Minnesota Now: April 22, 2026

This is Minnesota Now. I'm Nina Moyni. Two high-profile Minneapolis police investigations underwent an audit. The findings released this morning show where the department fell short. We'll learn about those audits into the death of Allison Lucier and the shooting of Davis Maturi. State lawmakers are looking at the future of seclusion rooms. And elementary schools will learn what they are and how they impact children and teachers. Plus, it's Earth Day. We'll talk with a state climate official about where Minnesota stands on its climate goals. And the University of Minnesota Morris is taking a unique step to go green. We'll learn how they're using thermal batteries. And it may be a record warm Earth Day. We'll check in with meteorologist Sven Sundgaard. All that and more right after the news. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey. President Trump is extending a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely while maintaining the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran now says it has seized two ships and fired on a third in the strait. NPR's Aya Batraoui has more from Dubai. The two vessels were seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz. That's the key waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil was passing before the war began nearly two months ago. Iran, which is blocking most ships now from transiting through the strait, says the seizure of today's vessels is in response to the U.S. seizing an Iranian cargo ship and its crew on Sunday. They called it an eye for an eye, an oil tanker for an oil tanker. The U.S. Navy is positioned in the Arabian Sea, blocking Iranian ships from entering or exiting the strait. Iran said the seizure of the ship violates the ceasefire, And there's no word yet on whether the two sides plan to meet again for another round of talks. Aya Batrawi, NPR News, Dubai. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions from senators this morning about vaccines, a measles outbreak in South Carolina, and Medicaid. He's on Capitol Hill for two budget hearings today, starting with the Finance Committee, but senators are hitting on a wide range of controversial health policies. Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren pressed Kennedy on the one-off deals that the Trump administration has signed with individual drug companies, saying the U.S. needs a comprehensive approach. If these deals with big pharma are so great for Americans, then we should be able to see what promises have been made. You have the power to make this deal yourself. Why don't you do that? Why did you? We did this because you refused to do it. I think what we've got is Trump. You have a lot more power to negotiate than we do. We got the lowest prices in history. By health care costs, and you and Donald Trump are actually making the problem worse. This afternoon, Kennedy goes before the Senate Health Committee. The big tech company Meta says it will soon begin tracking its employees' digital movements to train its artificial intelligence. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the surveillance has been met with blowback from workers who say that's intrusive. Meta told employees' new logging software will record keystrokes, mouse movements, and even take snapshots of employees' screens. Meta made the announcement to its 78,000 employees in an internal memo that was reviewed by NPR. In response to employees' concerns, Meta leadership wrote in another internal message, quote, the model will not be able to memorize any of the screen content it sees, adding that all the data will be disconnected from employee names. Meta is ramping up AI across its workforce, just as it plans to lay off about 10% of its staff next month. The new surveillance will not apply to employees in Europe where the practice would violate data privacy laws. Bobby Allen, NPR News. At this hour, stocks are trading up. The Nasdaq saw a surge today and the Dow and S&P 500 are both higher. NPR. Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include Schwab, offering investors choices from self-directed investing to full-service wealth management all in one place, committed to helping investors in any life stage with their investing goals. More at Schwab.com. of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation. Workers lost around $240 million in wages. Matt Sepik reports. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that 36 percent of Minneapolis survey respondents reported missing work because of the operation and losing an average of $2,300 in pay. Nearly 21 percent of St. Paul respondents said they missed work with an average loss of about $1,800. The sample included nearly 1,400 people. The results are included in a new filing in the state's lawsuit over Operation Metro Surge. The survey also estimated that Minneapolis businesses lost $445 million in revenue, while those in St. Paul lost $165 million. I'm Matt Sepik, Minneapolis. Fargo's five mayoral candidates sparred over homelessness and the city's budget problems at their first debate last night. Harshon Rattenpaul has more. Spectators snacked on popcorn and candy at the packed Fargo Theater, where three city commissioners, a North Dakota state senator, and a pastor vied for their votes. At issue was affordability, homelessness, and government transparency. Pastor and Human Rights Commission Chair Sekou Sirleaf clashed directly with conservative city commissioners Michelle Turnberg and Dave Pepcorn on homelessness. Both say the city should scale back some services, while Sirleaf says it should do more. All candidates, including Deputy Mayor Denise Kolpak and State Senator Josh Beauches, chided Mayor Tim Mahoney for his lack of communication with city commissioners and the public during his 11-year tenure. Fargo's mayoral election is in June. I'm Harsh on Rattenpaul, Fargo. Our top