Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington)
A top Republican says the Dayton administration’s goal of Minnesota getting half its energy from renewables by 2030 won’t pass muster at the legislature. Farmington Representative Pat Garofalo says, “The proposal has bipartisan opposition and lacks the votes to pass either the House of Representatives or the Senate, so I don’t think it’s something you’ll see going forward.” Garofalo adds, “These 1990s government mandates, they’re really a solution from the past. Going forward, people are more focused on solutions, and clearly all the news in energy is good right now, with all technology resulting in cleaner and more affordable energy.”
Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith responds the clean energy industry over the last 10 years created 15 thousand jobs and a billion dollars in economic activity. Smith says this next step will create an estimated 15-hundred jobs per year. She announced the proposal Monday in Albert Lea.
Here are Garofalo’s comments on the proposal: