ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS NETWORK MINNESOTA

Minnesota Is a Governor’s Signature Away From 450 MW of Solar : Greentech Media

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:20:38 -0500

Minnesota Is a Governor’s Signature Away From 450 MW of Solar : Greentech Media:

Vote Solar worked with Fresh Energy to ensure the bill included a shared solar component, an important way of broadening access to solar by allowing customers to invest in a solar project and get a credit on their utility bill, even if that project is not on their own roof. By September 30, 2013, Xcel must file a plan for this “community solar gardens” program, and other utilities can do so voluntarily. The shared projects can be utility-owned or developed by a third party, must be 1 megawatt or less in size, and may have participants from the same county or any contiguous county as long as they are in the same utility territory as the shared solar facility.
Participants receive a bill credit for their portion of the energy produced by the shared facility, at the value of solar rate described below, or at retail rate if the value of solar has not yet been calculated. Other IOUs, such as Ottertail Power or Minnesota Power, may opt to file a community solar gardens program.

Frog, toad and salamander populations plummeting, U.S. survey finds - The Washington Post

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:42:12 -0500

Frog, toad and salamander populations plummeting, U.S. survey finds - The Washington Post:

Frogs, toads and salamanders continue to vanish from the American landscape at an alarming pace, with seven species — including Colorado’s boreal toad and Nevada’s yellow-legged frog — facing 50 percent drops in their numbers within seven years if the current rate of decline continues, according to new government research. …

[S]cientists believe several factors, including disease, an explosion of invasive species, climate change and pesticide use are contributing. …

A study of Minnesota’s northern leopard frog fingered farm chemicals as a contributor to its decline, according to the journal Nature . After studying more than 200 factors that led to infection, two stood out, a synopsis of the report said, an herbicide called atrazine and phosphate, a fertilizer.

Ask a Master Gardener : Master Gardener : University of Minnesota Extension

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:24:36 -0500

Ask a Master Gardener : Master Gardener : University of Minnesota Extension:

Find answers to your [Minnesota gardening] questions several ways – whatever suits you!

"Not accepting new products that are likely to contain GMOs is a way we can take action now, even as..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:48:35 -0500

“Not accepting new products that are likely to contain GMOs is a way we can take action now, even as we lobby for labeling requirements,” explains Liz McMann, Mississippi Market’s consumer affairs manager. Going forward, the co-op will no longer accept any new products with ingredients that are likely to be genetically modified. Ingredients such as corn, soy, canola, sugar beet, cottonseed, papaya and summer squash must be certified organic, Non-GMO Project verified, or able to provide other verification of non-GMO sourcing.””

- GMOs: Strengthening Our Stance | Mississippi Market

Parents secure big wins in Minnesota - Safer Chemicals Healthy Families

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:12:33 -0500

Parents secure big wins in Minnesota - Safer Chemicals Healthy Families:

First state to ban formaldehyde in body products

Parents first learned about formaldehyde in children’s bubble bath when the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released their No More Toxic Tub report in 2009. This shocking report found cancer-causing formaldehyde in many popular children’s shampoos, bubble bath and other body products. Four years later, Minnesota is now the first state in the nation to ban formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from children’s body products. Minnesota parents will soon no longer have to be concerned about chemicals such as Quanternium-15 or DMD hydantoin releasing toxic formaldehyde into their child’s bath.

BPA-free food packaging now law

Parents will also be able to worry less about bisphenol-A (BPA) in their children’s formula or food. Minnesota joined Connecticut and Vermont in banning hormone-disrupting BPA from food packaging for young children. Next year, BPA will no longer be allowed in baby food, infant formula and toddler food containers for children under age three.

Minneapolis prepares for June car-share program | MinnPost

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:36:33 -0500

Minneapolis prepares for June car-share program | MinnPost:

Come June, as many as 250 vehicles could be available to Minneapolis residents who need a car on occasion but have no desire to own a vehicle.

