Tag: environment

House DFL legislators announce the formation of the Climate Action Caucus

SAINT PAUL, MN — Today, legislators announced the formation of the Climate Action Caucus. House DFLers have created the new caucus to show support for young Minnesotans who are participating in the Youth Climate Strike, a worldwide demonstration scheduled to take place Friday, September 20.

“Climate change is one of the top issues that my colleagues and I hear about from community members, particularly young people,” said Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL – Minnetonka), Chair of the Climate Action Caucus. “As Chair of the newly-formed Climate Action Caucus, I’m looking forward to working with Minnesotans on a bold, comprehensive plan to combat climate change. Together, we can secure a future in which we all thrive.”

Climate Action Caucus members will create an ambitious agenda based on input from Minnesotans. The Minnesota Climate Action Plan will draw on the unique advantages of our state – generous, hard-working people; innovative businesses; world-class colleges and universities; and vast natural resources – to find solutions and establish Minnesota as a national leader in the fight against climate change. Continue reading “House DFL legislators announce the formation of the Climate Action Caucus”

Americans increasingly see climate change as a crisis, poll shows

Washington Post logoA growing number of Americans describe climate change as a crisis, and two-thirds say President Trump is doing too little to tackle the problem.

The results, from a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), point to a growing disconnect between Americans worried about the warming planet and Trump administration officials, who have aggressively scaled back Obama-era environmental regulations and relinquished the nation’s role as a global leader in pushing for climate action.

The poll finds that a strong majority of Americans — about 8 in 10 — say that human activity is fueling climate change, and roughly half believe action is urgently needed within the next decade if humanity is to avert its worst effects. Nearly 4 in 10 now say climate change is a “crisis,” up from less than a quarter five years ago.

View the complete September 13 article by Brady Dennis, Steven Mufson and Scott Clement on The Washington Post website here.

EPA is broadening the scope of its probe into PolyMet water permit

The EPA’s findings from the PolyMet case will be incorporated into a nationwide audit.

A federal watchdog agency is broadening its investigation into the handling of a key water pollution permit for PolyMet Mining’s proposed Minnesota copper-nickel mine, giving the probe national scope.

Without issuing any findings on the PolyMet case, the Inspector General of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a nationwide audit of comparable water quality permits. Specifically, it will examine whether the permits adhere to federal law “based, in part,” on the Inspector General’s examination of PolyMet, which started in June. A memo announcing the move also cited additional hotline complaints that have been lodged since the one in January that launched the PolyMet inquiry.

The agency will fold its PolyMet findings into the national audit, which means it could be many months before anything is released.

View the complete September 9 article by Jennifer Bjorhus on The StarTribune website here.

Has the Endangered Species Act saved ‘very few’ plants and animals?

Washington Post logo“In the 40, 50 years of the Endangered Species Act, we’ve recovered very few species. … The act itself hasn’t really been successful in saving very many species.”

— EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, in an interview on Fox Business Network, Aug. 14

The Trump administration has finalized new rules to weaken the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a bedrock wildlife conservation law that bars the development of lands where at-risk species live.

In a Fox Business interview, Wheeler defended the regulatory changes, stating that the ESA has “recovered very few species.” Government statistics show that 47 species of plants and animals deemed at risk under the ESA have been “recovered,” out of nearly 2,000 that have appeared on the list.

But Wheeler is using a very strict definition of what it means to save a species from extinction. These conservation efforts work over many years, and not all species joined the list in 1973. The ESA could be helping a “threatened” or “endangered” species regrow its population significantly before U.S. officials classify it as “recovered” and take it off the list.

View the complete August 16 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.

Eden Prairie talks climate change, from the Community Center to Washington, D.C.

On the idyllic summer evening of July 30, nearly 70 people gathered indoors at the Eden Prairie Community Center to talk about how to save such days for future generations.

It was a community conversation on climate change, hosted by State. Rep. Laurie Pryor, DFL-Minnetonka, and both residents and elected officials turned out in force. Among them was Rod Fisher, a member of the local Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) chapter that had recently sent 20 members to Washington, D.C., to discuss bipartisan legislation to mitigate climate change; and Lia Harel, a recent Eden Prairie High School graduate and member of the climate activism group Minnesota Can’t Wait.

The mood was focused, and every speaker − including Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case and City Council member PG Narayanan, State. Rep Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-Eden Prairie, and State. Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie − expressed the urgency they felt as activists and United Nations reports alike call for immediate and far-reaching changes to prevent dramatic environmental shifts.

View the complete August 6 article by Eden Teller on the SW News Media website here.

Rep. Phillips and Dem House colleagues stand up for clean water

There’s a reason that Minnesota is called the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Our waterways form an unmistakable part of our Minnesotan identity. For generations, Minnesota’s waters and natural resources have provided us clean water to drink, unpolluted air to breathe, and beautiful landscapes that we enjoy with our families and friends. But now these resources are under attack in Washington.

