Midwest

Minnesota

In 2023, Minnesota passed sweeping climate and environmental justice legislation, including mandatory emissions reductions targets, but the state has only decreased emissions 9% from 2005-2021 — compared to their target of 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. In the same year, they also passed a clean energy standard of 100% clean electricity by 2040, and renewable electricity generation has almost doubled over the last decade, largely from wind. While the state has no fossil fuel reserves or production, it plays an essential role in the interstate transport of coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
GHG Reduction Targets
All targets relative to 2005 levels
2025
30%
2030
50%
2050
Net-zero
Governor
Tim Walz (Democrat)
House Party
Democratic Majority
Senate Party
Democratic Majority
Legislative session
2/12/24 - 5/20/24
US Climate Alliance Status
Member

34

Policies Enacted or In Progress
across 7 policy areas

28

Policy Opportunities
across 6 policy areas

Midwest

12 states
This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Progress by Policy Area

  • Enacted
  • In-progress
  • Partially Enacted
  • Not Enacted
Glossary of Terms
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Minnesota

Created in partnership with
Filters
Status Policy Policy Area Policy Category YR Enacted
Not Enacted
Empty column

Environmental justice (EJ) community investment requirements help ensure communities most impacted by environmental burdens are benefitting equitably from public programs by requiring a certain percentage of funds and/or benefits from other policies are allocated to EJ communities.

Climate Governance and Equity
Environmental Justice and Equity
Not Enacted
Empty column

Carbon pollution pricing establishes a pollution fee or cap-and-trade program on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with each sector/source of emissions within the state. Programs typically cover the electricity, buildings, transportation, and/or industrial sectors.

Cross-Sector
Carbon Valuation
Not Enacted
Empty column

Clean energy plans are documents that outline the policies and strategies states can implement to meet clean energy targets. Draft plans are often published first, and after a period of public comments and revisions, a final plan is released.

Electricity
Energy Plans and Targets
Not Enacted
Empty column

Electricity greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets are set by a state to limit GHG emissions in the electricity sector. These targets aim to reduce emissions by different amounts over time, often expressed as percentage relative to a baseline year.

Electricity
Energy Plans and Targets
Not Enacted
Empty column

Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider.

Electricity
Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
not-enacted
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
3/5
Electricity
Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
enacted
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
8/11
Electricity
Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
5/6
Electricity
Clean Energy Generation
Not Enacted
Empty column

Energy storage targets establish procurement targets for energy storage systems by a certain date, often with interim targets. Targets can vary from broad megawatt (MW) requirements to more specific mandates that focus on the adoption of certain storage technologies.

Electricity
Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage
Not Enacted
Empty column

Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers.

Electricity
Coal Retirement
Not Enacted
Empty column

Stretch building energy codes are an optional, more stringent building code established by the state that local jurisdictions can adopt to require that newly constructed buildings are more efficient than the baseline state codes.

Buildings and Efficiency
Building Codes
Not Enacted
Empty column

Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers.

Buildings and Efficiency
Building Standards
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
enacted
3/4
Buildings and Efficiency
Building Efficiency
Not Enacted
Empty column

All-electric buildings policies require new buildings to be constructed with all-electric heating, cooling, and cooking systems to transition away from fossil-fuel use in buildings.

Buildings and Efficiency
Building Electrification
Not Enacted
Empty column

Low NOx Omnibus Rules establish stringent tailpipe emission standards for heavy duty vehicles, updated testing procedures, and technology-neutral compliance mechanisms to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) pollution. The regulation must be adopted first by California, and other states may adopt the regulation under the federal Clean Air Act.

Transportation
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Not Enacted
Empty column

Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) zero-emission vehicle mandates, also known as "Advanced Clean Trucks", require automakers to produce and sell a certain number of zero-emission MHD vehicles to fulfill a quota based on a percentage of total sales in states.

Transportation
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Not Enacted
Empty column

Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) electric vehicle rebates consist of programs and policies that offer rebates to make MHD electric vehicles more affordable to increase their adoption in a state.

Transportation
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Not Enacted
Empty column

Electric bus procurement targets require that a certain percentage or number of school buses and/or transit buses purchased or leased by the state, transit authorities, and/or school districts must be electric or zero-emissions.

Transportation
Lead by Example
Not Enacted
Empty column

Public fleet electric vehicle (EV) procurement targets require that a certain percentage or number of vehicles purchased or leased by the state are zero-emission or electric vehicles. This can apply to passenger cars, light-duty vehicles, and/or medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in a state’s public fleet.

Transportation
Lead by Example
Not Enacted
Empty column

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure rebates offer rebates to make the purchase and/or installation costs of EV charging infrastructure more affordable.

Transportation
EV Charging Infrastructure
Not Enacted
Empty column

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure requirements establish mandates for the installation of EV charging infrastructure in new construction or developments, such as residential or commercial buildings, and public parking lots.

Transportation
EV Charging Infrastructure
Not Enacted
Empty column

A low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is a market-based mechanism to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and account for the fuel's life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Transportation
Transportation Plans and Targets
Not Enacted
Empty column

Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) regulations include phasedown commitments, rulemakings, disclosure requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce HFC usage and emissions.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
F-gas Regulations
Not Enacted
Empty column

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce SF6 usage and emissions.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
F-gas Regulations
Not Enacted
Empty column

Fracking bans prohibit the practice of hydraulic fracking for the production of oil and/or natural gas by a certain year. Legislation often requires an environmental agency or department to promulgate regulations.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
Oil and Gas Regulations
Not Enacted
Empty column

Oil and gas methane regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, leak detection and repair, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
Oil and Gas Regulations
Not Enacted
Empty column

Food waste bans and targets include policies that prohibit certain entities that generate specified amounts of food waste (typically commercial businesses and larger institutions) from sending this waste to landfills. Targets aim to reduce total food waste by a certain percentage each target year.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
Waste Management
Not Enacted
Empty column

Landfill methane regulations include rulemakings, emissions monitoring, emissions control, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from decaying organic waste in landfills.

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
Waste Management

The State Climate Policy Dashboard tracks only passed policies and does not include bills currently proposed in legislative sessions. The website is intended to illustrate the current status of policies for each state, as well as key resources and model states for each policy.

Much of the information contained in this database is derived from the public domain, with links to resources provided. The information provided is made available solely for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Click here for full Terms of Use.

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