MN350 applauds Walz administration's support of legislation to move state to 100% clean energy

MN350 and MN350 Action applaud the Walz-Flanagan administration’s endorsement of legislation requiring Minnesota's utilities to provide 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050 with a plan that prioritizes renewable energy.

Gov. Walz’s announcement today “is welcome leadership and a big step toward moving us to a clean energy economy,” said MN350 Climate Justice Organizer Mysti Babineau. “We will work hard to raise awareness in every corner of the state to make sure this legislation passes, to make the transition just and to do what it takes to win climate justice.”

MN350 and MN350 Action have seen a surge of interest in climate justice in the past 12 months throughout Minnesota. “I’m thrilled with Gov. Walz’s bold leadership on climate change,” said Ellen Hadley, a retired middle school teacher and MN350 volunteer from Anoka. “For over a decade, my students have asked for solutions to this global threat. Finally, Minnesota will make them a promise to address climate change, a promise to grow cool new jobs in every corner of the state, and a promise to ensure that they have healthy places to raise their own children.”

The announcement from Gov. Walz comes after a federal climate report in November acknowledged the scientific consensus that we have only a short window to craft solutions to our climate crisis.

“The bold leadership from Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan puts Minnesota into the climate justice leaders circle,” Babineau said. “It also serves future generations by preventing further damage to our climate.”

Midwestern states such as Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan also are developing plans for 100 percent clean energy. The endorsement from Gov. Walz, along with likely bipartisan support in the Legislature, makes Minnesota’s 100 percent renewable standard both visionary and realistic.

“Minnesota has a history of working hard to prevent damage to our climate,” said MN350 Executive Director Kevin Whelan. “We worked together as a state to achieve our goal of 25 percent renewables by 2025 seven years early. People from across the state will continue speaking out to show the Legislature that Minnesotans expect their state to lead on the transition to a healthy, livable, clean energy future.”

ABOUT MN350 & MN350 Action

MN350 is a statewide group with 20,000 supporters working to make Minnesota a national leader in a just transition to a clean energy economy. MN350 Action is its political and advocacy arm.