Finding a Green Way to Govern

The University of Minnesota has applied for an air emissions permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in order to construct a new “Combined Heat and Power Plant” using the building adjacent to the Education Sciences Building and the Dinkytown Greenway Bridge on the East Bank. In order to do so they have completed an Environmental Assessment Worksheet . The MPCA took public comment on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet through November 26; and will be taking comment on the air emissions permit through December 1, 2014. According to the University the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant will provide the Minneapolis campus with power and steam, and reduce overall utility costs by up to $2 million per year and will reduce the University's net carbon footprint by an estimated 65,000 metric tons of CO2 by efficiently using "waste" heat from generating electricity.  The steam will be used to heat campus buildings and for sterilizing equipment in the labs...

In light of the recent article in the Star Tribune , which makes it sound like the Council opposes many of the most important things in the mayor’s budget, I want to lay out the parts of the budget I support, and those I’m open to changing. I strongly support the new positions to focus on equity.   I strongly support spending capital dollars on protected bikeways.   I strongly support creating a citywide curbside organic composting program.   I think the people of Minneapolis and the majority of my colleagues on the Council support these initiatives as well.   Here’s a little run down, one by one. On equity: Minneapolis has among the largest gaps between whites and people of color among all large cities in the US, in many different measures of success: income, wealth, employment, education, health and more.   This is not only unjust, but this fundamental problem drives many of the other challenges the City is forced to address, including crime.   W...

As I reflect on the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri,  I am reminded of the many times I have seen the kinds of police behaviors evidenced in Ferguson before. Abuses of police power, the shooting of unarmed black teenagers by police officers, threats against reporters and displays of force that turn peaceful protests into violent confrontations are familiar to many of us. Ferguson forces us to look at these through a racial framework and reminds me about how this is a continuation of historic racism that has existed in this country since its inception. It can be traced to periods of government sanctioned, legal and protected genocide and slavery, to an elaborate system of legalized oppression and segregation and so called “Jim Crow” laws after the civil war up to the more covert and insidious “ New Jim Crow ” of today. As a Minneapolis City Council Member serving in 2014 I am deeply concerned that the City of Minneapolis is, perhaps u...

I voted against granting municipal consent to the Southwest LRT project when it came before committee, and I plan to vote against it again at the full Council this Friday. This was a tough decision to come to, because I strongly support transit.  I strongly support light rail.  In fact, I strongly support the Southwest LRT project in concept, and many of the details of the project as proposed.  Our region needs to build out a network of high-quality transit options that will help us address climate change, increase commuter choice, fuel economic development, and more.  This line will benefit my constituents, Minneapolis and the region. We are decades behind our peer cities in this work.   But there are three problems with the project that have led me to withhold my support: the process, the lack of commitment to equity, and the lack of commitment to making real connections to the dense urban neighborhoods that this line can and should ser...

I agree (in part) with a recent Star Tribune editorial that it is time “tackle the Yard.” David Brauer and former Mayor Rybak are right to be worried about the future of this new downtown east park.     So far it looks like the Vikings are ahead 21 – 3 midway through the third quarter and if we don’t up our game now this park will fall far short of its potential to be a real public jewel that would serve all Minneapolitans – and not just as an extension of the large commercial enterprise venue now under construction.   Yes, the Yard must welcome game-day visitors, tourists, and people who work downtown.   But if these are the only people who feel welcome there and use the park, we will have missed an enormous opportunity to improve the lives of our residents.   Let’s not forget that tens of thousands of people live within a mile of the Yard, in the Downtown East, Cedar Riverside, Elliot Park and Stevens Square neighborhoods, including t...