Last week, a bill co-authored by Sen. Dan Sparks of Austin for a solar power project in southeastern Minnesota passed the Legislature. Attempts by other senators to add an amendment to the bill that would repeal the state's nuclear power plant ban were defeated.
Sen. Sparks voted against the amendment that would lift the ban. Nuclear energy should not be confused with clean renewable energy. The ban should remain in place until full and satisfactory answers are available to questions concerning disposal of nuclear wastes and cumulative environmental impacts of multiple nuclear power plants. Nuclear power should be utilized only if all other least-cost alternatives have been utilized fully, including efficiency measures and
alternative sources of energy.
Senator Sparks fully endorses the Lessard Council recommendations that will improve the conservation landscape of Minnesota for the next 25 years. The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council was established by the Legislature with the responsibility of providing annual recommendations to the legislature on how the Legacy Amendment funds should be used.
The main emphasis of the council is to make recommendations that directly relate to "the restoration, protection, and enhancement of wetlands, prairies, forests, and habitat for fish, game, and wildlife, and that prevent forest fragmentation, encourage forest consolidation, and expand restored native prairie."
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Thank you, Senator Sparks, for supporting conservation.
Dave Cole
Austin Chapter 10
Izaak Walton League of America
