A Green New Deal for Minnesota?

August is the month of the Sturgeon Moon

Photo by J. Harrington

Today is the day of August's full moon, the Sturgeon Moon. Yesterday we posted about the federal efforts to establish a national Green New Deal. Today we call to your attention the fact that Minnesota could have its own, locally grown, version. Last April HF 2836 was introduced. The Revisor's Office web site lists no companion bill in the Republican-controlled Senate and there's no House Research summary available. If you follow the House File link above, you can read the entire bill as introduced.

For today, let's limit ourselves to taking a look at Section 2 of the bill, the findings:

1.9  Sec. 2. FINDINGS; CLIMATE CHANGE; GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
1.10  The legislature finds:
1.11  (1) Minnesota is already experiencing the impacts of climate change, as evidenced by 
1.12  changes in climate and weather patterns, temperature, rain and snowfall events, water 
1.13  availability, and alteration of the variety of plant and animal species present in the state;
1.14  (2) climate change is the result of increased levels of greenhouse gases entering the 
1.15  atmosphere, largely as a result of human activity;
1.16  (3) the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued in 
1.17  October 2018 found that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced from 2010 levels by 
1.18  45 percent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 in order to limit the rise in atmospheric 
1.19  temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level that results in severe ecological, health, and 
1.20  economic impacts;
1.21  (4) the impacts of burning fossil fuels are spread unequally, reinforcing economic 
1.22  disparities that reduce the capacity of some Minnesotans to cope with the impacts; and
2.1  (5) the urgency to address the challenge of climate change compels the state to accelerate 
2.2  the greenhouse gas emissions-reduction goal established under Minnesota Statutes, section 
2.3  216H.02, subdivision 1, by establishing a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 
2.4  2030.

We find the Findings to be pretty straightforward and, even for us, contain nothing to quibble about. On Finding (1), ask a farmer how usual this Spring's weather was. Or track the amount of money being provided to farmers who suffered planting prevention or have and or will be experiencing crop loss due to weather and muddy fields. Finding (2) is now a scientific consensus of 99% or more of climate scientists. Finding (3) simply restates a major conclusion of the October 2018 IPCC report, that a rapid reduction in greenhouse gases is needed to limit the disruptions and economic costs of breaking the current climate's patterns. Finding (4) is consistent with assessments by the U.S. Global Change Research Program that

Vulnerable groups of people, described here as populations of concern, include those with low income, some communities of color, immigrant groups (including those with limited English proficiency), Indigenous peoples, children and pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, persons with disabilities, and persons with preexisting or chronicmedical conditions.

That doesn't seem to leave very many populations to not be concerned about, does it? Finally, Finding (5) requires acceleration of the attainment of a previously adopted goal in light of the new information and the increased urgency of a response to protect Minnesotans, their economy, their environment and their well-being.

Even putting our curmudgeon hat on as tight as we can, we can't find anything to really argue about in the proposed legislative findings. If you can, please feel free to submit a comment so we can consider responding. All of the preceding, and yesterday's posting, and the fact that the Project Drawdown book has a copyright in 2017, leaves us wondering how long our leaders and elected officials will continue to argue about what colors the deck chairs on the Titanic should be painted before they have us start to rearrange those same deck chairs.

If those politicians that get much of their campaign financing from corporations can't realize that corporations depend on workers and customers, each group of which is at significant risk from the effects of a broken climate, then it's up to us voters to find wiser and better informed elected leaders.

Who's leading the push to get Minnesota's Green New Deal introduced in the Senate and on Governor Walz's desk by the end of the 2020 session?

The Question

by Theo Dorgan

When the great ships come back,
and come they will,
when they stand in the sky
all over the world,
candescent suns by day,
radiant cathedrals in the night,
how shall we answer the question:

What have you done
with what was given you,
what have you done with
the blue, beautiful world?

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