support our state government and land grant institutions provide this type of agriculture long into the future. (more…)

This week’s update from the Capitol by John Tuma:

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”  Albert Einstein (more…)

What do a Star Tribune columnist and the directors of the world’s first “anti-environmentalist” documentary have in common?  They know what you think - and you my environmentally concerned friend are an evil zealot. (more…)

By an overwhelming 61 to 4 vote, the Minnesota Senate passed the Renewable Electricity Standard earlier today.  Yahoo.

For a bit more info, check out the Clean Energy Minnesota Press Release.

Just between you and me, I’ve been digging the cold lately.  Sure, I’ve spent most of it stowing away indoors, but I can’t help but dream of little invasive species dying away when it is twenty below zero.  Plus, I’ve got the warm thoughts of two nights of Trampled by Turtles concerts to look foward to and I am hoping that you’ll join me there.

I’ve been enjoying the non-traditional bluegrass sounds of the Turtles for a while now, so I was happy to learn they had a new CD in the works, now titled Trouble.  I was all the more excited when they invited MEP and a number of our member groups to join them at the two-night CD release party happening at First Ave.  On each night, they have created space for ten organizations to be able to reach out to their fans and talk about the work that we do.  And I think that’s just downright good of them to do.

So, won’t you join me for one or both nights at the show?  Here are the details:

What: Red Alert: Trouble Ahead, 
          Help the Planet, Help the People
When: Friday, February 16 and Saturday, February 17
Where: First Ave, in Minneapolis
What Else: Doors open at 8 p.m. each night.  Both are 18+ shows.  Tickets are $12 ahead of time or $14 at the door.

Come on down.  MEP will be there, along with our members Land Stewardship Project, Fresh Energy, Sierra Club, Eco Education, Windustry, and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.  There will be some fine social justice organizations to boot. 

If you’d like a musical taste of the Turtles before hand, you can check out their website.  They will also be appearing on Radio K, Cities 97, Zone 105, and KARE 11 between now and then.  See you at the show.

I don’t expect to find hard-hitting journalism in an alumni magazine. But there big as Goldie Gopher’s buck teeth in the January-February issue of the U of M’s Minnesota Magazine is an article called Five Reasons Corn Ethanol Won’t Save the Planet. Apparently, at least one prominent alum was caught off guard by the article as well. It’s no secret Governor Tim Pawlenty (B.S. ‘83, J.D. ‘86) is a big fan of corn ethanol. So maybe it’s no surprise his office has contacted the editor, Shelly Fling, to complain. So have a few corporations and at least one commodity group that don’t cotton to criticism of corn. It appears Minnesota Magazine has gone off-leash and committed an act of brave journalism. Anyone who cares about good, thorough reporting on controversial issues, as well as the land grant mission in general, should send a letter to Fling (fling003@tc.umn.edu) applauding such work. It sounds like the magazine could use a vote of confidence right about now. (more…)

For those who want to dig deep into the renewable electricity legislation, yesterday’s committee amendment has been posted. All utilities but Xcel are required to generate 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.  Xcel is 30% by 2020, but they do get to count their previously mandated amounts. Surprisingly, the legislation appears to mandate that Xcel achieve that 30% with 25% being wind power and the other 5% being something else.  I’m off to a meeting now, so perhaps more to come later.