Environmental
Justice for All Clean Energy, Air, and Water for All
Clean air to breathe and clean water to drink are the
most basic needs of every St. Paulite. Yet St. Paul has suffered from
more unhealthy air days in the past several years than at any time since
the 1970s. And the water in the Mississippi River is not safely swimmable,
fishable, or drinkable without extensive treatment — and some toxins
like mercury in fish from coal-burning utilities can not be removed. The
first way to make our air and water cleaner — and save significant
money — is by conserving energy and making our energy sources cleaner.
With Minnesota dependent on dirty coal-burning utilities for power, the
less dirty power we use and the faster our transition to clean, renewable
power sources, the cleaner our air and water will be.
•
Implement an aggressive energy conservation policy,
and improve the sustainability plan developed in 1999 by the International
Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. This sustainability
plan covers how we plan, build, and develop waterfront and other
development.
•
Expand the green building plan,
which currently only affects city-owned buildings, to all new buildings,
especially if they receive any sort of TIF (tax increment financing).
Investments in energy efficiency yield two to ten times as many
jobs per dollar invested as do investments in fossil fuels and nuclear
power. Phase in stricter green building standards, particularly
for publicly-financed housing, including Energy Star appliances
and lighting. Include recycling spaces designed into new apartment
buildings.
•
Complete an inventory of green spaces
and unbuildable lots throughout the city. We can't use the spaces
wisely unless we know what we have. Involve neighborhood groups
to decide how best to use these spaces — whether community
gardening, affordable housing, etc. Local citizen involvement ensures
wise decision-making.
•
Prevent environmental and economic debacles like
allowing in Gopher State Ethanol. Hard questions must be asked before
we allow corporations like GSE into St. Paul to prevent physical
and emotional harm to our health and to prevent declining property
values and decaying schools in our communities.
•
Promote mass transit for a better environment,
without sacrificing our neighborhoods. According to Transit for
Livable Communities, the Twin Cities offer the fewest mass transit
options of any U.S. city except Detroit. Encourage exploration of
hydrogen-powered buses and support light rail.
Create better communication in the city about
existing environmental initiatives, acknowledging successes like
the SEE Program (School Environmental Efficiency) and potential
environmental improvement opportunities, including volunteer opportunities
and grant opportunities. Coordinate neighborhood cleanups so they
don't conflict with each other.
•
Consider separating LIEP (Licensing, Inspection
and Environmental Protection) so there are no conflicts of interest
or "competing concerns" within the department between
licensing business and protecting the public health, including environmental
health.
•
Carry out existing environmental laws in a consistent
fashion.
•
Renegotiate the Xcel franchise agreement, which
expires June 30, 2006, to include requirements that St. Paul get
a greater percentage of its energy from clean, renewable sources
like wind and solar, that the city get a greater percentage of franchise
fees (currently totals $16 million) from Xcel without passing along
those charges to the customer, that the city get free street lighting
(currently paid as a "fee" by taxpayers), and that there
are guarantees of increased service accountability. If Xcel can't
agree to more favorable terms, renew the agreement for a shorter
period of time, and look elsewhere for a provider or consider setting
up a green municipal utility.
•
Phase in hybrid vehicles to the city fleet.
•
Work with Department of Commerce and Fresh Force
to install an anemometer (wind measuring tower) near a St. Paul
school to determine the economic feasibility of putting up a wind
turbine. While the wind maps are not encouraging for valley areas,
some of the higher elevations may have stronger, more consistent
wind speeds.
•
Work with Rock Tenn to find a long term solution
to provide cleaner energy to the plant, since they will no longer
receive energy from High Bridge when it completes its conversion.
•
Maintain and expand public parks so all St. Paulites
may recreate safely and enjoy nature within the city.
•
Promote city-wide water standards, especially
around proposed river development, asking industry to pay more for
water useage or giving tax incentives to promote responsible use,
and minimize fish-kills.
•
Expand and link the public bikeways.
•
Oppose storage of nuclear waste
on the Mississippi River, given that over 90% of St. Paul's drinking
water comes from the Mississippi.
More Information
Click here for speeches, press
releases, and press coverage about Elizabeth's vision and plan for St.
Paul.
Environmental
Justice for All