We've been posting about abortion position policy on the part of Republican candidates in Minnesota in such recent posts as Doe V. Gomez' is a sudden MNGOP splendid "shift in tone from the party on abortion" and Action 4 Liberty, Brodkorb publish "confidential" MNGOP state chair abortion email to candidates.
A commenter noted on the first post:
That Minnesota Republican Party email tells at least three different lies that I could find.
1 - In the email, the Minnesota Republican Party tells their people to say that the MN GOP position is that abortion rights are not on the ballot this year. That is a lie. Here is their actual position on abortion, as outlined in their official Minnesota Republican Party Platform adopted in May of this year: that life and full personhood run "from conception to natural death" and to that end they support passing laws, constitutional amendments (state and Federal) or ballot measures banning abortion.
2 - This leads to the next lie: that Doe v. Gomez is "settled" and thus can't be unsettled. Again, their current platform tells us they intend to overturn Roe v. Gomez and by any means they can think of.
3 - They lie about abortion in Minnesota being legal "up to the moment of birth." Abortion in Minnesota is legal after viability only to preserve the mother's life or health.
https://www.findlaw.com/state/minnesota-law/minnesota-abortion-laws.html
But abortion policy isn't the only stone to be found among the acres of diamonds that is the 2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform.
There's this paean to climate emergency denial:
Section 8 – Enjoy and Protect our Natural Resources
. . . We believe that economic development of natural resources can be balanced with environmental stewardship and
should not be obstructed by radical environmentalist concerns. We oppose policies and mandates based on the
Theory of Man-Made Global Warming, as well as any energy policies arising from it [emphasis added]. Therefore, we support:
• Repeal of Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act of 2007.
• Research and development of alternative forms of energy by private initiatives.
• The building of clean coal-fired and nuclear power plants.
• Requiring the federal government to meet its obligation to store or recycle nuclear waste.
• A free market for all energy, and oppose government mandates, subsidies or monopolies.
• Repeal of the “Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment."
• Oil pipelines over rail transport as a matter of public safety.
That's certainly interesting on a day in which Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida, and our feed is awash with headlines like Hurricane Ian intensifies into a monster with climate markings and Why tackling climate change means a stronger economy — according to Janet Yellen.
And never mind that Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 was a broadly bipartisan measure passed during the last Republican administration, as Andrew Twite noted for MinnPost in 2018:
In our current political climate, it’s easy to forget that clean energy used to be widely bipartisan. Passed in 2007 with near universal legislative support and signed into law by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the Next Generation Energy Act was a landmark piece of legislation that aimed to spur renewable energy and save utility customers money through energy efficiency and conservation – all with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Minnesota 80 percent by 2050.
And the “Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment"? Those dirty hippies at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture note in A 25-year Commitment to Clean Water in Minnesota:
On November 4th 2008, Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the state constitution. This amendment passed with 56% of the vote.The Amendment increases the sales and use tax rate by three-eighths of one percent, starting July 1, 2009 and continuing through 2034. Amendment dollars are dedicated to four separate funds:
- Outdoor Heritage Fund
- Parks and Trails Fund
- Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
- Clean Water Fund
Oh the horror of the will of the people.
Perhaps the climate action-denying platform's where Ryan Wilson got the notion to deep six ESG in his race for state auditor.
The "acronym for Environment, Social and Governance describes a move to consider issues such as climate change, social justice and equity as state and local governments decide where to invest funds such as those that support employee pensions," MinnPost's Peter Callaghan wrote last week in Wait? There’s a ‘real issue’ in the state auditor’s race?.
Callaghan reports:
Many of the campaign issues in Minnesota are issues in races across the country as well, put there by partisan strategists who see them as potent for bringing the right voters to the polls.
Similar talking points on public safety, abortion, inflation and school curricula can be seen and heard in congressional and state campaigns in every state, Minnesota included. And now some national Republicans are trying to add ESG to the list – or, as they call it, “woke investing.”
First, what is ESG? The acronym for Environment, Social and Governance describes a move to consider issues such as climate change, social justice and equity as state and local governments decide where to invest funds such as those that support employee pensions.
Supporters of ESG say it makes financial sense to begin avoiding businesses with financial models that may well be unsustainable, leading to reduced value in the future. . . .
Opponents, including high-profile Republicans like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have attempted to cite it as the political left using public funds to further political goals. So far, the issue has emerged in only one statewide Minnesota race. As one of four members of the State Board of Investment, the state auditor helps set policy for how the $130 billion in state funds are invested.
“I will not play politics with our pensions,” GOP nominee Ryan Wilson said during the only debate so far with the incumbent DFL Auditor Julie Blaha. “We must put return on investment first.”
Unlike the way some Republicans are stepping gingerly around the issue of abortion and some Democrats are trying to finesee the issues around public safety, Blaha is running toward this political fire rather than away from it. She said considering ESG factors is the trend in retirement fund investing, not just by public systems but by private investors.
“Even if you don’t care about the environment at all, you need to think about climate change in investments,” she said during the WCCO radio debate. “There are significant risks and there are significant opportunities in how climate is changing and how we’re transitioning energy.”
Blaha blamed “MAGA auditors and treasurers” who are trying to discredit ESG in investment decisions. “The evidence is overwhelming, and it’s also common sense. How many of us are sinking our savings into coal right now?”
“You know what’s been a great investment over the last six months that we missed out on?” Wilson asked. “Coal.” To which Blaha responded that pension funds are invested with 10, 20 and 30-year outlooks, not six months.
“You cannot be running around trying to day trade with my pension,” she said. . . .
So, day-trading as an investment policy--and repeal of bipartisan, Republican era legislation and a successful amendment approved by 56 percent of Minnesota voters. Your Republican Party of Minnesota. Read the rest of the agenda here.
Take that "radical environmentalist concerns."
Image: The Republican Party of Minnesota wants to repeal the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Take that, hikers, bikers, historic sites and artists.
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