Bill proposes legislative input in how state meets carbon emissions target

Minnesota’s plan for meeting new federal goals on carbon dioxide emissions would need approval by the Legislature, under a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Newberger (R-Becker).

Rep. Jim Newberger

HF333 would require the Pollution Control Agency to wait for up-or-down votes in the House and Senate before telling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency how the state intends to comply with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan for existing power plants, also known as Rule 111(d) under the Clean Air Act.

On a 12-7 roll call vote Monday that was split nearly along party lines — Rep. Jason Metsa (DFL-Virginia) was the lone DFLer voting for the bill — the House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee sent the bill on to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Newberger said the current process, under which the PCA needs only the governor’s signature before sending its plan to the EPA in 2016 or 2017, is missing an “element of accountability.”

Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL-St. Paul) said he is counting on a group the PCA assembled, the Clean Power Plan Stakeholder Group, to find a “scientific solution” to the state’s carbon emissions. Newberger’s bill “injects politics into science,” he said.

“It’s impossible to separate politics from science,” Newberger responded, citing as an example a fiscal note by Minnesota Management & Budget that put a $936 million price tag on his bill based on estimates by the PCA, which opposes sending the state plan to the Legislature.

The companion, SF231, sponsored by Sen. David Brown (R-Becker), awaits action by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.