story. A review of how Minneapolis police handled two high-profile cases has found that there were parts of the investigations where police fell short. City leaders received findings this morning from an independent audit into the police response in the death of Allison Lucher and the shooting of Davis Maturi. MPD received criticism in both cases, and the chief had issued apologies in both cases as well. Our Melissa Olson was at the meeting where the after-action reports were released. She's on the line now to talk through what she's learned in both of these cases. Thanks for being with us, Melissa. Hi, Nina. Can you start by reminding us first of some of the most concerning details of Allison Luscher's case? She died in February of 2024, but her family still has a lot of questions. Yeah, the family of Allison Luscher has maintained over the past several years that they believe the 47-year-old mother had been killed by an abusive boyfriend. Luscher, who is an indigenous woman and a longtime resident of Minneapolis, was found dead in her North Loop apartment in February of 2024. The initial medical examiner's investigation into her death focused on the possibility of drug overdose. That report listed the cause of death as an injury to her brain, but listed the manner of death as undetermined. At the time, MPD characterized that as a suspicious death. Allison Lusher's family, who is still in the building here, who are present at today's hearing, acknowledged that she struggled with substance abuse disorder, but say that police investigators failed to investigate the multiple instances of domestic violence that she had reported to police in the two years leading up to her death. Police Chief Brian O'Hara was here today. We're going to, I think, talk some more about that. Yes, yes, issuing an apology, but thank you for that. Let's also talk about the case of Davis Maturi, who is alive. What happened to him and what concerns were raised in his situation? Yeah, in the fall of 2024, Maturi, a black man, was shot by his neighbor, John Sacek. It appeared that after months of asking the police for help, the neighbor's harassment escalated. Sacek, who is white, allegedly hurled racial slurs and death threats at Maturi, who lived in fear for more than a year. Maturi called the police at least 19 times leading up to the shooting. But he says officers said they couldn't do anything unless Sacek came out of his house. After Maturi was shot and hospitalized, it took MPD about five days to arrest Sacek. And initially, Police Chief Brian O'Hara placed more blame on the Tory than his own department. He also eventually apologized and said MPD could and would conduct an internal investigation over the matter. So lots of concerns about MPD's process here. How did they all decide that this after action report was needed? Mm-hmm. Families of both victims alongside activists and advocates started speaking out about the Lucia and the Matori cases. And then members of the Minneapolis City Council started to make inquiries about how these cases were handled. And in February 2025, the city announced it would conduct an audit. There were some delays in the audit that we learned about today or a little bit more about today, one of the issues that came up in the audit is that in the fall of 2025, several officers hesitated to provide information to the firm conducting the audit. Eventually, most did agree. Okay, so what did we find out from the city auditor's report about the issues in the police response? City auditor Robert Zimmerman presented those findings. And those findings were conducted by Hogan Adams, an independent firm that was contracted by the city for the investigation. Zimmerman stood in front of the council for 90 minutes. And I believe they're still talking as we speak now. He noted right away that investigators reviewed 49,000 pages of Minneapolis police policies, procedures, and other kinds of records and reviewed more than 75 hours of body-worn camera. The report included timelines about what led up to the death of Allison Lucher and the shooting of Davis Maturi. In Maturi's case, one fact really stood out. These multiple 911 calls were made to alert the police about the threats of violence and acts of violence by Sawcheck. At one point, Zimmerman said, quote, In the Maturi case, documentation of officer follow-up was inconsistent, reducing situational awareness across shifts. And in the case of Allison Luscher, Zimmerman pointed out that incomplete early documentation weakened later investigations. So the report contains more than a dozen findings and recommendations in connection with the Maturi shooting. And another almost two dozen findings and recommendations for MPD in regards to Allison Luscher's case. Now, in the case of Davis Matori and what happened there, the auditor really recommends, you know, find several things. The first among many being that MPD officers did not review information sent to them about Mr. Satchuk's ongoing harassment before responding to the calls made by Mr. Maturi. And made strong recommendations about developing policies to require officers to review information and alerts even in squad resources. So meaning that they use the systems that are available to them as they're on a way to a call to improve their response. But there are, again, more than two dozen findings here. So a lot we heard a lot today also about the ways in which MPD officers, you know, execute warrants and. Oh, Melissa, do we still have you? Oh, sorry. I'm still here. Yeah, that's OK. No, thank you. There were a lot of recommendations in there from communication problems to trying to look at people as more of individuals, you know, allegations that police focused too much on Alison Luscher's drug use in the past. But what reactions did you see or hear from community members, loved ones at the meeting? How are they feeling about these reports? Yeah, you