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Before our Chief Strategy Officer Aaron Klemz takes a well deserved break after the legislative session, he jotted down his five biggest takeaways to update supporters on how MCEA’s priorities fared. We gained ground on some of our most important goals - protecting drinking water in SE Minnesota, bolstering investments to enforce air pollution permits, and creating a new avenue for limiting PFAS contamination. Thank you to supporters who sent messages to their legislators at critical moments to move this work forward.
Find out what other wins for Minnesota’s environment MCEA helped lead during Minnesota’s 2024 legislative session.
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No one should have to live next to uncontrolled pollution from industrial manufacturing. But this is exactly what’s happening in the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis. Smith Foundry has been emitting unknown amounts of unfiltered toxic pollution from its roof vent above the metal melting furnace since at least 1995, and potentially much longer.
On May 21, Governor Walz signed a bill granting the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency new, wide-ranging authority to shut down pollution sources that are harming people’s health.
Tell the MCPA Commissioner to use it to suspend operations at the foundry until pollution levels can be tested and, at a minimum, new pollution reduction devices are installed to reduce emissions from the furnace.
Take Action today to stop adding more pollution to a residential neighborhood that has been used as a sacrifice zone for industry for generations.
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MCEA has a long and dedicated history protecting Minnesota’s water - from the drinking water that comes out of your kitchen sink, to the groundwater that feeds our aquifers, to the streams, rivers and 10,000 lakes we all love - including Minnesota’s Great Lake.
You know about MCEA’s dogged and ongoing defense of Lake Superior against the grave risks posed by PolyMet’s proposed sulfide mine. But our stewardship of the big lake stretches back to our organization’s founding 50 years ago. In fact, the first legal case MCEA took on involved protecting Lake Superior from mining pollution.
Click here to learn about that wild fight and how, 50 years later, it’s still not over. Neither is MCEA’s commitment to protecting Minnesota’s water.
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“The question isn’t, do we mine in Minnesota or do we mine elsewhere. The right question is, how do we find the metals we need for the clean energy transition in the least damaging possible way? ” asked MCEA CEO Kathryn Hoffman last month at the Rosenmeier Forum in Brainerd.
This event, with Julie Lucas of Mining Minnesota, was a rare opportunity to speak publicly on the topic alongside industry representatives who are squarely on the other side of the issue. The climate crisis is urgent, and the energy transition is part of the solution. But industry narratives tend to squeeze out every option to address needs for metals other than more mining.
So what are those better options? Learn more by watching a recording of the forum. MCEA Supervising Attorney Joy Anderson listened to it on her drive into work and says it makes a great podcast substitute.
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When the news cycle is hard, and this weary world presses upon us, it’s good to be reminded about small moments of optimism and joy. We’ve had such powerful, joy-filled gatherings in the past two months. Getting together to celebrate felt so good - none of us are alone in this hard work.
MCEA’s work is certainly rooted in science and data and the law, but perhaps with a dab of hope. We’re in this work to make a better world, which is optimism. If we were just pretending to solve problems, would this be easier? Of course! But instead, we roll up our sleeves and get to work on the hard structural changes that cleaner air, water, and land will require.
Make no mistake - we’re not wearing rose-colored glasses. We know that a better future will not come easily. But in the words of one of our bold Board members recently, “It’s GO time if we want to save our planet.” Indeed, it is.
We’re grateful to have you among our supporters. If you’d like to make a gift before our books close at the end of June, you can do so below. Thanks for fighting the good fight with us.
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