The Central Minnesota Chapter of The Climate Reality Project
Representing Minnesota and surrounding areas
A diverse group of passionate individuals who’ve come together to solve the greatest challenge of our time - Climate Change.
We are activists, cultural leaders, organizers, scientists, storytellers and students committed to building a sustainable future together.
Featured
May Chapter Zoom Meeting
Thursday May 9th, 2024 6:30-7:30pm
Topic: MnCIFA
Speaker: Peter Klein, MnCIFA Interim Executive Director
Peter Klein, Executive Director of MnCIFA will present an overview and update on the activities of the Minnesota Climate Finance Authority (MnCIFA).
Established as a green bank in 2023, MnCIFA will help bridge the gap between government funding and installers for energy projects and provide an opportunity to prove that public financing can work with large scale energy development. MnCIFA will also ensure that projects include those that benefit traditionally low income and marginalized communities.
Stay tuned for further details on the May membership meeting of the chapter.
Events Calendar
Recent Events
En-Roads Update
Posted Feb 3 2024
"En-ROADS is a global climate simulator that allows users to explore the impact that dozens of policies—such as electrifying transport, pricing carbon, and improving agricultural practices—have on factors like energy prices, temperature, air quality, and sea level rise.
Bill Middlecamp of the chapter presentation team gave us an update on the latest development with the En-Roads program:
Decarbonizing Buildings
Posted Nov 22 2023
The Inflation Reduction Act includes several updates to existing policies that improve the project economics for geothermal. This presentation outlines one new technology from Darcy Solutions, groundwater based geothermal, and why it is a fit for dense urban settings
Green Ammonia and Hydrogen
Posted Nov 4 2023
Nitrogen fertilizer production is primarily produced from fossil gas and is extremely carbon intensive. Most of our fertilizer comes from the Gulf Coast. Minnesota could use green hydrogen from wind and solar to produce the fertilizer locally.
Smart Electric Grids
Posted Oct 4 2023
As we move to from fossil-based energy generation to renewable sources, our electrical grid will have to be improved significantly to handle the future growth.
Dr. Massoud Amin discusses methods for increasing resilience of our current electrical infrastructure and challenges and opportunities for future developments.
Solutions
Solutions that are scalable, reliable and proven are the key to fighting climate change - we need both policy and ingenuity to solve the issues of a warming world.
The proposed solutions below lead us in the right direction, and provide hope that we can win the fight against global warming.
Regenerative Agriculture (New!)
Decarbonizing Aviation - Synthetic Fuels
The Future of Nuclear Power in an Evolving Energy World
Members
IRA Tax Credits and Rebates
Updated Oct 15 2023
The Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits that are currently available to households, as well as upcoming rebates totaling as much as $14,000 per household.
This is free money from the federal government to help modernize your own home and vehicle and reduce carbon use.
Click here for more information, or select "Tax Credits and Rebates" under the Learn menu.
Posted June 6 2023
Smart Grids and Microgrids
Chapter member Timothy Nolan has put together a compelling compendium on smart grids and microgrids, explaining their purpose and our need for them as we continue to shift away from fossil fuels.
"Decarbonizing the electricity system, and ultimately achieving net-zero emissions, will require action on a transformative scale. "
Climate Image Archive
Updated Feb 18 2023
We've been working on a new Climate Image Archive to use in presentations and other materials, and the archive is now live! The images are free to use and distribute with any climate presentation.
We have created two separate collections of high quality climate photos at Unsplash and Pixabay.
Photo by Raychel Tanner from Unsplash
There are concrete steps that we can take to both prepare for a warming world and fight against the sources of that increasing warmth. Check out these presentations from chapter members that highlight the specific ways you can make a difference.
25% by '25 Climate Action Plan Update (2023)
with Mary Britton
Beyond Recycling and Composting
with Kellie Kish
with Isaac Evans
with Bill Middlecamp
with Mary Britton
Sustainable Fashion
with Wendi Russo
We Need You!
We need your help to provide content and fight climate change! Submit your ideas for presentations, news, information or other relevant topics to info@climaterealitymsp.com
We also need your assistance in presenting topics to the chapter. Signup for a short talk and demonstrate your passion in fighting for the future of the planet.
Science
Planetary Dashboard
418 PPM
This is the current concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A principle cause of global warming since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, this reduces the ability of the Earth to radiate generated head into space, trapping more of the heat and leading to increased surface and ocean temperatures.