Major U.S. Cities Are at Risk for Climate-Related Water Shortage: Report

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:02:07 -0500

Major U.S. Cities Are at Risk for Climate-Related Water Shortage: Report:

evolvesustain:

Bloomberg BNA — Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego are among the cities most likely to face water scarcity as climate change increases drought potential, a study released May 15 found.
via http://bloom.bg/186WDdB

The article also says:

Along with the potentially 40 million Americans affected in these cities, several “breadbasket region” states such as Nebraska, Illinois, and Minnesota also made the list of vulnerable areas.

Question: Considering that essential water supplies for so many Americans are at high risk from climate change, why are some corporations (like fracking corporations) being allowed to engage in practices that may pollute and/or waste a significant portion of the limited healthy water that Americans have left?

Everything you Need to Know About the March Against Monsanto! | March Against Monsanto Minnesota

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:02:33 -0500

Everything you Need to Know About the March Against Monsanto! | March Against Monsanto Minnesota:

Did you know that there is a March Against Monsanto that will be taking place in the Twin Cities? There are actually Marches Against Monsanto taking place in locations around the world on May 25th.

LETTER: Let's get honest about frac sand mining in Houston County - Spring Grove Herald - Bluff Country News - Minnesota

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:01:29 -0500

LETTER: Let's get honest about frac sand mining in Houston County - Spring Grove Herald - Bluff Country News - Minnesota:

Bryan Van Gorp Rushford:

Would-be miners are fond of the land rights argument - “It is my land so I can do whatever I want with it.”

That of course, ignores the land rights of their neighbors who should have a right to enjoy their property and be able to maintain their property value.

That right ends when it harms another person.

Do you think this argument is reminiscent of John Stuart Mills’ in On Liberty (1859)?

The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection.

No Solar Power for Rural Minnesota | MREA Co-op Watcher

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:24:38 -0500

No Solar Power for Rural Minnesota | MREA Co-op Watcher:

By setting this goal, to be phased in over the next 12 years, Minnesota will influence the market for renewables – leading to new energy-related jobs in Minnesota, and driving down costs of renewables development. And we’ll reduce our dependence on foreign and out of state energy sources, and cut coal pollution.

Unless you live in rural Minnesota. If you buy electricity from a company that’s democratically owned – a rural electric cooperative, or a municipally elected government – then you’re not part of any goal, and your coop can just keep doing business as it has been. The coops fought hard to get coops written out of the legislation, and they “won”, I guess. Even after they’d changed the bill to exclude coops, the Rural Electric Association still urged rural legislators to vote No: coal –fired power plants are the only way Minnesota can or should get its electricity.

As of today, Environmental Illness Network Minnesota has over 2000 followers on Pinterest (which, in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:51:14 -0500

As of today, Environmental Illness Network Minnesota has over 2000 followers on Pinterest (which, in case you were wondering, is more than combined are following the two Environmental Illness Network Tumblrs—the general environmental health one and the Minnesota focused one). Although numbers are nice, individuals are more important. And it has been lovely connecting—on whatever the platform—with individuals who, for an interestingly wide variety of reasons (including some heartbreaking ones), care about environmental health issues. The followers who are popular bloggers, representing health organizations, representing news organizations, or representing non-profits are appreciated as well. For whatever reason you want to connect, share information, and/or learn, thanks for being part of the journey.

Lawmakers agree on solar energy standard | Capitol View | Minnesota Public Radio

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:48:34 -0500

Lawmakers agree on solar energy standard | Capitol View | Minnesota Public Radio:

The House version of the bill had required investor-owned utilities to provide at least 4 percent of their power through solar generation by late 2025. The Senate had approved a bill that included a 1 percent solar standard.

The conference committee working out differences between the two bills decided on a 1.5 percent solar energy standard that will take effect sooner. Investor-owned utilities, such as Xcel Energy, must meet the standard by the end of 2020. Iron mining facilities and paper mills are exempt, as are electricity co-ops and municipal utilities.

