Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/environment/page/21/)
We treat climate change like a logical problem, but it is an emotional problem of acceptance. Ignore the climate deniers for a moment. It an emotional acceptance problem for all of us who know and understand about climate change. Continue Reading
One day in 2011, I came home from work to discover a neon orange ring around the giant elm tree in my front boulevard. I had seen the ring on other trees on the block and watched them be taken down the previous year so I knew that it was only a matter of time. Dutch elm disease is a fungus that is spread by the elm bark beetle and leads to branch die off and the eventual death of the root system. There are treatments for Dutch Elm Disease, but they are expensive and generally don’t work in the long term. The preferred treatment is prompt eradication of the infected specimens. The following spring, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board cut it down and ground out the stump. In its place, they planted a Hackberry, a weedy and tough urban survivor not known for its looks. Continue Reading
We had several days of above freezing temperatures and then a winter storm. It began as rain, which froze, then turned to wet snow, ten inches or more in many places. The combination of freezing rain and ten inches of snow made travel very dangerous. The governor has declared a state of emergency and ordered out the National Guard to help stranded travelers. The Department of Transportation advises no travel in the state. Continue Reading
While state legislative leaders declared concerns about frac sand mining off the table for the coming session, grassroots opponents in Southeastern Minnesota’s bluffs and sand hills are shifting their resistance to a different branch of government. Continue Reading
There is an “Energy Pathways Study” dated February 21, 2014, prepared for the City of Minneapolis, which appears to be the response to concerns raised by “Minneapolis Energy Options” and others. It appears that the City paid the Center for Energy and Environment about $250,000 for this report. The 191 page report is posted here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43976017/Combined%20-%20Minneapolis%20Energy%20Pathways.pdf (Caution: this PDF crashed my Adobe reader.) There is also a Request for City Council Committee Action from the Department of City Coordinator Date: February 24, 2014 To: Honorable Cam Gordon, Chair, Health, Environment & Community Engagement Committee Subject: Energy Pathways Study Recommendations: . Receive and file the Energy Pathways Study. . Continue Reading
The recent explosion — both literal and figurative — of railroad shipments of crude oil from North Dakota has opened a new front in the long-running tension over which interests are served by our transportation system: people’s or commerce’s. Continue Reading
After hearing appeals from students for the University of Minnesota to halt its investments in fossil fuel companies, the Board of Regents is weighing a policy change. The new policy would require the institution to file reports detailing investments in sustainable and renewable energy companies.The regents discussed sustainability efforts at a committee meeting Thursday, where a spokesman for the board said the change will likely pass in May.The University invests its endowment in various companies and organizations but doesn’t track how many of those investments are environmentally friendly, said Stuart Mason, associate vice president of the Office of Investments and Banking.But if the regents pass the resolution, the University would have to disclose which of those companies are renewable energy firms, Mason said.Mason, who presented the plan Thursday, said the policy change is likely to pass.“As I looked around the room and the response from the regents, they were asking good questions,” he said. “By the time the questions were answered, they were all in favor of this change.”Some student groups have pushed University administration to move investments away from fossil fuel companies — but Mason said this isn’t currently feasible because such divestment would cost the University a lot of money.John Reichl, a student representative to the Board of Regents, said he met with members of Fossil Free Minnesota, the main University student group pushing for divestment, before helping present the policy to the regents.Reichl said the proposed policy will enhance clarity and transparency with University investments. The University’s investors should be more socially responsible with the school’s endowment by investing in more sustainability focused companies, Reichl said.If the resolution passes, Mason said it will mark a step in the right direction for the University.“It’s a very good way to highlight what we are doing [with investments] and make further steps to evaluate if we think it’s sufficient or appropriate,” he said. Continue Reading
As Minnesota precedes in evaluating PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mining project, a number of pressing issues still need to be resolved with respect to how much – and what kind – of financial assurance would be necessary to mitigate long-term environmental impacts. This became clear at a recent House Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance Committee hearing.Under Minnesota law, PolyMet must offer some form of “financial assurance” during the permitting stage to ensure it can cover the costs of mine closure and any ongoing treatment or environmental remediation required as a result of mining operations. The process is designed to protect taxpayers from having to shoulder those costs, and is crucial given the possible duration of associated impacts – up to 500 years, according to the project’s environmental impact statement.During the hearing, Committee members heard testimony from the DNR, PolyMet, and members of the public, many of whom were representing organizations. Attitudes toward financial assurance seemed to fall into one of three camps: those who supported the financial assurance process, those who rejected it outright, and those who didn’t feel they had enough information about the project to decide either way.Mining and construction industries representatives argued that Minnesota’s financial assurance process is sound, that the DNR should be trusted to determine an acceptable level and type of financial assurance, and that technology can prevent and mitigate environmental damage from mining activities, which would ultimately be financially beneficial for the state.On the other end of the spectrum, some representatives from environmental organizations and a few private citizens noted that no amount of money (either in the form of financial assurance or profit from the mine) could render acceptable the long-term environmental devastation that would be wrought by hard-rock mining. One testifier stated it was “patently absurd” to assume any mechanism put in place today could address costs incurred 500 years from now. Continue Reading
After almost five years of maneuvering by Hennepin County, Covanta, the Minneapolis Planning Department and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Hennepin County Board voted yesterday to withdraw its proposal for a capacity increase from 1,000 tons to 1,212 tons per day at the 25-year-old Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) (the Garbage Burner). The resolution was co-sponsored by Commissioners Peter McLaughlin, Gail Dorfman, Linda Higgins and Chair Mike Opat. It passed on Feb. 11 on a 6-1 vote.
I have lived in the Land of 10,000 Lakes since 1964. There have been times when the lakes and streams have receded below normal levels, but the water has never been a shut off. Water shut-offs in Addis Ababa happens on a weekly basis. In some unfortunate barrios water can be off for a whole week. People will travel by foot to a public faucet with large recycled plastic jugs to gather water for cooking and washing. Bottled water is sold just about everywhere. It looks to me that many people don’t drink water directly from the faucets…not tourists, not residents. Continue Reading