Summary of Minnesota Green Jobs Act (2007)
Minnesota has long been a forerunner on environmental issues. In 2007, the state passed the Demand Efficiency Act, which provided strong targets for energy efficiency. Representative Kalin and Senator Ellen Anderson met with public and private stakeholders to create a strategy for developing green jobs. The result of this collaboration was the Minnesota Green Jobs Act, which sought to advance green economic development while also creating living wage jobs. The was signed into law on May 23, 2008, and includes five policy mechanisms to assist the statewide emerging green economy: The Act: (A) adds green economic development to the criteria for economic development assistance; (B) creates a Green Jobs Task Force; (C) creates an Energy Improvement Loan Program; (D) establishes a Microenergy Loan Program; and (E) mandates the completion of the “Green Economy Report.”
Download the Summary
Minnesota has long been a forerunner on environmental issues. In 2007, the state passed the Demand Efficiency Act (Sen. Dibble, Rep. Kalin). The DEA provided strong targets for energy efficiency, for efficiency ratemaking, and for programs that reduce global warming emissions and reduce costs for low-income consumers. The DEA worked in concert with Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard (Kalin) which called for a 42% reduction in projected carbon emissions by 2025. This means that by 2025 more energy will be saved from the efficiency bill than will be generated by a nation-leading 25% Renewable Energy Standard.
Given the state’s leadership on environmentalism, it came as no surprise when the state sought to bring in the German company, Vestas, to create good green jobs for its residents. When the state failed to lock in the Vestas contract, however, Minnesota legislators decided to take leadership and create a strategy for developing green jobs within the state. Representative Kalin and Senator Ellen Anderson met with public and private stakeholders to create a strategy for developing green jobs. The result of this collaboration was the Minnesota Green Jobs Act . The Minnesota Green Jobs Act sought to advance green economic development while also creating living wage jobs. The Act gained bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty on May 23, 2008.
The Minnesota Green Jobs Act includes five policy mechanisms to assist the statewide emerging green economy: The Act: (A) adds green economic development to the criteria for economic development assistance; (B) creates a Green Jobs Task Force; (C) creates an Energy Improvement Loan Program; (D) establishes a Microenergy Loan Program; and (E) mandates the completion of the “Green Economy Report.”
This summary reviews three particularly noteworthy portions of the bill: (i) prioritizing projects that promote the “green economy” for economic subsidies; (ii) the Green Jobs Task Force; and (iii) the Green Economy Report.