The Right to Know Minnesota blog posted a very interesting...

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:12:00 -0500

The Right to Know Minnesota blog posted a very interesting interview of Angelica Hollstadt (the owner of the local organic sauerkraut company Angelica’s Garden).

When asked “Why is the issue of GMO labeling important to you?” Hollstadt responded by mentioning, among other things:

The one thing that scares me the most about GMO technology is the fact that a new microbe has been discovered where GMO crops are raised. It’s found in the soil and in and on the plants. The belief is that the herbicide glyphosate encourages the proliferation of this unidentified microbe. The scary part is, that microbe is now being found inside the reproductive organs of animals that consume the grain of these plants, i.e. corn and soybean.

Most importantly, this organism has been implicated in higher than normal rates of spontaneous abortions in domesticated animals. I ask myself, what then is this organism doing inside human bodies? Anyone who would like to research this can Google Dr. Huber and GMOs. He’s been outspoken about this discovery made by his collegues at Purdue University.

She also dropped this interesting tidbit:

I’m really not sure I’d say that all organic foods are safe. Sadly there are many local certified organic farmers using compost laden with GMO waste, pesticides and other unsafe biproducts of conventional agriculture. I know organic farmers putting this kind of compost on their fields by the tons. But, the National Organic Program allows this, so it’s legal. You won’t find that kind of information on a CSA brochure. I couldn’t live with myself if I tried to grow our produce with this kind of input and call it organic. Our farm uses a rotation of grazing cattle, cover crops and sea minerals to build our soil. The health of the soil is vital in determining the nutritional value of a crop. So I’d tell consumers to get to know their farmers and start asking some hard questions about how they treat their soil.

"Minnesota has one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level testing programs for unregulated..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:36:57 -0500

“Minnesota has one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level testing programs for unregulated contaminants in surface waters. The Minnesota agency’s statement did not speculate on potential human effects, which were beyond the scope of the study. Experts say fish are more vulnerable to surface water pollution than people because they live in water, so they get more exposure. Previous Minnesota studies have documented endocrine disruption in fish from the Mississippi River and other contaminated waters. But the chemicals are of growing concern to people, too: A United Nations report in February noted the rise in endocrine-related disorders like cancer, obesity, early puberty and infertility and identified widespread pollution as a “global threat” to wildlife and people.”

- Studies: Endocrine disruptors, cocaine common in Minnesota waters | WisconsinWatch.org

Since 2009, pigs at factory farms have been creating foaming...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:30:00 -0500

Since 2009, pigs at factory farms have been creating foaming gray, EXPLODING manure. University of Minnesota Professor David Schmidt is studying the issue and believes it may somehow be linked to microbial changes.

Schmidt doesn’t mention in the linked video presentation that both the antibiotics and GMO-pesticide-laced-feed to which factory farm pigs are exposed have been linked to microbial stress. What’s more, American factory farm animals are often being fed with GMO-corn-ethanol-wet-distiller-grains these day, and such feed has already been linked to increased bacterial problems.

Tom Philpott at Mother Jones wrote about the exploding manure problem in the article: “Mysterious Poop Foam Causes Explosions on Hog Farms.”

Question: WHO WANTS TO EAT MEAT FROM INDUSTRIALLY FARMED PIGS WHO ARE EATING GMO FEED AND BEING INJECTED WITH ANTIBIOTICS, AND WHOSE FOAMING MANURE LITERALLY EXPLODES?

And making factory farm meat even less appetizing is the report that engineered GMO DNA from feed can get taken up into animals’ bodies. GMO DNA has been found in meat! If engineered DNA can become part of the systems of animals because of what they have been fed, what is it doing to them, and what is it doing to us?

The above quotation from Farley Mowat, author of “Never...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:23:00 -0500

The above quotation from Farley Mowat, author of “Never Cry Wolf,” is still painfully relevant today. It is far too easy to think of examples of health, climate, and ecosystem threatening corporations that (either directly or through lobbyists, front groups or people essentially acting as independent contractors) work to vilify or demean those (whether of the two-legged or four-legged varieties) whose health, survival, sound science, or politics stand in the way of increased corporate profits.

