Energy & Environment Archive
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: A Three –Legged Stool with a Missing Leg
Drafting and passing effective public policies is a tricky business that often ends with unexpected and potentially counterproductive results. Sometimes this is a reflection…
The Sun Drives Economic Development in Minnesota
Minnesotans are squinting up at the sun and leaning into the wind in efforts to link their pocketbooks and the natural environment to benefit…
Energy Trends: Fossil Future or Renewable Outlook?
Energy, sitting at the intersection of powering society and emitting greenhouse gasses (GHG) linked to climate change, has become a highly partisan issue, stylized…
Invest Now or Pay the Price Later
Debt, the deficit, shrinking government—however it’s worded, cutting public spending is a popular, easily packaged for a good sound bite message used by politicians…
VIDEO: The Eco Experience
The Eco Experience at the Minnesota State Fair is an educational adventure that highlights innovations in green technology, the latest in environmentally focused living,…
A Windy Future for Minnesota?
In 1999, Minnesota already had 273 Megawatts of installed capacity, second only to California. By the end of last March, that number surged to…
VIDEO: Attack of The Zebra Mussels
Zebra mussels are invading Minnesota's waterways and are currently found in at least 20 counties. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) calls these…
Farm Bill 2014: What they got right and wrong
Minnesota is a big agricultural player, with 50% of the state’s land used for farming. The food and agriculture industry is the state’s 2nd…
Lake Invaders: Preventing MN’s Zebra Mussel Takeover
Today Minnesota 2020 continues a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of a continuing collaboration with Macalester College's…
Land of 10,000 (Polluted) Lakes
Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, got its name from a Dakota word meaning ‘clear water’. However, we may have to start thinking about…
For Good Soil’s Sake, Prioritize Composting
Today Minnesota 2020 continues a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of a continuing collaboration with Macalester College's…
Few Lines of Defense for Asian Carp
Today Minnesota 2020 continues a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of a continuing collaboration with Macalester College's…
Runoff Elections: Cast Your Ballot for a Mightier Mississippi
Today Minnesota 2020 continues a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of a continuing collaboration with Macalester College's…
The Environmental Costs of Abundance
Today Minnesota 2020 continues a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of a continuing collaboration with Macalester College's…
Geographic Perspective Matters in Policy Debates
Over the next several weeks, Minnesota 2020 will run a series of columns focusing on agricultural and biodiversity issues. This is part of our…
National Success in Addressing Climate Change
The notion that the U.S. has an obligation to address climate change is implicit in the newly released “Moving America Forward,” an Environment America…
Video: New Policies Helping Fight Climate Change
Blistering cold winters, scorching hot summers, heavy rains, tornados and floods were just a few signs of climate change's connection to Minnesota. But in…
Advocacy Group Questions Mine Project’s Economic Viability
PolyMet’s plans to build a copper-nickel mine in northeast Minnesota have been getting a great deal of media attention; lesser known is Twin Metals…
Modernizing the Utility (and Public Policy) Model
Historically, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse are most often associated with bringing the modern day electrical grid to life. Modern is a fairly correct…
Important Concerns Remain Unaddressed for PolyMet
As Minnesota proceeds in evaluating PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mining project, a number of pressing issues still need to be resolved with respect to how…
Will 10 Cent Deposit Boost MN’s Recycling Rate?
Are you willing to temporarily part with $0.10 per beverage container to boost Minnesota's recycling rate? It might seem like an annoyance, but beverage…
Bakken’s Boom is Minnesota’s Peril
Hundreds of tons of crude oil that exploded and burned, causing the small town of Casselton, North Dakota's evacuation on Dec. 30, was 25 miles…
Protecting Wild Rice in Copper-nickel Mining
It isn’t surprising that concerns over wild rice have emerged in relation to PolyMet’s proposed open-pit copper-nickel mine in northern Minnesota, which is currently…
New Green Prairie Community Shining Example of Sustainability
2013 was a year of notable progress for clean energy in Minnesota. Most notably were the Solar Standard, the development of a value of…
Immigration Reform: The First Step in Saving Our Food System
We conclude our Macalester College environmental op-ed series with a look at how our broken immigration and food systems keep prices for bad foods…