Governor Walz announces new plan to reduce pollution, slow climate change

EAGAN, Minn. (KTTC) – Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced a new plan Friday that’s aimed to protect Minnesota’s environment and combating climate change.

Walz made his announcement during an event at Ecolab’s Advanced Design Center in Eagan.

The framework for this plan identifies immediate and long-term actions Minnesotans can take to achieve the state’s goal to help communities reduce pollution and climate change.

The plan includes six measurable and achievable goals to slow the impacts of climate change: clean transportation, climate-smart natural and working lands, resilient communities, clean energy and efficient buildings, healthy lives and communities, and a clean economy.

Some ways to make these goals achievable include building out the electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, enhanced use of wind and solar energy and strategies to build carbon storage in forests and soils.

These actions are aimed to grow the economy by creating new jobs around Minnesota with collaboration from partners in public and private sectors.

Walz says this has been years in the making.

“It was in 2007 when Minnesota was ahead of the nation,” Walz said. “We stepped out front on some of our renewable standards. We stepped out front in a bipartisan manor to talk about how we can protect the pristine environment of this state at the same time growing the economy. It is a false choice to believe that if you address climate change, that is somehow detrimental to the economy. Nothing could be further from the truth. To not address climate change will be that existential threat to the health, to the wellbeing and to the economic future of Minnesotans for generations to come.”

New climate goals for Minnesota are based on the best available science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which includes reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and prioritizing investments in climate resilience over the next 10 years.

Input for the framework of this plan came from more than 3,000 Minnesotans, including residents, businesses, community organizations, tribal nations and local governments.

You can learn more about the framework here.