know, you're right. There was a lot of discussion in the report critical of NPD's focus on Allison Lusher's drug use and how that might have related to what happened in her death. What we saw today here in the council chambers was Lusher aunt Jana Williams was here along with several advocates from the urban Native American community of Minneapolis There was a startling moment when the auditor told city council people that the Minneapolis police didn't have a physical copy of the Hempstead County Medical Examiner's report nearly two years after Allison Lucia's death. and that the Emmy's report had been phoned in to the Minneapolis police. That was a critical detail in the early parts of the Lucia investigation. And there was sort of an audible reaction from members of her family, advocates consoling Jana Williams. And I think there were a number of sort of revelations about the kinds of the ways in which MPD's response lacked when it came to this Lucia's case. Melissa, thank you. I think at one moment we learned that what made charging her case so difficult, the case was charged at one point or recommended for charging, was the time that had lapsed between her death and when those charges were recommended to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Absolutely. And we know that there's more coming in terms of policymaking and training within MPD and how all of this might inform some changes to come. Thank you for digging into this as these reports have just been released. Thank you, Melissa. Thanks, Nina. NPR News Native News reporter Melissa Olson for us. seclusion rooms have been used in minnesota for decades as a last resort response to student behavioral issues in the classroom the use of these solitary rooms was banned for some of the youngest learners statewide in 2023 after they were deemed harmful and ineffective but now state lawmakers are considering reversing that ban for children in grades three and under until 2036. That's because, according to some administrators, schools need more time to plan alternatives to these seclusion rooms. Here with more context on what these rooms are and the conflict surrounding the ban is Tasha Just. She's president-elect of the Minnesota School Psychologists Association. Thank you so much for being with us, Tasha. Hi, thank you. I appreciate you having me on. I must say important topic. Yeah, I must say I did not know about this at all. So I'm really eager to learn. You've worked in Minnesota special education classrooms for decades. You have seen these seclusion rooms used plenty of times, I imagine. And for our listeners who may not have heard of these either. Can you explain what these rooms entail, what they look like and how they're used? Yes, I can. You know, many Minnesotans would be surprised to realize that these were being used. And I talked to a couple people last night and they didn't even realize it. So yes, seclusion is when a student is placed alone in a room or a separate space, a small space. They cannot leave. And it's usually happening during a behavioral crisis. It's intended as an emergency safety measure, not as discipline. But most people agree it should not be routine. It is, however, used. It ends up being a very traumatic experience for both the student and the staff involved and anyone else that is around, really. And the room is padded or what's going on in the room? Usually it is just an empty room. Okay. What we would like to see for alternatives is our sensory spaces. But what happens in reality is that it is an empty room that, and when you are in an empty room by yourself, you hear an echo most of the time. So it is a really sensory disorienting environment a lot of the time. And yeah, the students are not able to leave and it is very traumatic. There can be shouting and screaming and anyone who is around, particularly if they don't know what is happening and that there is an emergency reason for it, it sounds like someone is being abused. So it's a painful experience. We're talking about this ban that went into effect, I understand, was for third grade and under. But is it common for students, I mean, is it common for younger students to be put in these seclusion rooms? Why the focus on the third grade and under for the ban? Well, I can't speak to why the focus was only for third and under in 2024. I think it should have been for everyone. What happens is teachers and paras feel unsafe. A student may be dysregulated, unable to communicate, and that is the last tool in their tool belt that they can think of in order to keep everybody safe. What can happen is that we may remove the rest of the people from the room at the time, and that can feel more dignifying. But what ends up happening often is a child is removed and it's a traumatic experience for all. I wonder about administrators, parents even, who have come forward and said they just need more time to put alternative options in place. I mean, what do you think about that? What's your reaction to that? And what would some of those alternatives look like? There are really good alternatives. We have sensory rooms that can be really effective, trained crisis teams, de-escalation systems, and having more mental health supports. School psychologists are around, but the National School Psychologists Association recommends one school psych to every 500 students. And most schools in Minnesota are more than double that. So we need to have people who are able to figure out what the fit is. And in the meantime, what can happen is that we make determinations not necessarily based on simply age and disability, but we look at redesigning classrooms around regulation, around engagement and around attention and fit. because we can reduce crises before they start if we manipulate the room in a way that feels safe to everybody. So for example, if we have a student who is experiencing a lot of noise at home, they