The Budget.

This was the area of the greatest achievement during the 2009 session. The Legislature passed and Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed, a bill that appropriated the money that will flow from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment passed by voters in November 2008.

Particularly in the area of Clean Water, MCEA was pleased with how the Legislature distributed the money. More details can be found on page three of the Advocacy Update newsletter.

Climate Registry

A recommendation from the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group that is critical in helping state officials determine where the global warming pollution is coming from and how the state is doing in reducing it, the registry was passed and signed into law. More details can be found on page three of the Advocacy Update.

Protecting children from Lead

The drive to lower the limit of lead in children's blood which will prompt action by caregivers moved through many committees and remains alive for the next session. In the meantime, MCEA is pushing other strategies to protect children from lead. For much more detail, go to page nine of the Advocacy Update.

Passing a Clean Cars bill

The Legislature did not pass this bill, which would have required all new cars sold in Minnesota to meet the California Clean Cars emission standards and emit fewer global warming gasses. For more detail, see page three of the Advocacy Update.

Building Sensible Communities

Groups fighting to cut global warming by requiring better land use planning received a split decision, with parts of this bill making it into law, while other parts were defeated. For all the details, see page three of the Advocacy Update.

Safe Mining

This bill was unable to get a committee hearing. For more details, see page three of the Advocacy Update.

Stopping Bad Bills

Vigilance over all the bills introduced in the session resulted in MCEA blocking bad bills that would have undone environmental laws already in place. For a complete look at those blocked bills, see the box on page three of the Advocacy Update.