Tell Minnesota: Include river-friendly transportation and farming in the new climate plan
The links between the impacts of climate change — such as more extreme flooding — and the health of the Mississippi River are undeniable. (Photo by FMR)
How can Minnesota avoid the worst impacts of climate change? That’s what current agency leaders are figuring out right now, in hopes of securing a carbon-neutral, resilient and equitable future.
The state’s vision for how it will prepare for and address the impacts of the climate crisis is known as the Climate Action Framework. This framework is currently being revised, with a public comment period open through Sunday, Nov. 9. We think the current draft is pretty good, but there are a few important areas where we would like to see improvements in order to ensure clean water for all communities:
- Establishing efforts to get more living cover on cropland year-round, which will help protect drinking water and water quality
- A clean transportation policy with a goal of net-zero by 2050 for cars and trucks in Minnesota
- An approach to sustainable aviation fuel that includes true sustainability measures and environmental guardrails
Use the form below to urge Minnesota’s leader to include these river-friendly farming and transportation metrics in an updated Climate Action Framework. (We’ve pre-written a message for you. It’s fully ready to be sent as-is, but you are also welcome to make edits before submitting.)
What is the Climate Action Framework?
The first Climate Action Framework was released by Gov. Tim Walz’s administration in the fall of 2022. The goal, his office said, was to identify “strategies to help Minnesotans avoid the worst impacts of climate change.” The resulting document was bipartisan, with input from many stakeholders. More than 3,000 people also submitted feedback ahead of the framework’s initial release.
Why is it being revised?
While the original framework was a promising start, it was quite broad. It didn’t establish any specific policies that the administration planned to pursue. (Check out some of our original reactions here.)
The state says on its update page that more climate funding has become available since its release. This will allow decision-makers to be more ambitious and work more quickly.
“Though we have made progress, we must accelerate the pace and scale of our climate actions to achieve our long-term vision of a carbon-neutral, resilient, and equitable future,” the draft action steps explain.
The administration wants the newly revised version to include immediate, near-term steps that have to be taken in order to achieve the goals of carbon-neutrality, resiliency and equitability. The current public comment period opened Oct. 20 and runs through Nov. 9.
What is Friends of the Mississippi River’s role?
The links between climate change and the health of the Mississippi River are undeniable. If we want clean, healthy waters, the state must establish and follow through on action steps that will bring down greenhouse gas emissions and establish plans to blunt climate change’s worst impacts.
What is FMR asking for in the message to Minnesota’s leaders?
Here’s an overview of the changes we’d like to see before the Climate Action Framework is finalized. This list makes up the bulk of what you can submit to decision-makers using the above form:
- Low-carbon farms: Include the establishment of a statewide Continuous Living Cover (CLC) Campaign and Task Force in the “Big Things Now” section, as well as a metric in the “Natural and Working Lands Section.” CLC agriculture can help reduce emissions while improving clean water and diversifying our farm landscape.
- Clean Transportation Standard: Include the Clean Transportation Standard (CTS) in the “Big Things Now” section. This CTS can accelerate the transition to electric vehicles while cutting emissions in the transportation and farm sectors.
- Sustainable aviation fuel: Include an additional metric to track the carbon intensity of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) being used. Currently, a metric exists to track the amount of SAF used at Minnesota airports. We must measure not only how much SAF is being used, but also how sustainable it is.
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