2007 Legislative Agenda
Achieve Energy Independence in Minnesota
By tapping into Minnesota's opportunities in efficiency and clean energy, our state is in a strong position to help lead the nation toward a clean, modern, efficient energy future, and to gain a competitive advantage by acting now. Minnesota's current mix of energy — especially our heavy reliance on oil and out-dated coal plants — harms both our environment and economy. Global warming poses an increasingly urgent threat to our waters, forests, habitat, fisheries, native species, and important industries like agriculture, forestry and tourism. The Sierra Club strongly advocates for comprehensive legislation that increases energy efficiency investments, boldly advances commitments to renewable electricity and advanced renewable fuels, and makes sharp reductions in global warming pollutants.
The Sierra Club is part of a coalition of organizations called "Clean Energy Minnesota" which is working to promote comprehensive energy policies about global warming, renewable energy, energy conservation, and promoting the next generation of advanced biofuels. For more information on the efforts of the Sierra Club and Clean Energy Minnesota, click on the links below.
- The Clean Energy Minnesota Vision (pdf)
- Clean Energy Minnesota on a Renewable Electricity Standard for Minnesota (pdf)
- Clean Energy Minnesota on the Global Warming Mitigation Act (pdf)
- Clean Energy Minnesota on Promoting Energy Efficiency (pdf)
- Clean Energy Minnesota on Developing an Advanced Biofuels Industry in Minnesota (pdf)
Provide Transportation Choices to Minnesotans
Providing increased transportation choices, both in the Metropolitan areas and in Greater Minnesota, will help Minnesota mitigate congestion, preserve air and water quality, and create more livable and walkable communities. Passage of the "MVST" Constitutional Amendment this past November provided rural and metropolitan transit with its first dedicated source of funding, but does not by itself adequately fund transportation choices in Minnesota. The Sierra Club supports efforts to implement the Metropolitan Council's proposed transit vision by 2020 rather than 2030 and expand transit in greater Minnesota. The Sierra Club believes that a regional (7-county) sales tax of approximately one-half cent, coupled with an allocation of motor vehicle sales tax and gas tax revenues for greater Minnesota transit, currently offers the most promising and equitable source of funding for improving transit in Minnesota. However, because efficient transit funding requires matching federal funds, a stable and dedicated source of funding from Minnesota is the key to maximizing Minnesota's ability to leverage federal funding for improved transportation choices. With this principle in mind, the Sierra Club is ready and willing to work with others who have additional ideas about funding sources and mechanisms that would achieve this goal.
Strengthen Minnesota's Wetlands Conservation Act
Wetlands are treasured resources for Minnesotans — they protect the quality of our water, provide habitat to wildlife that live in our "great outdoors," and help to control flooding along our many rivers. The Wetlands Conservation Act (WCA), passed by the Minnesota legislature in 1991, has provided important protections for Minnesota's remaining wetlands. However, Minnesota continues to see wetlands losses, partly as a result of the many exemptions found in WCA. The Sierra Club supports efforts to strengthen the WCA, including requiring the reporting of wetlands activities that are allowed under WCA's exemptions, which would provide critical information to decision-makers and inform the development of future wetlands laws and policies.
Make Mining Safe in Minnesota
Minnesota's quality of life is threatened by metallic sulfide mining — a harmful kind of mining that has never been commercially conducted in Minnesota. Sulfide mining is the process of extracting tiny concentrations of metals (like copper, nickel, platinum, and palladium) that are embedded in sulfur-containing bedrock. When the sulfide (sulfur) is exposed to air and moisture, a chemical and biological reaction generates sulfuric "acid mine drainage" that can leach into the surrounding environment. Billions of tons of rock would be blasted and processed, creating mile-square mountains of toxic tailings — a waste storage problem with time-scales similar to nuclear waste. Metallic sulfide mining is a significant new source of water pollution facing our state, and use reduction, recycling, and re-use could make these mines unnecessary to society. The first metallic sulfide mining proposal (PolyMet Mining in Hoyt Lakes) is currently going through the EIS and permitting process. Other potential mining areas include Aitkin and the Ely-Lake Vermilion corridor. Minnesota should enact legislation similar to Wisconsin's, prohibiting mining operations that have not been proven safe during actual operation and closure of a similar mine. Additionally, Minnesota should prohibit mines that will require perpetual wastewater treatment after the mine's closure, and should prohibit metallic sulfide mines in watersheds of special concern.
Adequately Fund Minnesota's County Biological Survey
The Minnesota County Biological Survey is a program initiated in 1987 to identify significant natural areas in the state and to collect and interpret data on the distribution and ecology of rare plants, rare animals, and native plant communities. The program not only provides information about the status of Minnesota's most valuable land resources, but also establishes a benchmark to compare the effects of resource management activities in the state and assists policy-makers in identifying ecological and land-protection priorities. The County Biological Surveys provide invaluable "base line" data necessary for a range of applications including logging proposals, forest certification efforts, development plans, and decisions to protect special natural places. The Sierra Club supports efforts to increase funding for this program (through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and other funding sources), which would expedite the completion of Biological Surveys in Minnesota.
About the Sierra Club and its North Star Chapter:
The Sierra Club's North Star Chapter represents the organization's 25,000 members in Minnesota and has worked on state environmental protection issues since its inception in 1968. The chapter hired Minnesota's first professional state environmental lobbyist in 1973, and has maintained a professional presence at the state capitol for the past 33 years. Today, the Sierra Club employs eight staff in Minnesota who work with volunteer leaders to represent the chapter's legislative agenda. Current priority conservation efforts for the North Star Chapter include Clean Air & Renewable Energy, Wetlands, Forest & Wildlands Protection, Land Use & Transportation, Mining without Harm and Global Population and the Environment.
In addition to state legislative lobbying, the North Star Chapter conducts a wide array of activities that engage members and the general public in efforts to explore, enjoy and protect our shared environment; including outdoor hikes, service activities, community forums, research efforts, litigation, and more. More than 3,000 Minnesotans volunteer their time with the Sierra Club annually.
Named "the most influential environmental organization" in an Aspen Institute poll, the Sierra Club gives the public the information and the means to make their voices heard. As the world's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, the Club's 750,000 members in 65 chapters and over 400 local groups nationwide possess the unique ability to empower people and influence public policy through community activism, public education, outreach and litigation.
2007 Population & Environment Legislation
State and Federal Legislation Supported by Sierra Club's Population and Environment Program (pdf, 67k)