Saint Paul, Minn. – Today the Minnesota House of Representatives passed transformative legislation that establishes new clean energy goals for the state and puts Minnesota on a path to produce 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040.
Rep. Robert Bierman (DFL-Apple Valley) serves on the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee, and voted in favor of the bill.
“Not only is this legislation critical to protecting our climate, but it also makes economic sense,” said Rep. Bierman. “Wind power is the cheapest form of electricity, and producing solar energy is cheaper than building new fossil fuel plants or importing fossil fuels from other states. This bill ensures that we remove barriers to setting up carbon-free and renewable power sources and invest in jobs right here in Minnesota.”
In 2007, a DFL House, DFL Senate, and a Republican Governor enacted the Next Generation Energy Act, which sought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 2005 levels by 2050. According to a 2021 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) report, the state is not on track to meet its clean energy goals, with emissions declining just eight percent from 2005 levels.
Over the past four years, the Minnesota House has voted twice to improve upon the state’s clean energy goals, most recently in 2021 when legislators approved a Commerce and Energy budget that established the same 100% by 2040 clean energy goals legislators voted for today. Twenty-one other states have already established a 100% clean-energy standard or goal.
The same bill is advancing in the Minnesota Senate, where it passed the Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee. Gov. Walz included the same policy in his budget proposal for fiscal years 2024-2025, and has included the policy in past budget proposals.
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