🚫 CO2 Pipelines in MN 🚫
CURE continues to lead the opposition to Summit’s proposed CO2 pipeline. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the 28-mile portion of the project in Otter Tail and Wilkin County was published in January of this year. We were happy to see so many impacted community members, members of the public, and organizational partners join us during the comment period, identifying areas where the DEIS got it wrong or could be improved. We’re now waiting for the Minnesota Department of Commerce to take in all the feedback and complete the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which members of the public will be able to comment on once again.
Upcoming: After the FEIS is released, there will be both public hearings and evidentiary hearings before an Administrative Law Judge. Stay tuned to learn about when and how to attend the public hearings and share your thoughts or concerns about the project directly with the ALJ.
Carbon Capture was also a hot topic at the state Capitol this year. CURE testified against HF 342, which would have made it state policy to encourage the development of carbon capture technology within the state.
🎥 Watch our testimony here! ➡️
Upcoming: After the FEIS is released, there will be both public hearings and evidentiary hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Stay tuned to learn about when and how to attend the public hearings and share your thoughts or concerns about the project directly with the ALJ.
Minority Report + Clean Transportation Standard 🌽 🚗
NEW RELEASE: CURE, in collaboration with Sierra Club North Star Chapter and Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, published a Minority Report: “A Midwestern Low Carbon Fuel Standard is Not a Climate Solution,” that outlines our concerns with the proposed so-called Clean Transportation Standard and its potential impact on environmental and human health.
Read More: Low carbon mandate could increase carbon emissions in Minnesota
⚡️ Clean Energy Transformation + Siting Webinars
The growing climate crisis means we need to transition to renewable sources of energy ASAP. But by and large, this new energy infrastructure is going to be built in the rural places we love and call home. This puts the conversations about where, when, and how we build out renewable energy and the grid in the middle of CURE’s most important work on rural communities, energy, climate, and democracy.
CURE is leading these conversations with legislators, local leaders, and rural communities ➡️
✅ REGISTER TODAY // Tilting at Powerlines: Local control of large energy development ➡️ Wednesday, April 24 @ 12:30 pm featuring Derrick Braaten, Owner of the Braaten Law Firm in North Dakota
🎥 WATCH NOW: What an Energy Transition Means for Rural America
Featuring Sarah Mills, Director of the Center for EmPowering Communities at the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute
💦 State of the Minnesota River // Water Town Hall
In late March, over one hundred concerned & curious people gathered in Mankato, MN, to talk about the biggest issues impacting the ecological health of the Minnesota River and what we can do about them 💧💧💧 Watch now ➡️
UPDATE ➡️ DNR’s mismanagement of funds to protect wildlife habitat prompts investigation 🕵️♀️
The Office of the Legislative Auditor has opened a special investigation into the DNR’s mismanagement of protected wildlife habitat funded by taxes paid by hunters and anglers. CURE is encouraged by this progress, but it is very hard to un-cut old-growth trees, and real accountability will mean a true shake-up in the agency. We continue to encourage the Fish and Wildlife Service to withhold this type of funding until DNR demonstrates it is not destroying irreplaceable wildlife habitat, contrary to law. Read more HERE.
ICYMI:
⚡️🚗 Electric Vehicles in Rural MN
WATCH: CURE at the Northern Exposure: Winter Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive in Ely. EVs, winter, and rural Minnesota just go together!
🚜 USDA Touts Farmer Benefit Plans ➡️
CURE hails announcement as vital for farmers & rural communities. Read more HERE.
🐄 💩 Riverview Dairy + Dooley’s Renewable Natural Gas Pipeline
Last fall, CURE raised objections to this project due to concerns about water & climate pollution + increased ag concentration, especially as small & medium dairies continue to go out of business. Read more ➡️ “It’s about more than a pipeline.”
🎉 Congratulations 🎉
⚡️Erik Hatlestad, CURE Energy Democracy Director, serving a temporary post as a Clean Energy Benefits Advisor for the USDA RUS.
🏆 Hudson Kingston, CURE Legal Director, named a Minnesota Attorney of the Year.
📣 Share your perspectives with our friends at Center for Rural Affairs (CfRA)
Our partners at CfRA are reaching out to CURE members with a “2024 Rural Minnesotan Perspective Survey” — you are invited to share your opinions.
