Dear Neighbor,
Couldn’t help but have some thoughts regarding the above headline the Star Tribune ran this week, after the governor enacted the Blackout Bill Democrats recently passed making energy in our state more unaffordable, unreliable and unsafe.
First off, I’m not a journalist, but it may have been more valuable to Minnesotans if that headline had run before the governor signed the Blackout Bill into law. That would have given people who may not agree with that approach time to reach out to their legislators and provide input or relay concerns.
That said, the fact the Star Tribune ran this headline at all should raise some eyebrows, sound some sirens and make people wonder what this extremely liberal agenda on energy is getting us into. As a reminder, a report from the Center of the American Experiment estimates the Walz/Democrat plan to move to 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2040 will cost $313 billion, or nearly $3,900 per family per year. The same study indicates the return on these massive consumer costs would be negligible at best, paying to potentially avert 0.00096 degrees Celsius of warming by 2100.
As I said at the time the Blackout Bill passed the House, this is the last thing Minnesotans need at a time we already are paying more to heat our homes and concern over energy shortages is increasing. My position remains firm in that our state’s approach on energy should be to ensure affordable, reliable power through a diverse grid. This bill takes us the complete opposite direction and I strongly opposed it.
That’s bad enough, but there are a whole lot more extreme proposals coming our way. In fact, the House Democrats now have introduced a bill to ban in Minnesota the sale of gas-powered mowers, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, hedge clippers, chainsaws, lawn edgers, string trimmers and brush cutters. They also have their sites on banning the sale of non-electric Zambonis in a different bill. Snowblowers aren't mentioned by name, but they can't be far behind. Motor boats?
What makes this liberal obsession with California-izing Minnesota’s energy policy even more beyond comprehension is that it coincides with glaring warning signs from California itself. In just the last handful of days we’re seeing headlines such as:
“It’s really been a shock’: Outrage grows over sky-high energy bills
“California’s surging energy bills are its own fault”
“California’s grid faces collapse as leaders push renewables, electric vehicles, experts say”
“Energy expert sounds alarm over California power grid: ‘Stressed to the limiit’
Then, just yesterday, came this from the LA Times:
California's population dropped by 500,000 in two years
There certainly are a number of factors to take into account for why people are leaving California, but the point is more and more people are not wanting to sleep in that bed that's been made. That state's unaffordable, unreliable and unsafe energy policy is part of the equation.
In other news, House Democrats in recent days have approved bills to:
- Increase funding without accountability for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) that has been the subject of rampant fraud allegations.
- Increase funding for early learning scholarships – which empower parents to make decisions for their families – along with child care stabilization grants that have their own fraud concerns. Child care centers linked closely to those indicted by federal authorities in the $250 million (or more) Feeding our Future scam also received stabilization funding.
- Provide taxpayer-paid breakfasts and lunches to students statewide, regardless of whether families can afford them on their own.
- Create a new sick leave program that will pose significant burdens to our job providers.
One interesting thing about the lack of guardrails and accountability with the CCAP and child care stabilization grant funding is it totally goes against the grain of so many other bills we are seeing that include layer after layer of new government mandates, regulations and excessive burdens.
Such was the case when the committee on labor I serve conducted a hearing for a bill with new rules for meatpacking plants. As I was listening to the testifiers, I couldn’t help but wonder why OSHA hasn’t acted to enforce existing labor laws before we go ahead and add new ones that could go unenforced as well.
An article published online recaps an important exchange of words:
“Did the organization that was established to protect you and your coworkers, did they let you down?” Mekeland asked Lenway, the Hormel worker and union steward.
“OSHA let us down,” Lenway said. “I have members calling OSHA now expressing concerns and OSHA basically tells them, ‘You just have to put in a complaint because we’re months out and there’s no way we can come see you.’”
State officials then went on to say they don’t have enough OSHA staff to handle the workload. They indicated they have 50 OSHA inspectors that completed 1,300 inspections last year, which amounts to one inspection every two weeks per inspector.
Math aside, if there truly is a shortage of inspectors, that’s the bill we should have heard first. It’s amazing how much slower the state has been to dispatch inspectors to these meatpacking sites when, just a couple years ago, all you had to do was open a coffee shop and the state would be walking through your door in a flash.
Until next time,
Shane