By Elena Velkov, media relations coordinator, Fresh Energy

Just as BP capped its oil well, and the public began to breathe a sigh of relief, another oil spill occurred last week. Calgary energy company Enbridge is responsible for a leaked pipeline that has spilled more than one million gallons of crude oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, according to new estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency. The pipeline normally carries about 8 million gallons of crude oil daily from Indiana to Ontario. Enbridge says it has contained the spill and is making progress with clean-up efforts, but Governor Jennifer Granholm calls the efforts “wholly inadequate.” Read the rest of this entry »

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – Summer Edition, July 30, 2010

“…sharks and speculators, men who have amassed fortunes not in legitimate businesses but by systematic robbery of the people.”

- William D. Washburn, Minneapolis Tribune, October 28, 1873*

William D. Washburn was referring to railroads that controlled access of Minneapolis flour milling interests to markets in the East and Europe and the wheat fields stretching across Minnesota and the Dakotas.  There is little to remind us of the significant role William D. Washburn played in the development of Minnesota.  There is Washburn High School in Minneapolis and an off the beaten path residential street in north Minneapolis, but they could have been named after his wealthy older brother C.C. Washburn.  Nonetheless, the battle William led against the railroad conglomerates in the late 1800s helped shape Minnesota and create one of our nation’s great cities – Minneapolis. 

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Get ready to share your ideas for protecting the places you love!

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC LISTENING SESSION ON THE PRESIDENT’S AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS INITIATIVE

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When defending the safety of one of the most widely used weed killers in North America, Syngenta often cites the fact that some 6,000 studies provide “overwhelming” evidence that atrazine is nothing to worry about. But a recent report by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund shows that at least half of the 6,611 studies the EPA is using in its current review of the herbicide were conducted by scientists and organizations with financial ties to the chemical. Many of those connections come via Syngenta, the inventor and  primary manufacturer of atrazine. That fact makes the evidence in favor of atrazine a little less “overwhelming” and a little more “questionable.” Read the rest of this entry »

The City of Winona is hosting the state’s first ‘Legacy Weekend’ event Saturday.  The idea behind such events is to show how individual communities are benefiting from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.  It’s hoped this will be the first of many such events that will not only educate and entertain communities but also serve as a tourism draw.

Minnesota Citizens for the Arts is working with Conservation Minnesota to explain how the Legacy Amendment is funding everything from the local Great River Shakespeare Festival to habitat conservation in Winona County.

What can be more iconic than an image of a farmer holding soil? But when I took the photo featured below, it was more than a symbol—it was visual proof that a good farmer can be as passionate about all that hidden life beneath our feet as some people are about art, science, sports or politics. Read the rest of this entry »

MEP’s Candidate Education Project is off to a terrific start. Since late May, MEP has been briefing candidates for public office on the importance of investing in Minnesota’s clean energy economy to create jobs here at home and make us truly energy independent. Read the rest of this entry »

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – Summer Edition, July 16, 2010

“We heard the water coming down the drift, we didn’t know if we were going to make it.  We just ran and ran for our lives.”
- Frank Hrvatin, February 5, 1924*

What seems to be all but forgotten in Minnesota history is that we were home to one of the nation’s most tragic underground mining disasters in the first quarter of the 20th century.  Frank Hrvatin was a 14-year-old boy from a Croatian immigrant family who worked with his father in the mine at Milford, Minnesota, during the winter of 1924.  You’ll not find Milford on Minnesota’s official state map.  It is a long lost ghost town whose story holds the graves of 41 miners.

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Over a year and a half ago, Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment and now it’s beginning to bear fruit.

The community of Winona is holding a first-of-its-kind Legacy Weekend featuring programs and events made possible by the Amendment.  Some of the events are associated with conservation and environmental funding from the Amendment, some with arts and cultural heritage funding. A full schedule of events is at the link.  Other communities are encouraged to plan Legacy Weekends.

St. Paul is also seeing results from the Amendment.  Here’s a breakdown.

By Kara Cook, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Communications Intern

Minnesota Environmental Partnership is currently in phase two of our Nonpartisan Candidate Outreach program, which Ryan introduced here. Our polling data from 2009 and 2010 shows that Minnesotans strongly support expanding solar and wind power, building more public transit, moving Minnesota toward clean energy through other initiatives.

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