Dozens rally at Minnesota Capitol on Earth Day, urging policies protecting environment
Dozens of Minnesotans gathered at the state capitol on Tuesday for an Earth Day rally, urging policymakers to double down on curbing climate change and protecting Minnesota's natural resources.
"On this Earth Day, you are leading the fight to protect our earth for future generations — our children and our grandchildren," said Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters.
Knopf and other advocates condemned efforts from the Trump administration they say would hurt the environment, including the Boundary Waters. The Biden administration had imposed a 20-year ban on mining near the area, but President Trump's March executive order expanding mining on federal lands stoked fear among some that it would be at risk.
Others who spoke at the event focused on state proposals that worry would undue progress in the last couple of years, like a new law banning PFAS or "forever chemicals" in consumer products.
Large budget bills subject to end-of-session negotiations in the legislature exempt certain products from that expansive law aimed at protecting drinking water from the toxins. The proposal would exclude electric bikes for children, internal product components that don't come in contact with the skin or mouth, and firefighting foam in airport hangers from the ban.
"We need your voice to tell legislators we want them to choose Minnesotans over billionaires and we will not tolerate cave outs to Amara's law," said Avonna Starck, state director of Clean Water Action Minnesota, referencing the PFAS bill named for Amara Strande, who advocated for the change before she died of liver cancer.
Patti Holmes of Falcon Heights, who attended the rally Tuesday, said she is concerned that climate change will impact her children in the future. She felt it important to speak her mind on the issue.
As state lawmakers craft the next two-year budget, she hopes they focus on incentives to help people make the switch to cleaner alternatives—like electric cars or solar or wind power.
But Minnesota is staring down a $6 billion deficit in the future if lawmakers don't act wisely this session, which means some programs with one-time funding that passed two years ago — like rebates for electric vehicles, e-bikes and air source heat pumps — likely won't get renewed this budget.
"The budget isn't as bright as three or four years ago, so it's a prioritization issue, really — are we going to take it seriously?" she said.
