After a series of extremist/activist rulings from SCOTUS (Supreme Court), they attacked the EPA, our country, and the planet by ruling against the Clean Air Act. This deeply irresponsible West Virginia v EPA ruling was expected, as the Supreme Court majority cares about enriching corporations, the coal and fossil fuel industry, and rolling back/ending civil rights and common sense protections that us who aren't rich/well-connected rely on. In response, we must do more locally.
Crises like this disproportionately harm poor and marginalized communities so its a matter of equity.
In Feb 2022, Robbinsdale Mayor Blonigan declared a "Climate Emergency" to seek resources to fight climate change. I'm a Sierra Club North Star Chapter member and I deeply care about the environment and environmental justice. Crises like this disproportionately harm poor and marginalized communities so its a matter of equity. But it's not enough to ask for help, we must act! It's not enough to support obvious things like LED bulbs, No Mow May, and bike paths.
My 10 Point Plan :
1) Allocate 5% of capital improvement project budgets to renewable energy in the city.
2) Solar streetlights. When new ones are added or old ones replaced, let's do the right thing and power them with renewable energy.
3) Pollinator-friendly plants. The Robbinsdale city govt shouldn't install sod (shallow roots require lots of water/die easily). The environmental solution is clover (drought tolerant, supports bees & handles heavy traffic) or bee lawn (grass/low growing flower mix).
*Encouraged but not required for residents/businesses.*
4) Expand recycling to keep things like batteries out of landfills.
5) Add recycling bins at City Hall. I couldn't find a recycling bin while at the League of Women Voters Minnesota Ward 3 Forum, so I took a pop can home with me. Embarrassing.
6) Seek to join the Hennepin Recycling Group (Crystal, Brooklyn Center, and New Hope)
7) Subsidize compost bins & rain barrels. Rain barrels help protect our lakes and reduce pollution
8 ) Make Organics Recycling easy so people actually do it
9) Reduce or eliminate use of pesticides
10) Continue cleaning Crystal Lake of pollution/phosphorous, & reduce how much of Minneapolis' trash/silt/sand ends up in our lake (which has no outlet). The lake was listed as "impaired" in 2002, and we must return the lake to the pristine water quality level it was a century ago.
It's not enough to ask for help, we must act!
