Three years on, Minnesota’s climate change initiative spurring projects across the state 

Another summer-like day another air quality alert Now almost an annual recurrence hazy skies from Canadian wildfire smoke beg the question If the underlying cause is surroundings change what are we doing about it In Minnesota it s quite a lot While efforts to address surroundings have faced a setback in Congress where a massive budget bill would cut tax credits for green power projects in Minnesota state agencies communities and citizens continue to plan and initiate projects that implement the state s State Action Framework an initiative created to help prepare the state for surroundings change Leading that effort is Kate Knuth the state director with the Minnesota Trash Control Agency MPCA In Knuth was elected to the Minnesota House She served three terms introducing or seeing through several climate- and environment-related bills Knuth later served on Minnesota s Environmental Quality Board and as the chief resilience officer for the city of Minneapolis She earned a doctorate in conservation and started her own consultancy aimed at revitalizing democratic institutions to empower them to fight context change In Knuth ran for mayor of Minneapolis and the campaign highlighted her Minneapolis Green New Deal proposal encouraging Minneapolis residents to take setting action Fall updates to the framework In addition to addressing the causes of setting change much of the work focuses on mitigating its impacts For wildfire smoke people can stay indoors or wear a mask outdoors To deal with increasing rains cities can improve stormwater and wastewater systems Now entering its third year the State Action Framework is undergoing an update to be rolled out this fall Changes may include ideas from a community comment period that received about responses Knuth noted People are excited to help move the state forward on state they are really engaged she revealed Knuth explained multiple have attended information meetings in-person and virtual From large cities to small towns from all colors on the political spectrum the trend toward a warmer and wetter situation affects everyone Environment cuts across all departments in state establishment revealed Knuth who will be talking about the framework June at a joint event with Th ird Act Minnesota at Valley Locality Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley Working together we can do a better job of reducing the impacts of circumstances change and be better prepared It pays a lot of benefits Grants for city projects If differing ideologies and less enthusiasm about addressing weather change are evident at the federal level major funding remains available in Minnesota though Knuth disclosed We don t have a federal partner the way we did before We have to fight for the funding For instance the state received million from the U S Environmental Protection Agency s Environment Trash Reduction Grants campaign for climate-smart food systems projects in Minnesota This includes agriculture with grant applications due July to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for the field rise of cover crops a tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions In meanwhile the state Legislature set aside million for MPCA grants for infrastructure planning and projects addressing greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater and stormwater management This helps to make communities more resilient to the impacts of setting change An interactive map shows grant locations amounts and types Stormwater management challenges The majority of situation grants to communities address stormwater With increasing rainfall and severe storms managing stormwater becomes more challenging for cities particularly smaller ones in rural areas Kate Knuth Perched on a bluff above the Minnesota River in southern Renville County the small town of Franklin population sees heavy stormwater gushing from city storm sewers into a ravine carrying tons of sediment into the river The city received a grant of more than million from the MPCA to build a system that will better control stormwater from the city and down the river bluff It s a big deal commented Kevin Kokesch who manages citizens works for the city The total cost will be million with the city contributing The project will create holding ponds and a pipe that will slow the water and greatly reduce erosion It will be nice to prevent sediment from getting into the Minnesota River and keep the ravine from sloughing down mentioned Shane Traulich engineer with Bolton and Menk working on the project In addition to benefiting water quality in the Minnesota River the project is located in the Lower Sioux Agency institution area meeting the grant scheme s criteria for environmental justice Stronger focus on collaboration More than Minnesotans helped shape the Situation Action Framework An MPCA message says the CAF sets a vision for how the state will address and prepare for situation change It identifies immediate near-term actions to achieve the long-term goal of a carbon-neutral resilient and equitable future for Minnesota The main goals of the CAF include Clean transportation climate-smart natural and working lands resilient communities clean strength and efficient buildings healthy lives and communities and clean financial market An MPCA declaration about the CAF update says it will include a more comprehensive set of actions with a stronger focus on collaboration public benefits and workforce demands We have made progress since the original framework was published in But we must increase the pace and scale of our actions to achieve our vision of a carbon-neutral resilient and equitable Minnesota The MPCA is hosting a June webinar about the updates to the State Action Framework The post Three years on Minnesota s weather change initiative spurring projects across the state appeared first on MinnPost