According to one of its creators, Dr. Tony Murphy, Minnesotans score off the charts compared to other places when it comes to understanding sources of runoff pollution. Other news is not as encouraging. Only 8% of the state’s adults have excellent knowledge about the environment. And 38% of the state’s adults have below-average knowledge about the environment (worse than a C grade). Read for yourself here.

It became a little clearer earlier this week why the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will tolerate no criticism of the corn herbicide atrazine. On Monday, atrazine’s prime manufacturer, Syngenta, opened a new seed division North American headquarters in Minnetonka. Gov. Tim Pawlenty was on hand to personally thank the CEO of the world’s largest agrichemical firm for choosing Minnesota as the home of the 300-employee facility. (more…)

By Rick Fuentes, senior media specialist, Fresh Energy

President Obama must truly tire of all the comparisons to FDR: the booming voice, the easy charisma, and an administration that must deal with an economic disaster that could choke a goat. But wait, there’s more… (more…)

Are you a farmer who’s utilizing conservation practices, or are seriously thinking of adopting such practices? Time’s-a-wasting. Farmers across the nation have until Sept. 30 to participate in the first nationwide sign-up for the revamped Conservation Stewardship Program, which will provide real dollars for positive environmental outcomes down on the farm. They can get started by checking out LSP’s new CSP fact sheet. Below is a commentary drafted by farmer-members of LSP’s Federal Farm Policy Committee. These farmers make a good point: CSP is a prime example of the “use it or lose it” school of policy-making. It also has the potential to smooth the way for a new, sustainable attitude toward federal ag programs. (more…)

On a recent afternoon, Jeff Klemetsrud walked out of the kitchen at Savories Bistro in Stillwater holding one of the reasons why he and his wife/business partner Kristin buy as much of their food from local farmers as possible: a plate piled high with green beans, fresh from the refrigerator. (more…)

By Kate Ellis, senior policy associate, Fresh Energy

According to a new report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), energy efficiency provisions in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES – H.R. 2454) with improvements could create more than 569,000 new jobs nationwide in the next 10 years and provide hundreds of dollars in annual savings for every household in America. (more…)

Over at Conservation Minnesota, we’ve been trying to track where the nearly $300 million in new money from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment is going over the next two years. Although our work is not yet done, we have posted overall water spending numbers by agency here and detailed descriptions of money going to the Minnesota Department of Health (here and here), Department of Agriculture, Board of Water and Soil Resources and the Metro Council (for water supply planning). We also looked into the long-range water plan being developed by the University of Minnesota.

The money will fund badly-needed water cleanup, important habitat projects and critical parks and trails services. But making sure all the money is spent well and transparently is the job of citizen watchdogs and constituencies. We are interested in whether the material gathered to date raises any questions, concerns, or skepticism.

By Ethan Fawley, transportation connections coordinator, Fresh Energy

Complete Streets means that our roads are designed and operated to be safe and accessible for pedestrians, transit riders, bicyclists, and drivers–all users, regardless of age or ability. Why is this important? Because too often we build roads that simply aren’t safe for pedestrians, people with disabilities, bicyclists, transit riders, and older drivers. Everyone is impacted by “incomplete” streets, which lead to more injuries, fatalities, and very real barriers in our transportation system. (more…)

Last Sunday’s Star Tribune Writer vs. Writer presentation on the local foods movement is a good example of why it’s so difficult to debate a complicated issue within the confines of newsprint. But it’s a good start. (more…)