Walz calls for carbon-free electricity in Minnesota by 2040

The sooner the better. MPR’s Kirsti Marohn reports: “Governor Tim Walz is pushing a goal for Minnesota to produce 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, a decade earlier than he previously proposed. … The proposal is one of several policies the governor outlined last week to try to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases linked to climate change. … A report recently released by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said the state is not on track to meet its goals to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels. Minnesota’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have declined just 8 percent since 2005.”

A first-person account of work in an Amazon fulfillment center. In a commentary in Sahan Journal, Safiyo Mohamed writes: “This is my story about how Amazon dehumanizes its workers for the sake of profit. The biggest Amazon fulfillment center in the state is the Shakopee warehouse: In company language, it’s called ‘MSP1.’ When Amazon hired me and more than 50 other people in 2016, we joined over a thousand people already working there. … My first day was very exciting because I was really happy I got my first job in the United States. When I started at Amazon, I was 22 years old and had lived in the U.S. for just three months. I was a newcomer. My family members knew some people who worked there and that is how I found out about the job and ended up there. I didn’t have any family or friends working at MSP1, but after I started, I made a lot of friends.”

A little more green from Big Red. The Star Tribune’s Nicole Norfleet reports: “Target has announced another round of bonuses for its store employees, including seasonal hires who helped during the busy holidays. … Bonuses of $500 will be given to hourly employees in stores, distribution centers and at the company’s Minneapolis headquarters and field-based offices. Store directors, executive team leaders and salaried distribution center leaders will receive a bonus ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, according to a company blog post Monday morning. … The one-time bonuses add up to a $200 million investment from the company.”

In other news…

Well … all right: “Iowa’s Surf Ballroom, site of Buddy Holly’s last concert, is named National Historic Landmark” [Star Tribune]

Congratulations: “Minnesota authors take home honors at prestigious American Library Association Youth Awards” [Pioneer Press]

Laughter’s the best medicine: “How Maria Bamford Learned to Laugh Through the Pain” [Mpls.St.Paul]

Today on MinnPost

• Pandemic related disruptions to the meat supply chain has a lot of people wondering if the system is too centralized. Some in Minnesota want to change that by building up more medium-sized processors.
• Lockdown dogs are a thing, and probably a good thing given all the mental-health benefits these furry friends can bring.
• The U.S. Capitol riot caused some corporations to rethink their political giving. Don’t expect that to last.
• For a long time the place for serious skaters to get ice skates was a small shop in St. Paul: Strauss.
• Eric Black: ‘Trump’s American Carnage’ looks back at what we just survived”
• Community Voices commentary by Steve Timmer: “The power to pardon should be the governor’s”
• Community Voices commentary by John Champe: “Minnesota should vaccinate teachers next”