Climate change threatens the things Minnesotans love.
Minnesota is leading the Midwest in pushing for innovative solutions to the climate crisis, including implementing clean car standards—vehicle emissions standards established in 2021 by Governor Tim Walz that require car manufacturers to provide more clean car options in Minnesota. Stronger emissions standards protect our environment and our health, increase consumer choice, save Minnesotans money, and help grow our economy.
Minnesotans for Clean Cars is a coalition of Minnesota-based nonprofit organizations that formed in 2019 to collaborate on spreading the word across Minnesota that clean car standards are a smart solution to reducing climate pollution, are consumer friendly, and benefit Minnesotans’ bottom line. Coalition members helped organize Minnesotans supporting clean car standards by hosting public events and webinars, engaging in media interviews, providing public testimony at the Minnesota legislature, collecting public comments throughout a lengthy rulemaking process with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and more.
Thanks to advocacy and support from coalition members and almost 10,000 Minnesotans, the journey to secure clean cars standards for Minnesota succeeded! On July 26, 2021, Minnesota officially became the first clean cars state in the Midwest and 15th in the country when Governor Walz signed Clean Cars Minnesota into law.
Minnesota’s adoption of clean car standards is a major step forward in getting our state back on track to meet its climate goals and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one million metric tons annually by 2030 and 2.5 million metric tons annually by 2050. The policy will also increase Minnesotans’ options for electric vehicles, protect our pocketbooks at the gas pump and slash maintenance costs, help grow the state’s economy by keeping energy dollars local, and position Minnesota as a place for EV innovation and investment.
The Minnesotans for Clean Cars coalition ran from 2019 through 2021 and was made up of:
CURE (Clean Up The River Environment)
CURE’s mission is to protect and restore resilient rural landscapes by harnessing the power of citizens who care about them. We do this because we believe that robust human communities can only be sustained by healthy ecosystems, and robust natural environments can only be regained through vigorous stewardship.
Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
Climate Generation was founded by polar explorer, Will Steger, based on his powerful eyewitness to climate change from over 50 years exploring the polar regions and his determination to engage people in the issue and solutions. We empower individuals in their communities to make long-term, lasting change by building climate literacy, understanding personal connections to climate change, and developing powerful advocates through a model of collaboration and partnership.
Conservation Minnesota
At Conservation Minnesota, our mission is protecting the Minnesota you love by solving our state’s most important conservation problems. To succeed, Conservation Minnesota is focused on building a diverse and passionate statewide network and understanding each person’s unique interests. Then we match our members’ passion with credible information and meaningful opportunities to have a positive impact on their family, community, and future.
Fresh Energy
Fresh Energy’s mission is to shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies. Together we are working toward a vision of a just, prosperous, and resilient future powered by a shared commitment to a carbon-neutral economy.
Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
We are Minnesota physicians, nurses, and allied health care providers committed to bringing the voice of health care to the public debate on clean energy, fossil fuel related pollution and our changing climate. We believe that climate change will be one of the greatest public health challenges in human history.
ISAIAH
ISAIAH organizes people of faith and shared values powerfully and collectively towards racial, economic, and climate justice in Minnesota.
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) has been a leading legal and scientific voice for Minnesota’s environment since 1974. We work in courts, regulatory agencies, and at the legislature to protect Minnesota’s environment and the health of its people. MCEA defends the Minnesota you love.
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light works in partnership with faith communities to build transformative power and bring the lights of people’s unique gifts to addressing the climate crisis. We work to grow the climate movement in Minnesota by empowering individuals and communities across the state to take action that is authentic, effective, and energizing in their context.
MN350
MN350 unites Minnesotans as part of a global movement to end the pollution damaging our climate, speed the transition to clean energy, and create a just and healthy future for all.
Sierra Club North Star Chapter
The Sierra Club North Star Chapter is 80,000 Minnesotans empowered to protect our communities’ well-being through environmental protection. All are welcome to join us in this work and at any of our events.
Want to learn more about the process? Check out these resources:
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: About Clean Cars Minnesota
- What’s up with “Clean Car Standards,” and why do they matter for Minnesotans?
- Governor Walz celebrates Minnesota becoming a Clean Cars state
- 13 years in the rearview: The making of Clean Cars Minnesota
- American Lung Association of Minnesota: “The Road to Clean Air” report