Last week President Donald Trump tried to greenwash his record by claiming that he wants America to have “the cleanest water.” In reality, his administration has launched a relentless assault on Minnesota’s waters, outdoors and communities. Seeking to boost the profits of corporate polluters, Trump and his industry-friendly cronies have gutted crucial protections for our natural resources.

Thankfully, Minnesota and our elected representatives are not standing idly by. Just last month Reps. Dean Phillips, Angie Craig, Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar stood up against Trump’s reckless agenda by supporting strong funding for programs that strengthen our outdoors and communities. The budget passed by the House of Representatives protects our clean water, and seeks to ensure that communities across Minnesota can enjoy safe drinking water, vibrant lands and wildlife, and beautiful waterways in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

View the completeJuly 17 commentary by Deanna White on the MinnPost website here.

Phillips Amendment to Clean Up Polluted Minnesota Missile Site Included In Defense Bill

Local fire chief’s concerns about harmful pollutants led to Phillips amendment

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced that an amendment he authored – aimed at cleaning up a former missile site in Watertown, MN that left the area contaminated with harmful pollutants – has been included in the House’s FY 2020 defense bill.

The grounds were the location of an anti-aircraft missile site until 1972. In 1974, it was jointly purchased from the military by 11 local communities – Mound, Chanhassen, Chaska, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Long Lake, Maple Plain, Mayer, St. Bonifacius, Victoria and Watertown. The 11 communities established the Western Area Fire Training Academy (WAFTA), a joint agreement between their local volunteer fire departments. The grounds were used to conduct fire training exercises for the group for over a decade, until it was discovered that the site was contaminated with harmful pollutants left over from the Nike missile program. Since the 1990’s, WAFTA has attempted to return the site to the military with the hope that it will be cleaned of pollutants.

During his tour of all 36 cities in the 3rd District, Phillips was made aware of the problem by the Mound fire chief Gregory Pederson, who also serves as the President of WAFTA. Pederson had requested action from 3rdDistrict representatives for nearly two decades with no success. After hearing Chief Pederson’s story, Phillips introduced an amendment to the FY 2020 defense bill that requires the Army to report on a plan to decontaminate polluted sites like the one in Watertown. Continue reading “Phillips Amendment to Clean Up Polluted Minnesota Missile Site Included In Defense Bill”

Expect to pay at least $400 billion over next 20 years to protect U.S. from rising seas, study warns

Protecting our coastlines will cost almost as much as it did to build the interstate highway system — but needs to be done in half the time.

It is going to cost the United States at least $400 billion over the next 20 years to protect the nation’s public infrastructure — everything from roads and rail lines to bridges, airports, and sewage treatment systems — to withstand the impacts of sea level rise.

That’s the finding of a new report out Thursday which looks at the cost of moderate sea level rise along the contiguous United States. The price tag is almost as much as it took to build the original interstate highway system, which cost $114 billion at the time ($521 billion when accounting for inflation) over 36 years and now spans over 48,000 miles.

In comparison, the report by Resilient Analytics and the Center for Climate Integrity states that to prepare for sea level rise, more than 50,000 miles of coastal barriers, or seawalls, will need to be constructed along 22 states. Moreover, all of this vital work would need to be done in half the amount of time it took to build the nation’s highway system.

View the complete June 20 article by Kyla Mandel on the ThinkProgress website here.

Trump administration signals support for uranium mining that could touch Grand Canyon

The Trump administration is signaling a renewed push to consider uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, a move that would undoubtedly ignite a political fight involving environmentalists and the mining industry.

President Trump’s decision to declare uranium a critical mineral for national security purposes, coupled with a Commerce Department recommendation to mine reserves of a key component to nuclear weapons, has environmentalists worried that the reversal of an Obama-era ban on mining near the cherished national park is imminent.

“It’s not a secret that uranium mining companies have pined after the Grand Canyon for a long time,” said Amber Reimondo, energy program director at Grand Canyon Trust. “The last time there was a uranium price spike in 2007, over 10,000 mining claims were filed.”

View the complete June 12 article by Miranda Green on The Hill website here.

Military bases unprepared for gathering climate change storm

Responses to hurricanes, flooding already raising alarm bells in Congress and beyond

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — A mangled red, white and blue patrol plane still lies across what was once a park here where families played and picnicked, nine months after Hurricane Michael stormed out of the Gulf of Mexico with its 155-mile-per-hour winds.

And beyond that wreckage and other detritus, about 300 of this Air Force base’s nearly 500 damaged buildings are slated to be razed. The Air Force wants at least $4.25 billion to rebuild Tyndall at its current location on the Florida panhandle, a process the 325th Fighter Wing commander, Col. Brian Laidlaw, said could take several years.

“The Air Force doesn’t have financial resources in the bank to do all the repairs we need to do,” he said. Without mentioning climate change, and saying he’s not a meteorologist, Laidlaw added, “I don’t know that any of us ever plans to get hit by Category 5 hurricanes.”

View the complete June 12 article by Elvina Nawaguna on The Roll Call website here.