might feel really uncomfortable in a quiet room. And vice versa, we might have a student who is used to really quiet and needs that and in a chaotic room can't function. But in the other way, You know, it just doesn't work out that way. So what we need to do is look at how people attend to information, how people learn, get their learning profile, and school psychologists can help with that. So the talk right now is about reversing this ban until 2036. So basically, people saying that are involved in constructing this bill or we're weighing in on it are saying we're going to need about 10 years, a decade to put into place some of the things that I think you're describing, right? Redesigning classrooms and some of these different processes. What do you think about that 10 years or that 2036 benchmark or goal? Do you think that makes sense? No, we don't need that. We need to be able to, we can make changes, small changes that affect a student's whole day, an entire classroom, an entire school. We can make changes really quickly. So we just need to get creative. It's not about funding the last resort. It's about learning how to build systems that enforce positive regulation and belonging and learning so that we can target those concerns before they end up to be a crisis that you're talking about secluding a child from everyone. And also, just before I let you go, Tasha, what is this like for the educators and people helping out in the classroom to put children in this situation? I assume people don't want that. Is it feeling that it is being used too quickly or it's being abused? Or what is the sense around this practice from professionals like yourself? There are people on all spectrums. Sometimes people think it is needed because the child is so unsafe. and some but even in those cases when it happens the adults usually cry and uh there's there's tears on for the kids and for the adults because it is such uh it's such a hard hard thing and um what happens is that the adults then really need to debrief and we need to restore trust with the kids. And it becomes a really big process if you are being trauma-informed. So it's hard for everybody. And yeah, there's a lot of tears. Absolutely. Well, Tasha, I want to thank you for coming on and telling us about this. And we're going to continue to track the debate around this and where the bill ends up. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. I appreciate it. Have a good one. You too. That was Tasha Just, and Tasha is president-elect of the Minnesota School Psychologists Association. You are listening to Deeper Blues by the legendary blues pianist Cornbread Harris for our Minnesota Music Minute. It's his 99th birthday tomorrow and there's a big birthday bash at Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis tomorrow and Saturday night with performances by Cornbread himself. One more time, baby. Thanks for listening to Minnesota Now. As cannabis entrepreneurs work to get their businesses up and running, some have hit a wall. New lawsuits argue some Minnesota municipalities are going too far to block cannabis businesses. Our Nicole Kai visited cannabis growers in Farmington who are suing their local township for that reason. A dozen greenhouses with overgrown weeds sit on about 12 and a half acres of land. The farm had grown hemp for a few years, but now it's completely vacant. Nice to meet you. What's your name? Josh. Josh. Yeah, Richard. Richard. Yeah. I'm meeting with Josh Kasperzyk, the owner of the farm, and Richard Bramma, his business partner. They run a company that produces hemp, THC edibles, and beverages. Kasperzyk and Bramma are giving me a tour of what's now a pretty empty farm. We've been idle for over a year now, so it certainly doesn't look as pretty. So we kind of have a little bit of maintenance work, and that's about it going on, right? They stopped growing hemp at the farm last year to make the transition into adult-use cannabis. But Brama says their plans are now in limbo because the local township won't issue zoning approval. We were transparent about what we were attempting to do. And instead of bringing us into a conversation to see how we could make this work together in a partnership, they passed a special use permit without informing us, knowing that we had put all this money into the infrastructure and anticipating adult-use cannabis. Last summer, Kasper Zick secured one of 50 cultivator licenses in a lottery held by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management. With that in hand, he applied for a special use permit with Eureka Township, hoping to secure their approval. But it turned into a back and forth process that dragged on for about half a year. Kasper Zick says while other cities were granting zoning approval with little resistance, he was experiencing the opposite. You need to have architectural drawings. You need to have a site plan drawn by an engineer. Meanwhile, we're watching others go in during those same meetings with none of that and get approved for their building. State law is clear. Municipalities can govern time, place, and manner of a cannabis business, but cannot prohibit it. Despite that, several cities and counties in Minnesota have passed restrictive ordinances, some that require special use permits or completely zone out cannabis. Between architects, site planning, and engineering, Kasperzyk says they spent more than $100,000. At one point, he even scratched some of his plans to speed things along. We went the extra mile. We spent the money. We brought in the experts. We didn't spare a dime doing it. I mean, we went through, jumped through all the hoops. He was also invoiced about for the township legal research In the end the township denied the application Kasper Zick sued over that decision but every day the farm sits idle it bleeding tens of thousands of dollars Estimated damages could stretch into