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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 Minnesota activists, cultural leaders, organizers, scientists and storytellers committed to building a sustainable future together.

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2023 Power-Up Training in April

From Acts to Action

April 6th-20th - Featuring Online Access

See below for more info

Deadline to Apply: March 20th

Featured

The Minneapolis Biochar Program

Thursday, March 9, 2023   6:30pm - 7:30pm     

Our regular CHAPTER Zoom meeting

Featuring: Jim Doten

Carbon Sequestration Program ManagerCity of Minneapolis

The Minneapolis Carbon Sequestration Program uses carbon negative actions to remove and sequester carbon. This is done through biochar, a special type of charcoal made by heating waste biomass in the absence of oxygen, which turns wood waste into biochar. The city uses biochar as a valuable soil amendment to turn our infrastructure into carbon sinks.

About the Speaker: Jim is a licensed Professional Geologist with 36 years of experience in the environmental field. In addition to his undergraduate degree in Geology, Jim has a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management. He has over 20 years of environmental consulting experience and has been with the Minneapolis Health Department for the past 12 years.  More info...

View the presentation

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CMC Action Tracker

Upcoming Events

Wed Apr 5

6:30pm-7:30pm

Leadership Meeting (In person + zoom)

Our first meeting at the Hamilton Studio!

3112 W 28th Street Mpls MN

Apr 6-20

2023 Climate Reality Leadership Training

Power Up Training

Thu Apr 20

6:30-7:30pm Zoom Meeting

Speaker: Moses Viveros, City of Mpls

Topic: Building a Healthy, Equitable, Local Food System

Sat Apr 22

1-6:00 pm

Earth Day - Solar Arts Building

711 NE 15th Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55413

Wed May 3

6:30pm-7:30pm

Leadership Zoom Meeting

Let us know what you've been up to! Record your actions to fight climate change or help the environment by clicking the button below.

2023 Climate Reality Power Up Training: From Acts to Action

April 6-20th 2023

Posted Feb 18 2023

Climate Reality is offering an opportunity for community groups and organizations working for environmental and/or climate justice to learn how to take full advantage of new climate laws with a free virtual training, Power Up: From Acts to Action. Led by former Vice President Al Gore and experts across sectors, this training will provide a comprehensive understanding of the financial incentives and tools available to help clean up air and water and embrace clean technologies that cut costs and carbon pollution. 

This training is designed to help people understand the new climate laws to leverage funding to address the needs of low and moderate-income communities including saving money with solar energy and efficiency, protecting schools from pollution, and replacing gas appliances with electric alternatives. In addition, it’s dedicated to finding funding resources for minority-owned businesses, establishing green banks, improving low and zero-emissions transit options, adding parks and green spaces to cities, and more.

 

The training is available on-demand from April 6-20, with two required 90 minute broadcasts in the evening on April 11 and 13, and it is free to attend with a flexible schedule designed for people with busy lives. Upon completion of the training, participants will be able to join the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, a global community of over 45,000 advocates working toward stopping rising temperatures and creating a just future. Join us and learn what new climate laws like the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can do for your home and your community.

 

Click the "Register Now!" for more info and to register for the training.

Training dates: April 6-20, 2023

Deadline to apply: March 20, 2023

Recent Events

The (Electric and Efficient) Heat is On

Posted Feb 28 2023

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Alexis Troschinetz gives an introduction about how air source heat pumps work in Minnesota's cold climate for heating and how they are a great option when adding or replacing air conditioning.

Continue reading...

Clothing and Climate Change

Posted Jan 12 2023

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Maddy Bartsch of Three Rivers Fibershed will walk us through how the textiles we wear (yes, even your socks) intersect with a number of issues that contribute to climate change. Grab your favorite pair of socks and learn about how your socks can be a part of one solution to climate change. 

Continue reading...

Members

Earth Day at Solar Arts Mpls
April 22, 2023

Posted Feb 18 2023

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CMC Member Brenda Varda is working on an Earth Day event to be held at the Solar Arts Building in NE Minneapolis.

The event will run from 1-6pm on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Speakers will include Senator John Hoffman and our own Steve Japs from the Outreach team. Art to Change the World (ACW) is also participating. Brenda’s team is lining up musicians, speakers, vendors and activists. Besides tabling, they are considering a collection of short “TED style talks.

To participate as speaker/presenter, artist, vendor, or volunteer, or for further details, contact Brenda at brendavarda@gmail.com".

https://solarartsbuilding.com/

Forest Management

Posted Nov 10 2022

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Lee E. Frelich discusses the forest management and tree planting practices that have the potential to draw down atmospheric CO2, as well as their limitations.

Lee E. Frelich is Director of the University of MN Center for Forest Ecology

Continue reading...

Climate Poverty Connections

Posted Oct 13 2022

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Carissa shares concrete evidence of how climate solutions can also contribute to meeting human well-being needs and alleviating poverty in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and how policymakers and decisionmakers can take action.

Click to continue...

Posted Feb 18 2023

Our chapter has been asked to help with a special project related to Green Banks in Minnesota. One of the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act calls for the establishment of special funds, a portion of which will be dedicated to low-income and marginalized communities to obtain renewable energy sources.

It is expected that around $7 billion will be allocated to fund Green Banks at the state and local level. This funding helps to lower the barrier that low-income residents have to access to renewable energy, ensuring that these groups don't get left behind in the push for renewable energy.

Update: The bill has been introduced. Click the button to the left to view.

More info...

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Green Bank Initiative

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.

Biochar

Community Solar

Decarbonizing Aviation - Synthetic Fuels

Revisiting Nuclear Power

The Future of Nuclear Power in an Evolving Energy World

Solutionary Rail

Sustainable Design

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.

Home Heating Analysis

with Bill Middlecamp

 

Home Natural Gas Reduction

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

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Global Temps

This number is the increase over 1900-2000 average surface temperatures.

As more of the infrared radiation (heat) is trapped by the atmosphere, surface temperatures have also increased.

+.98° C

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Arctic Sea Ice

This value represents the total ice coverage minimum during the summer in the arctic. As the atmosphere warms, ice melts faster in the summer. Additionally, less ice coverage increases the dark areas of the arctic, which further increased the absorption of sunlight and leads to further warming of the arctic waters.

4.72 million sq km

 

2021 summer minimum sea ice levels

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Mountain Glaciers

This graph charts the decline of mountain glacier mass over the past 30 years. Melting glaciers are the primary driver of sea rise, along with the expansion of warming ocean water.

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Ocean Heat

Warming waters cause sea level rise, glacial melt and coral bleaching. Much of the heat trapped since the beginning of the industrial revolution has gone into the ocean.

 

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Sea Level

This chart shows the steady increase of sea level since the 1800's. Driven by melting glaciers and the expansion of warmer water, this rise leads to coastal flooding and saltwater intrusion, which damages homes and crops, and threatens hundreds of millions around the world who live in these threatened coastal areas.

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CO2

418 PPM

This is the current concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A principal cause of global warming since the beginning of the industrial revolution, this reduces the ability of the Earth to radiate generated heat into space, trapping more of the heat and leading to increased surface and ocean temperatures.

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