Environmental Justice

We must meet the urgency of climate change immediately. I will continue to work to ensure the City of Minneapolis doubles down on our environmental justice investments by focusing on what the City has control over: public transportation infrastructure, urban spaces, disposable goods regulations, and building energy requirements. 

In my first term term, my environmental justice accomplishments included:

  • Supporting East Phillips residents and the Ward 9 Council office to win a massive community victory for the East Phillips Urban Farm, overcoming almost a decade of opposition by the city establishment.Everyone has a right to a healthy environment and to say no to more polluters in their neighborhood.

  • Authoring a budget amendment that invested $100,000 into green infrastructure, allowing additional dollars to be leveraged to expand the City’s green workforce. 

  • Following the citywide movement for the People’s Climate and Equity Plan, I took legislative action to advance a Pollution Control Annual Registration fee (PCAR fee) which would charge polluters a fee for carbon emissions.

  • Brought forward a resolution opposing the increasing criminalization of water protectors and all environmental activists.

  • Initiating a public conversation about taking advantage of state and federal funds for climate change mitigation, including how to maximize new opportunities available through the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • Co-authoring a Ship It Zero Resolution with Council President Jenkins calling on Target to reduce maritime shipping emissions in solidarity with coastal BIPOC communities. This resulted in Target making a public commitment to reduce emissions.

This term, I will:

  • Continue my work implementing fees for carbon emissions through PCAR fees. 

  • Work with state legislators to expand the city’s authority to tax corporate polluters.

  • Work to develop a Just Transition Fund, a protected and community-controlled fund for climate resilience projects and restorative investments in neighborhoods most impacted by pollution.

  • Develop the green jobs pipeline by partnering with local schools, unions, and community institutions to bring more workers of color and young workers into the green economy. 

  • Expand the City tree programs to accelerate and progressively finance tree canopy restoration in neighborhoods that have been damaged by emerald ash borer and the tornado in North Minneapolis in 2011.

  • Continue to support the Twin Cities Boulevard at the Rethinking I-94 Policy Advisory Committee to take the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in major infrastructure that brings healthier air, new economic and transit opportunities, and begins undoing the devastating impact highway construction had on Twin Cities Black communities.

  • Continue to support the permanent closure of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) trash burner, one of the single largest sources of pollution in Minnesota, and a just transition for workers there into union renewable-energy jobs.