the millions if they can't get a crop into the ground this growing season. Brahma says it's frustrating. There was nothing to be hidden and it felt like they went behind our backs, pulled the rug out from underneath us and put us in a position where not only could have they bankrupt our businesses, but they could have bankrupt us personally. The township's attorney wouldn't agree to a recorded interview, but told NPR News in writing that the denial was rooted in traffic concerns, compliance with building codes, and adverse impacts on neighboring properties. As the lawsuit plays out, the business partners are shifting to a plan B. It's a new growth facility in St. Paul. Kasperzik says the difference between Eureka Township and St. Paul is night and day. They're happy to have the tax revenue, they're happy to have the jobs, and they're happy to have the business. The goal is to get operational there within the next few months. But, as of now, the duo is far from giving up on the farm. Nicole Kai, NPR News, Farmington. Support comes from Second Harvest Heartland, providing hunger relief in Minnesota and Wisconsin through grocery distribution, program partnerships, and food assistance. 24-hour Harvest Giving Day provides meals in the community. to harvest.org slash 24. In a few minutes, we'll take a closer look at your weather forecast with Sven Sundgaard. But first, we want to send it to Emily Reese for some more top news. Hi, Emily. Hi, Nina. Iran has fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them. Iran's assault comes a day after President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire but pressed on with an American blockade of Iranian ports. The latest salvos complicate already faltering efforts to bring the U.S. and Iran together for talks to end the war. The closure of the strait has already sent gas prices skyrocketing and raised the cost of a wide array of other products. The price of Brent crude is back over $100 a barrel. Kiev's top diplomat says Ukraine is pushing for direct talks between President Zelensky and Russian President Putin. A summit is seen as crucial to add fresh momentum to U.S.-led efforts to end Russia's invasion. Kiev has asked Turkey and other countries to host these talks. Meanwhile, officials said today that a Ukrainian drone strike in Russia demolished a residential building, killing two people. Ukraine has developed long-range drones targeting Russia's military infrastructure. The Supreme Court is clearing the way for a veteran wounded by a suicide bomb in Afghanistan to sue the government contractor for whom the attacker was working when he built the explosive. The court ruled today in the case of a former army specialist, Winston Hensley. He was wounded in a 2016 explosion that killed five people. Hensley sued after an army investigation faulted the company's failure to supervise an Afghan employee who built the vest on the job site inside the base. Today's ruling reverses lower court decisions. Officials with the Air Force in Finland confirmed yesterday that they have disciplined four cadets for their actions on a training flight earlier this month. UPI reports that the four used their flight patterns to draw shapes you might imagine cheeky cadets would draw with their jets if they had the chance. Officials said there was no danger to other air traffic during the training flight and that the pilots did complete their exercises and mission. Oh, excuse me. Thank you, Emily. I had to get that throat clearing in. No problem. All righty. Well, today feels a lot more like a summer day in Minnesota than late April. Many of us are going to see temperatures shoot past 80 degrees. NPR News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard is with us now for all the latest. It's a really warm Earth Day, Sven. Sure is. Already 90 degrees, 75 miles west of the Twin Cities. Yeah, Olivia, 90 degrees already. It probably will be into the low 90s there easily. Twin Cities not doing too shabby either. 76 right now. And as you mentioned, it is Earth Day. And very fitting that it is worth reminding that our state has warmed a lot in recent decades, three degrees on average. And to put that into context, our annual average temperature has a standard deviation of plus or minus two degrees. So to be three degrees warmer than that is outside of that range of normal values. And that means that those extremes are becoming more exponentially possible. So those extreme warm days, floods, droughts, all of that is becoming more possible because of just even a few degrees of warming. Snow cover, of course, less reliable. This was a great winter example of that where we thought we'd have the cold in place. And we did have some cold, but we also had a lot of warm air. And that snow was just kind of intermittent. We'd get some snow and it would melt. But some good news. I wanted to copy this from Paul Hutner's updraft from last year because you need a little bit of hope. And he had some great examples. Our waters are much cleaner thanks to the Clean Air and Water Act. Lake Minnetonka, I didn't know this, in the 60s and 70s was pretty disgusting, unswimmable. And we've made some great progress there. Our air is cleaner due to our contributions to air pollution. It's dropped by about half. Of course, now we're kind of making up for it with some of these wildfire smoke days. But at least the exhaust and industrial pollution has really decreased. And our ozone layer is really healing, Nina. In fact, the hole that's left over the Antarctic continent is expected to fully recover by 2066. And that's a great example of the international community getting together and saying, let's fix this. And when we all got on board, we could do it. So that gives us some hope for climate change that, you know, if we put our head to it, we can make things better. Absolutely. That's good to get a comprehensive picture of, you know, how