Bluestem has been posting about the legal but definitely non-transparent activity of the Senate Rural Task Force. See additional posts here and here (and we'll have more to come today).
While much of the work that the Senate Rural Task Force is doing--hearing presentations on workforce education, affordable housing and broadband--will generate conflict only in the debate on how to pay for these items, in November the task force slipped in one area that's extremely divisive: gutting Minnesota's local control and permitting process for feedlots.
In an action alert that we just read on our Facebook feed, Land Stewardship Project--which maintains field offices in Lewiston and Montevideo (our county seat on the sun-kissed prairie)--has alerted its members and the public about the drastic changes that are under consideration.
If the action alert isn't enough to motivate you, consider the pre-session discussion about permitting by House lawmakers in an article by Politics in Minnesota's Mike Mullen, Winds shifting in agriculture:
The GOP’s ascendance could also mean heightened interest in MPCA’s current handling of large dairy farms, especially given the recent citizens board decision to require an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed 9,000-cow facility.
Doug Busselman, public policy director for the Minnesota Farm Bureau, said the board’s decision could lead to a “chilling effect” and discourage future farm projects from launching in the state.
“It seems to be something that kind of came out of the blue,” Busselman said. “I think there may need to be some discussions [in the Legislature] as to what the criteria would be for there being that type of a process.”
The notion that the power of the citizens board--which has been around since the MPCA was created in the 1960s--as something that came "out of the blue" is preposterous.
Moreover, gentle readers, the so-called Ag Mafia isn't telling you about the local opposition for that Stevens County dairy or where you and all Minnesotans can read their comments to the MPCA. Instead, they and the public relations firm hired to help gut local control are trying to have you believe that this is a metro vs rural issue, with all of us chickens out here eager to peck away at local control, lest agriculture flee the state.
Two pieces suggest that this isn't the case. First, rural Minnesotans care about clean water, healthy soil and fresh air. Bring Me The News reviews one case on the Minnesota and South Dakota board in Town’s residents fear SD dairy farm will poison lake they spent millions to clean. The springboard for the BMTN post was a Star Tribune article, The border war over cleaned-up Lake Hendricks.
And then there are the negative public comments about the dairy sent to the MPCA (the whole Citizen Board packet from August on the dairy is available in a pdf here) by neighboring farmers and residences in Stevens County:
Comments Against Baker Dairy to MPCA
It's worth noting--as we did back in September's MN12A: Does Backer want to strip citizens of ability to ask MPCA for environmental studies? that the request for Riverview Dairy to conduct an EIS is the first time that the board in its entire history has done so for a large confinement livestock operation.
Here's the Land Stewardship Project's Action Alert, which Bluestem encourages readers to heed:
Calls Needed Today
The Minnesota Senate Rural Task Force met on Nov. 12 to discuss rural Minnesota initiatives that could be brought up during the state legislative session that begins Jan. 6. On a short list of three agenda items was “Rural Permitting Discussion.” This "discussion" focused on corporate ag advocates attacking local control of factory farms and the recent decision by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizens’ Board to order an in-depth environmental review on an 8,800+ cow dairy in Stevens County.
Proposal for Weakening Local Control Laid Out in Detail
The Task Force heard a presentation from David Ward, lobbyist for the Cooperative Network, on why local control of factory farms needs to be gutted in Minnesota, just as it was in Wisconsin in 2004. Ward knows how that was done, as he is a former Wisconsin legislator who was a key author of the Wisconsin bill that created a system where state standards trump township and county local control. Ward went through a 39-slide detailed PowerPoint presentation without any legislator voicing strong concerns or standing up for local control.
Family Farms Dismissed & 8,850-Cow Dairy Called “Real Ag”
During the Task Force meeting, the executive director of the Agri-Growth Council, the lobbying entity for the state’s largest corporate agriculture interests, bemoaned the MPCA Citizens’ Board's decision to order an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement of a 8,800+ cow dairy. This dairy would use almost 100 million gallons of water a year and is strongly opposed by its rural neighbors. Even worse, comparing a 320-acre farm of one member of the MPCA Citizens' Board who raises crops and beef to this mega-dairy, Task Force member Sen. Julie Rosen said, “That’s not real ag. This is real ag.”
Take Action! Contact members of the Senate Rural Task Force before Monday, Dec. 8. The next and last meeting of the Senate Rural Task Force before the legislative session is Monday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. in Room 112 of the Capitol Building in Saint Paul.
Members of the Senate Rural Task Force
- Sen.Tom Saxhaug, Chair (DFL-Grand Rapids), 651-296-4136 or [email protected]
- Sen. Julie Rosen, Co-founder of the Task Force (R-Vernon Center), 651-296-5713 or [email protected]
- Sen. Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley), 651-296-3205 or [email protected]
- Sen. Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield), 651-296-1279 or use mail form
- Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna), 651-296-9457 or use mail form
- Sen. Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa), 651-296-4875 or [email protected]
- Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne), 651-296-5650 or [email protected]
- Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls), 651-296-8138 or [email protected]
Suggested Message
“I was disappointed to learn that the Senate Rural Task Force, of which you are a member, discussed weakening rural local control at your Nov. 12 meeting. Local control is especially important for rural Minnesota and needs to be kept strong. The Wisconsin livestock siting law where state-set standards trump township and county local control is wrong for Minnesota, where we believe in strong local democracy. Also, the decision to order an Environmental Impact Statement on the 8,800-cow mega-dairy proposed in Stevens County was a good one. This dairy would use almost 100 million gallons of water a year. That issue alone needs an in-depth analysis. Water availability is an increasingly critical issue in rural Minnesota.” If you are a rural resident or farmer, be sure to say so.
More Information
• LSP Applauds MPCA Citizens’ Board Ordering of EIS on Massive Dairy Factory Farm
• The meetings of the Senate Rural Task Force aren’t broadcast or taped for rural citizens or others to listen to. However, Bluestem Prairie has done a series of investigative blogs on the Task Force, including these two:
- Senate Rural Task Force records no audio or video, keeps no minutes of meetings in St. Paul MN Senate Rural Task
- Force November 12 meeting documents released to Bluestem Prairie
Image: Shenanigans have been called, still from the South Park episode.
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As Hans und Franz would say
Citizens of Greater Minnesota! The RPM wants to -- Shut YOU Up!
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Dec 04, 2014 at 02:06 PM
The GOP's efforts to destroy local control in DC seem awfully similar to the GOP's efforts to destroy local control in Minnesota, which exposes the "we're doing this to help rural folks" garbage as the fraud it is:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/11/1350997/-GOP-lawmaker-to-DC-residents-If-you-don-t-like-taxation-without-representation-move
Why does the GOP hate democracy?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Dec 11, 2014 at 11:01 AM