On February 7, 2023, following Governor Tim Walz’s signature, Minnesota made a commitment to clean and green energy. No more excess carbon dioxide for Minnesotans, for our environment, for communities and families directly exposed to this noxious greenhouse gas.
COPAL is committed to a future where its community can live free of air pollution. Environmental justice is part of their work policies. The working class and immigrant families who live in sectors close to factories and incinerators that emit carbon dioxide are the most affected. The health of these families is in danger. Over time, daily exposure to these toxins can lead to deadly diseases, such as cancer in addition to the usual diseases caused by these toxins, such as asthma, a disease that increasingly affects families from a lower socioeconomic background, who live in areas contaminated by carbon dioxide in Minnesota, and who, unfortunately, are not protected to live a dignified life, without exposure to the decline of their health.
“Reducing carbon emissions and increasing the use of clean and renewable energy is not only an action to live well, but also the possibility that future generations have a planet on which they can live, it is an existential issue,” he said. Francisco Segovia, Executive Director of COPAL.
This new policy for a carbon free Minnesota by 2040 law is a momentous change that many have been waiting for, some more than others. Who are the ones who yearned for this change? Who are the ones who attended parts of the emergencies to a rapidly rising climate change? Citizens, politicians, organizations, professionals and non-professionals who were aware of the disastrous and negative effects that the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels is causing in our state and country. People who have been working for years to combat a problem that, at first, they saw as irreversible, and that has taken away the right to live a safe and dignified life for many people. It is evident that the excessive emission of carbon dioxide in recent decades has affected the global temperature of our planet, which has caused an increase in natural disasters, the involuntary displacement of people to other regions, and damage to health. and lives of vulnerable people.
The reduction of climate pollution is a commitment of all, the policies are changing. Minnesota joins states like Michigan, Illinois, North Dakota, and Wisconsin that have already signed significant strides to work on clean energy plans for decades to come. COPAL supports and celebrates these new policies at the national and regional level. The state of Minnesota deserves to live carbon free, to improve and contribute to the equity and quality of life of all its inhabitants.
