Program:
Transportation Connections
- Budget:
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$285,161
- Category:
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Environment
- Population Served:
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General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
As Americans and Midwesterners, we love our automobiles. But that dependence carries a big price tag for the economy, our public health, and the environment.
Every day, Americans use 20 million barrels of oil to fuel their gasoline consumption. As the easy-to-reach supplies dwindle, rising fuel prices are emptying our wallets and compromising global security. Pollution from cars and trucks fills our skies and damages our lungs; automobile use drives the urban sprawl that is consuming our Midwestern landscape at an alarming rate; and our cars create part of the pollution that leads to global warming. We need a 21st century transportation system that meets the needs of our growing state while supporting the transition to a clean energy economy.
Fresh Energy pursues innovative transportation policies that will help to speed the transition.
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Fresh Energy jump-started the national wind industry in the mid-1990s by securing a commitment to build hundreds of new wind turbines in southern Minnesota farms.
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Program:
Clean Energy
- Budget:
-
$565,190
- Category:
-
Environment
- Population Served:
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
It seems harmless enough—flick a switch and you've instantly got light and power. But the production of electricity causes more pollution than any other industry on the planet. It's responsible for smog, acid rain, mercury poisoning in our lakes and rivers, and global warming. That's why Fresh Energy aggressively promotes the use of clean, renewable electricity sources like wind, sun, and plant matter. They're not only better for people and the environment, they're also a better financial investment because the fuel is free and carries no threat of cleanup costs.
Here in the Midwest we're uniquely situated to take advantage of these opportunities and become a global leader in clean energy. Fresh Energy pursues these innovations through smart new legislation, improvements to current laws, better regulations, savvy financial strategies, and market-friendly policies.
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Program:
Global Warming Solutions
- Budget:
-
$280,815
- Category:
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Environment
- Population Served:
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
The Earth's temperature is rising, and the threats are real: lost species, disappearing ecosystems, rising floods, and deadly storm events and disease. We are already seeing the effects of global warming around the world as weather patterns change, brutal storms pound our coastal regions, and animal populations decline. Here in the Midwest, our climate already is changing, disrupting our economy and environment.
The problem is pollution from energy use in power plants, vehicles, and buildings. The solutions innovative technologies and tough laws and regulations that require firm deadlines for global warming pollution reductions.
Fresh Energy works daily to advance global warming solutions by promoting smart state and national policies that lead to deep, permanent reductions in global warming pollution; catalyzing innovative approaches by business and local governments; and spreading the word to businesses, government and citizens that global warming must be confronted now. We support policies and leaders at the federal, state, and local level that will ensure we avoid the worst impacts of global warming while creating a 21st century energy system that sustains our economies, our communities, and our planet.
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