Setting carbon goals for utilities a good move

January 30, 2023

Setting goals, by themselves, don’t guarantee results. But that doesn’t mean goals are not valuable, even vital. Minnesota lawmakers are making a push for utilities to go carbon-free by 2040. A Senate bill authored by DFL Sen. Nick Frentz, of North Mankato, would set certain benchmarks for utilities and set a target of them producing carbon neutral energy in 18 years. The legislation would not require utilities to use a specific mix of energy, leaving them to take the route that works best for them. It would also allow utilities to go to the Public Utilities Commission to get a ...

Thumbs Up/Down

January 28, 2023

Businesses of the Year THUMBS UP: Congratulations to the two honorees selected for the New Ulm Businesses of the Year award at the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Thursday. Christensen Farms was selected as the large business honoree, and New Ulm Real Estate was the small business selection. Both businesses have done outstanding work in their respective fields over a long time. Christensen Farms has developed over the years into one of the major hog producers in country, working with farmers on contract to produce high quality pork. New Ulm Real Estate, with its bright, ...

Rent control will not meet goals

January 27, 2023

Ideas that start on the progressive fringes have a way of becoming government policy these days, as President Biden’s $400 billion student loan cancellation shows. Lo, Democrats in Congress are now pressing the President to impose rent control nationwide. The White House is considering a series of executive actions that are ostensibly intended to protect tenants. Rents on average increased 17.6% in 2021 and another 3.8% last year. One culprit was near-zero interest rates while they lasted, which inflated housing prices and made it harder for young people to buy a home. The result: ...

No one solution to gun violence

January 26, 2023

Gun violence is so regular an occurrence in the United States that no incident, however tragic, comes as a surprise. But events in recent days deserve special attention all the same, as they underscore a core truth about responding to gun violence: changing just one or two rules would not be enough. Early this month, a 6-year-old boy shot and wounded an elementary school teacher in Newport News, Va. This, according to authorities, was no accident: The first-grader pulled out a handgun and fired a bullet through his instructor’s outstretched hand and into her chest. His family says he ...

A transition away from gas stoves won’t work if it’s forced

January 25, 2023

Illinois is among states with the highest percentage of gas stoves, which do pose health risks. But carrots rather than sticks would do more to encourage people to switch. America needs a well-constructed public education campaign on how to mitigate the health risks of gas stoves. It also should encourage research and design public policy to make other types of stoves cheaper and better. Last week, a flurry of outrage followed remarks by Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, on possible restrictions on gas stoves. That approach, which was ...

Tax conformity bill — finally making it happen

January 24, 2023

Thumbs up to the Minnesota Legislature’s swift passage this week of a tax conformity bill. Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill into law, and the changes will be effective for the filing season that starts later this month; the state department of revenue had said it needed the bill to pass by Friday, and the lawmakers met that deadline. The measure lines the state’s tax code up with the federal code for the first time in five years, which figures to simplify filing for many Minnesotans. And it exempts income from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a pandemic relief program, from state ...