Climate change, industry, parks, air and water quality are issues that are debated in congress, compete for funding and enpassion many Minnesotans.
August 10, 1973 - Dr. Donald Baumgartner, an engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency, testfied for the state using a taconite settling study that shows particles can carry great distances in Lake Superior. Reserve Mining claims taconite is carried to a 600 foot "Great Trench."
September 2, 1973 - Third week of testimony in Reserve Mining trial. Judge Miles Lord presiding. Testifying for the state, Dr. Robert Dill says that taconite dumping in Lake Superior is affecting area drinking water. Expert witness Dr. Gary Glass concurs.
September 4, 1973 - MPR’s Stewart Stonick reports on court testimony from Dr. William Nicholson of the Environment Sciences Lab of Mt. Sinai Hospital. Nicholson is the 14th expert witness to testify against Reserve Mining's taconite dumping practices.
October 11, 1973 - Noted ecologist, Dr. Murray Bookchin, continues his speech discussing materialist goals and how said goals are destroying the environment.
October 11, 1973 - Murray Bookchin, a noted socialist libertarian and ecologist discusses our relatively recent desire as humans to dominate nature.
October 17, 1973 - Social theorist Bookchin explains his views on environmentalism versus and ecology. Environmentalists attempt to control nature to benefit man, while ecologists view nature as a living organism of which humans are a part. He disagrees with Marshall McLuhan on the nature of communication, saying the world is not a global village. While the means of communications may put people in contact with each other that doesn?t mean they are communicating, and he comments on the function of television. Finally Bookchin compares the nuclear family and its isolation to communal settings, a preferable model.
November 29, 1973 - Greg Baron looks deeper into the notion that conserving electricity at the consumer level during peak usage hours reduces fuel consumption. Discussion includes how and when oil is used for electricity production versus coal and nuclear power, specific to the Northern States Power organization.
November 29, 1973 - Former Deputy Attorney General expresses his concerns that little environmental progress will be made during the crunch times of the energy/oil crisis.
December 10, 1973 - Tony Dechant, president of the National Farmers Union, addresses the energy crisis due to supposed oil shortages. He calls for a Watergate-type inquiry.
January 8, 1974 - A public meeting was held to determine if an environmental impact statement (EIS) would be required before a proposed Northern States Power (NSP) fossil fuel plant could be built near Henderson, Minnesota. Both the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) agreed to the preparation of an EIS, with the PCA (Pollution Control Agency) being the lead agency in the preparation in consultation with the DNR (Department of Natural Resources). SAVE, (Save American?s Vital Energy), a Henderson citizen group, was present to express their views. They were pleased with the EIS decision but were concerned they were only allowed to speak after much discussion had already taken place. Reporter voiceover, no actualities.