Tag Archives | energy

Models for tackling climate change at the regional level

By on April 18, 2013 in Environment

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the next regional plan (called ThriveMSP 2040) may be one of the most significant pieces of policy that gets made in Minnesota in this decade. Every ten years, the Metropolitan Council looks at how the “systems” of our region are performing (land use, transportation, water, wastewater, [...]

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carter with solar panels

Solar access, land use and 30-year planning

By on January 10, 2013 in Environment, Land use

By law, every community in the seven-county metro is supposed to adopt a comprehensive plan that includes “an element for protection and development of access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems”.  This requirement dates back to 1978, when there was an oil crisis and gasoline was $1.30 per gallon (or, close to what it [...]

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Minnesota’s Canadian tailpipe

By on January 11, 2012 in Uncategorized

Here in Minnesota, we don’t have any fossil fuel resources of our own.  There are no oil wells, fields of natural gas, or coal mines anywhere in the state.  While the state has committed to using more and more renewables over time, we have to import most of our energy from elsewhere—and that mostly means [...]

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Taking local action

By on December 8, 2011 in Environment

Over at Grist, David Roberts lays down the brutal logic of climate change: With immediate, concerted action at global scale, we have a slim chance to halt climate change at the extremely dangerous level of 2 degrees C. If we delay even a decade — waiting for better technology or a more amenable political situation or [...]

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