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Minnesota Senate passes 100% Clean Energy Bill
The legislation, tackling the climate crisis and creating clean energy jobs, passed the Senate Thursday night and now heads to Gov. Walz’s desk.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Late Thursday night, Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill designed to cut carbon emissions statewide while creating more clean-energy jobs.
If the bill is signed by Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota utilities would be obligated to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 to step up the fight against climate change under a bill speeding through the Legislature.
The bill was slated for a final vote on the Senate floor Thursday night after passing the House 70-60 last week. It’s a top priority for Democrats, who control both chambers, and for Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has made it an important part of his climate agenda.
“The 100 Percent by 2040 legislation puts Minnesota at the forefront of sustainable energy,” Democratic Sen. Nick Frentz, of North Mankato said in a statement on Thursday night. “This legislation was years in the making, and we passed it not a moment too soon. Carbon emissions are the number one threat to the health of our planet. This bill demonstrates that Minnesota takes climate change seriously and that we must act now to create an energy production system that is reliable, affordable, and responsible.”
The Senate’s two meteorologists — Democratic Sens. Nicole Mitchell, of Woodbury, and Robert Kupec, of Moorhead — detailed for their colleagues during the Thursday debate about how climate change is accelerating across Minnesota. They said it’s leading to more extreme weather events, as well as hotter summers with more droughts and warmer winters with shorter ice-fishing seasons.
Senate Republicans said they planned to offer a long list of amendments that they said would reduce the costs to consumers and risks to the power grid, but the one-seat Democratic majority held firm on the first several votes.
According to the Clean Energy States Alliance, 21 other states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have already established some kind of 100% clean-energy standards or goals, most with target dates between 2040 and 2050.
Minnesota’s previous standard, set in 2007 by a Democratic-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, set a goal of reducing overall statewide greenhouse emissions to at least 15% below 2005 levels by 2015, 30% by 2025 and 80% by 2050.
State regulators reported Tuesday that Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions declined by 23% between 2005 and 2020 and said the state was on track to achieve 30% by 2025. The biggest drop was in power generation, where emissions fell 54% amid the switch from coal to renewable energy.
This year’s bill aims to further shift utilities away from fossil fuels to wind and solar, but it also allows them to use hydropower, biomass, hydrogen and existing nuclear plants to go carbon-free. Utilities that can’t quit coal or gas on their own could ask regulators to let them use “off ramps” to delay compliance, or they could use renewable energy credits to make up the difference.
Minnesota’s biggest utility, Xcel Energy, supports the legislation, saying it fits with the company’s own goals, even though officials say they’re not exactly sure yet how they’ll get all the way to carbon-free by 2040. But the state’s smaller rural electric cooperatives and municipal power systems say it will be a lot harder for them and that the costs to their customers will be high.
Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and other top officials in his state threatened last week to sue Minnesota if the bill is enacted, saying it would prevent North Dakota utilities from continuing to export power generated from coal and gas to Minnesota.
GOP critics in Minnesota have dubbed it a “blackout bill,” saying that it will undermine the reliability of the state’s power grid — especially on the coldest winter nights and hottest summer days — in addition to forcing consumers to pay higher energy costs.
They held a news conference before Thursday’s debate to propose a different approach, which would repeal the state’s moratorium on new nuclear power plants and allow utilities to continue to use gas and coal to ensure reliable baseload power supplies.
“Democrats are pushing for strict mandates to force utilities and our energy producers to use carbon-free energy at a pace that current technology does not support,” GOP Sen. Andrew Matthews, of Princeton, told reporters. “Hoping that cleaner technology becomes available along the way up to the goals is not a plan.”
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Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
MCGREGOR, Minn. — Search and rescue efforts are ongoing for a woman who went missing in rural Aitkin County last week as multiple local and state agencies and volunteers continue to comb through the area north of McGregor.
In an update posted to its Facebook page Tuesday morning, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office said Tonya Yarmakov, 23, still hadn’t been located since her family reported her missing from Savanna State Park on Sept. 4. Authorities said they’re concerned for Yarmakov’s wellbeing because she lives with autism and Type 1 Diabetes.
According to the sheriff’s original press release, Yarmakov was in the park outside McGregor with her family the morning she went missing. The release said family members allegedly told authorities they left Yarmakov alone on a dock as they went fishing, and around noon, saw her get up and run away.
The statement said the family launched their own search before reporting her missing around 1:30 p.m.
Yarmakov is 5 feet tall and has dark brown hair. The sheriff said she was last seen wearing a rainbow tie-dyed t-shirt, gym shorts, black shoes and black headphones.
According to police, crews have logged hundreds of hours searching for Yarmakov thus far, but have not turned up any leads.
If you have information about Yarmakov’s current whereabouts, the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office urges you to contact them at 218-927-7435 or call 911.
While the school building was impacted, police say no students or staffers were hurt in the incident.
DULUTH, Minn. — Students and staffers at a Duluth elementary school encountered a bit of unexpected – and unwanted – excitement Friday morning when a vehicle smashed through a wall of their gym.
Northern News Now/KBJR reports that the incident unfolded at Myers-Wilkins Elementary on N. 8th Ave. E. just before 8:30 a.m. Duluth police told the station that two people were inside the vehicle when it ran a stop sign, went through the intersection and down an embankment, then careened through the gym wall.
No one inside the school was hurt, but the two people in the car were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Duluth Public School District tells Northern News Now the gymnasium will be closed for an undetermined time while engineers examine its structural integrity.
Meanwhile the school is on a secure protocol, meaning access to the building is limited while students go about their day.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs.
BREMERTON, Wash. — A child and their mother were attacked by a river otter at the Bremerton Marina Thursday morning.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), a woman and her young child were walking on a dock around 9:30 a.m. when the river otter pulled the child into the water. The woman said the child was underwater for a few moments before resurfacing.
WDFW officials say the otter kept attacking the woman while she pulled the child out of the water.
The child was treated at a hospital in Silverdale for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs. The woman was bit on the arm.
“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” said WDFW Sergeant Ken Balazs said in a prepared statement. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”
According to WDFW, the otters in the marina will be “trapped and lethally removed” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, then tested for rabies.
River otter attacks are rare, and WDFW officials advise against instigating any close encounters. There have been six documented human-river otter incidents in Washington state in the last decade.
“When we do see this on the rare occasion that it does occur, it’s for territoriality or protecting its pups. If it’s a female, protecting its pups,” said Matt Blankenship with the WDFW.
And while many think of them as cute, curious creatures. They can cause serious injuries.
Jen Royce, who lives in Bozeman, Montana, was attacked by a river otter last summer. The damage was extensive.
“I had really large bite wounds on each cheek. A really big gash on this left side of my eye here.. luckily it didn’t get my eye.. it bit through my nose,” Royce said.
She wants to urge others to be cautious around the animal.
“My main goal is to spread awareness. I don’t want people to go out and kill otters. That’s not what this is about. It’s about trying to be more prepared in nature,” Royce said. “Not to let your guard down and hopefully, if someone learns something from my story. I feel like that’s why I’m still here.”
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