Considering the popularity of Mowat’s message in “Never Cry Wolf” (the book was even made into a highly acclaimed Disney film), the practice of entertainment corporations LITERALLY still vilifying wolves these days to increase their own profits has a special perverseness. Adam Welz’s post at the Guardian, “Bloodthirsty ‘factual’ TV shows demonise wildlife,” detailed examples of the practice.

There are wolves who play an important role in their local ecosystems who are having a really tough time right now. And times are going to get even tougher for many creatures on this planet (including many humans) thanks to man-made climate change. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that “more than half the plants and about a third of the animals could lose about 50% of their range by 2080 if the world continues its current course of rising greenhouse gas emissions.”

This is the time for people of good conscience to stand up for protecting biodiversity and the increasing number of vulnerable lives struggling to survive on this planet. Corporate for-profit vilification of others is NEVER ethically okay, no matter the corporation, nor the financial stakes, nor the number of legs involved.

Mowat wisely wrote:

We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be - the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer - which is, in reality, no more than a reflected image of ourself.

“The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:05:00 -0500

“The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.” - Henry David Thoreau

Animal rights quotations are being posted on this Tumblr today as part of an effort to join with others on Tumblr (please join in!) who are trying to draw attention to how some American “nature” media businesses do not appear to have strong and transparent ethics policies guiding their employees’ interactions with wildlife; and how the results of their lack have (at times) been extremely troubling.

Adam Welz at the Guardian reported on how “Major US TV channels are promoting hysterical and outdated ideas about wildlife in popular, blood-soaked shows.” For example, in Yukon Men:

Charlie … sets a leghold trap for a wolverine, and catches it. As it squeals in the trap, trying to run away, the voiceover tells us dramatically that “wolverines are capable of tearing human beings apart.”

“He could gut me”, says Charlie, before raising his AR-15 and opening fire on the hapless animal. Many of his shots miss, but he eventually kills it.

Meanwhile, real reality tends to be far different:

Idaho-based wolf expert Suzanne Stone told me that she’d once been surrounded by a howling pack of gray wolves while sitting by a campfire in the twilight, armed only with a marshmallow on a stick. The animals were only twenty or thirty yards away. Was she scared, I asked? “No, not at all. It was an incredible experience.

“The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk?...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:00:00 -0500

“The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” - Jeremy Bentham (on animal rights)

Adam Welz wrapped up his Guardian post on “Bloodthirsty ‘factual’ TV shows [that] demonise wildlife” by asking:

Why are these factual networks, whose survival depends on building trust with their audiences, so reluctant to clarify their ethics policies with respect to wildlife?

What does it mean for conservation if high-rating shows on leading channels are portraying wildlife in a negative, seemingly misleading way to millions of viewers worldwide? And why are so few people saying anything about it?

"Minnesota has sacrificed much and received little from the mining industry. There is no reason to..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:24:38 -0500

“Minnesota has sacrificed much and received little from the mining industry. There is no reason to believe the copper mining industry will be more financially generous or less environmentally damaging that the iron mining industry.”

- American Rivers | A Miner’s Take on Mining the Boundary Waters

Open houses discuss creation of a new transitway through Midtown - City of Minneapolis

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:48:37 -0500

Open houses discuss creation of a new transitway through Midtown - City of Minneapolis:

Metro Transit will host open houses May 21 and May 23 on the Midtown Corridor Alternatives Analysis, a project that aims to determine the benefits, costs and impacts of creating a new transitway along either the Midtown Greenway or Lake Street in Minneapolis.

At the open houses, project staff will review initial results of possible transit mode/alignment combinations with the goal of advancing top alternatives for more detailed study this summer. Staff will be on hand to discuss those options and any other questions related to the project. Spanish and Somali interpreters will be on hand at both open houses.