Minnesota | Environment.org

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Fighting drought, potato farmers in northern Minnesota overdrew their water permits by tens of millions of gallons

This story was originally published by the Star Tribune.

During the 2021 drought, nearly 800 Minnesota farmers with high-capacity wells pumped 6.5 billion more gallons of water than their permits allowed, state records show.

Farms on land owned or operated by R.D. Offutt Co., a potato-growing giant that has become one of the biggest water users in the state, were responsible for 23 percent of the excessive pumping.

“That’s quite a bit of overuse,” said Randall Doneen, a section manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “We’re trying to get people back into compliance.”

The overpumping in 2021 put more stress on already depleted aquifers, lakes, and streams and raised the risk that neighboring wells would run dry.

A Star Tribune review of water permit data reported each year to the DNR found more than three of four water …

Minnesota to require 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040

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| Pollution

Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota passed an ambitious climate law late Thursday night requiring the state’s power utilities to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. The clean electricity legislation was approved on a party-line vote by the state’s Senate. House Democrats passed an identical version of the bill last week, which means it now goes to the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, who intends to sign it.

“Minnesota has a proud tradition of being a national clean energy leader, but we’ve fallen behind other states,” Democratic House Majority Leader Jamie Long, who authored the bill, told Grist in a statement. “Minnesotans are calling on us to act and we are answering the call.”

The legislation establishes two new mandates for electric utilities in the state: a renewable electricity standard and a carbon-free energy standard. The former builds on a law …