Oksana Carlier/Winonan

Minnesota has made clean energy a priority in the past and must continue to do so, a presenter said at a forum at Winona State University earlier this month.

J. Drake Hamilton, the science policy director of Fresh Energy, said Minnesota is currently making progress toward cleaner energy.

The state is “fueled by smart policies that maximize our state’s use of energy conservation and set science-based limits on carbon pollution,” he said.

Fresh Energy, partnering with the Will Steger Foundation, led the Clean Energy, Climate and Health Forum at Winona State.

The event happened per request by Toby Dogwiler of the Winona State Geoscience Department as part of the Earth Talks series of events.

“The Clean Energy, Climate and Health Forum is one of eight forums offered this month across Minnesota,” said J. Drake Hamilton, the Science Policy Director of Fresh Energy.

According to Hamilton, Fresh Energy is “a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization that works to improve our economy and our health by supporting market-based growth in clean energy.”

“Fresh Energy has worked on every clean energy policy adopted in Minnesota in the past 20 years,” Hamilton said.

Since 2005, Will Steger and Hamilton have presented more than one hundred forums about climate solutions. Steger, who has been to the North Pole four times over the last 25 years, started the Foundation in his name six years ago.

During his presentation, Steger recalled events from his travels to accentuate his graphs and images about the climate getting warmer.

“Never did I imagine that in my day I would be canoeing on the Arctic Ocean,” he said. “Mammals that rely on the ice are going to become extinct.”

Steger said that rising sea levels also put bears and many other species in jeopardy.

Steger emphasized a need for action. “There are solutions for this,” he said. “We are adults. I see solutions as a community.”

“Steger called on the state’s policymakers and businesses to work with communities to lead on addressing climate change,” Hamilton said.

At the forum, various postcards were available to send to government officials regarding the climate change issue.

“When we know so much about the impacts of climate change and the economic benefits of growing a clean energy economy, our leaders need to act so that we can say: ‘In 2013, we did everything we could to cut carbon pollution, and it worked,’” Hamilton said.

Nicole Rom, executive director of the Will Steger Foundation, said she was pleased with a mixed turnout of faculty, students, and community members.

“The Will Steger Foundation is honored to put on forums like this to educate Minnesotans about the urgency of the climate change issue and the opportunity for Minnesota to lead on policies and solutions,” she said.

Contact Oksana at [email protected]