Hello Minneapolis,
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Contact: Nancy Beals
612-465-0414
Bleak Environmental report card for Minneapolis Mayor
R.T. Rybak;
challenger Peter McLaughlin proposes environmental and
energy plan for Minneapolis
Mayoral Candidate Peter McLaughlin today unveiled a
major environmental and energy initiative for the City
of Minneapolis. Environmentalists supporting
McLaughlin also issued a stinging rebuke of
environmental claims made by Mayor RT Rybak, charging
Rybak with taking credit for environmental policies
initiated by others and for curtailing environmental
efforts needed by the City.
"The Mayor has claimed credit for environmental
successes he had nothing to do with," McLaughlin
charged at a press conference today. "And in some
cases he has actually set the City back. I will not
stand by while environmental successes achieved before
he took office erode under his leadership".
Environmentalist and McLaughlin supporter Mark Andrew,
co-founder and first president of MPIRG and co-chair
of Earthweek 1972, conducted a review of Rybaks
record on environmental issues and gave him low marks
across the board. Andrew cited a series of false
claims made by the current Administration, including
taking credit for the phosphorus ban in lawn
fertilizer and vapor recovery requirements for gas
stations that were passed by the previous
administration, and his claim that the City meets the
air quality standards of the Kyoto Protocol, which it
has not and does not at the present time.
In addition, the Mayor has allowed key City staff
vacancies to go unfilled, thus detracting from the
City's ability to regulate for environmental quality.
The Environmental Management Section now has fewer
staff than that of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
"As a contrast to these false claims and indicators of
neglect, I today am proposing a series of initiatives
designed to put our city on a path for being the
nations most progressive on environmental policy and
innovation," McLaughlin said. "Chief among these is my
proposal to create within the City a Department of
Environmental Quality, thus elevating for the first
time the environment to the status of a full city
department.
The new DEQ will house all of the environmental
functions of the City that have been scattered
throughout the bureaucracy of the City and will be
involved with planning, permitting, protection and
grant writing. The DEQ will be able to generate more
Met Council, state and federal grant and partnership
dollars for projects like improving water quality in
our lakes, creeks, and river.
Peter understands that understaffing environmental
protections, by spreading such responsibilities too
broadly at the city level, winds up COSTING money, it
doesnt save money, said former Green Party City
Council Member Jim Niland (who supported Rybak in
2001).
McLaughlin also said he will take a more pro-active
approach to making the City a more sophisticated
energy customer. As very large energy user and
purchaser, we should be able to exert a lot more
influence than we have been by actively pushing for
energy alternatives such as wind or biomass to
generate electricity and alternative fuels for the
City's vehicle fleet. "I pledge to dramatically
increase the City's participation in programs that
reduce our reliance on fossil fuels," McLaughlin
stated. "As one of America's great cities, we should
be a national leader on making our cities more energy-
independent."
McLaughlin also pledged to become a national leader in
the incorporation of green principles in architectural
design. "Ive worked on these standards at Hennepin
County, and the City's own buildings should set an
example for the community on the value on green
building principles," McLaughlin stated. "I will
create an environmental standard for all future City
buildings, and, over time, we will work with the
private sector to achieve sustainability principles in
building design for commercial buildings throughout
the City."
McLaughlin also proposed expanding on initiatives hes
led with residents in the Phillips neighborhood. I
believe that we can help many more people in this city
become better energy consumers by expanding the work
Ive done at the new Phillips Community Energy
Cooperative as well. Weve saved residents tens of
thousands of dollars collectively in the first two
years since we formed. Such work brings about
economic and environmental justice for residents.
Finally, McLaughlin expressed frustration with the
lack of park space in the core business district of
downtown. McLaughlin stated that the City is short on
green space downtown and pledged to establish at least
one downtown park as part of the City's overall
downtown development plan. "There is a dearth of
outdoor green space downtown," McLaughlin charged. "I
will establish a taskforce within the first six months
of my term to examine where and how additional park
space and green connections can be established
downtown. While there is green space in some parts of
the City, there is an obvious lack of park and other
green space in the downtown core. Vibrant urban areas
have adequate park and green space available. We can
add enormously to the livability of the central core
by taking this challenge seriously," McLaughlin said.
Peter McLaughlin is a person who truly knows how to
get big things done, said Jennifer Lovaasen, who
worked with McLaughlin on completing the citys new
Hiawatha Light Rail Line. We held more than 600
community meetings during the preparation and
construction of the LRT. And it was Peter who worked
through the difficult meetings, worked with concerned
residents, and pushed for change even when it would
have been far easier to not show up. We can credit
Peter for providing the leadership on this project,
which is without question the single most significant
regional environmental reform in our lifetime.
####
Guy Gambill
(Uptown)
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