are we doing as a whole world? We've had a lot of ups and downs here already, though, just in April. How has that compared to a normal if there is a normal April? Yeah, April is a volatile month just, you know, normally in Minnesota, of course. Wild swings between winter and summer trying to peek its head out. And, you know, we talked about the severe weather start on Monday, very active already. in April already seeing almost the average amount of tornadoes we'd see in June, which is our peak month. So it is an active month and a kind of a mixed picture statewide. But overall, it looks like we're gonna end up warmer than normal. But what's pretty interesting is the volatility this month is even crazier than normal. So we think of wide swings in April. But one way we measure that standard deviation, though, what is that range of average high temperatures? Normally, we expect that to be about 23 degrees in the month of April, plus or minus 11 or 12 degrees from the average. But this month, it's about 30 degrees. So there's 26% more swing in temperatures this month than a normal April. So it's not our imagination. It has been a wackier than normal April. A roller coaster. We're also part of the state is under this red flag warning. Tell us about that. Yeah, very windy conditions today and still dry. Humidity is going to be increasing tonight, but today it's still pretty low. So this afternoon, Western and Northern Minnesota in particular, we could see relative humidity values in the 15 to 20% range. Combine that with these winds that have picked back up, south winds 15 to 25 today. That's what's creating that red flag warning across most of Western, North, Central Minnesota. The Twin Cities not included in that, but any wildfires that get going today could spread pretty quickly. And as we already talked about, a very warm one today, 80s across Southern Minnesota with some 90-degree readings already in Western Minnesota. And I think we're going to see more of those pop up here in the next couple hours. What about the rest of the week? Is this hot weather going to stick around? It's not going to stick around a whole lot longer. So if you like the warm weather, enjoy today and tomorrow. We're going to be in for a prolonged cool period after this. And kind of in between that is more severe weather possible tomorrow. This will be our third round of potential severe storms in just the last 11 days, which is also pretty wild for April. You'll notice tomorrow the dew points will be stickier, close to 60 by the afternoon hours. Combined with temperatures in the 70s, pretty strong cold front moving through. We do have a slight risk of severe weather tomorrow, level two out of five from the Storm Prediction Center for Southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. Initially, those cells could produce an isolated tornado or two. I do think the setup doesn't look as impressive as our last couple outbreaks. Best chance of tornadoes probably into Iowa, but we could still see some large hail, damaging wind gusts, and then it is going to be cooler behind that. Thanks for keeping us up to speed, Sven. Absolutely, Nina. That's NPR News meteorologist Sven Sungard. It is Earth Day, which started in 1970 as a protest against pollution and habitat loss. Climate change was not a household term at the time, but now it's a number one priority for people concerned about the well-being of the planet. The state of Minnesota is chasing a set of goals to tackle the causes of climate change and cushion its impact on communities. States trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The state is currently not on track to meet those goals. That's according to a recent presentation to the legislature by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Joining me to talk about what it'll take to get on track is MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler. Commissioner, thanks for your time today. Happy Earth Day. Happy Earth Day, Nina. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to talk about these goals that are in place, but can you remind people just what are the pollutants that are of greatest concern when it comes to your role and to climate change? And what are their largest sources here in our state? Yeah, well, when we talk about climate change, people are familiar with carbon dioxide. But I think it's also important to remember that methane or CH4 is a very powerful greenhouse gas. It's four times more powerful than carbon dioxide alone. And in Minnesota, when we look at the sources, transportation and vehicle emissions still remain the number one source, followed just behind by agriculture and land use choices. We've made a lot of progress in our energy sector, but that's the number three source with industrial emissions. OK, that's good to set the scene there. So earlier this year, the state did release an updated climate action framework. So let's talk about some of those goals. What progress has been made so far? How's the state doing in terms of meeting its emissions targets? Well, as I alluded to, we have seen a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from Minnesota's electricity sector. We have reduced that sector's emissions by 50% since 2005, and that has been a result of strong legislative action and strong leadership from utilities such as Xcel Energy. And that type of collaboration between state and private entities, as well as local partners, is what we need to do more of to accelerate towards our goals, because we are currently falling short of meeting those goals that you mentioned. We know that if we continue to implement current state and federal policies, we will cut Minnesota's greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2030 and 39 percent by 2050. And that is falling short of the 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that we have set by 2030 and complete carbon neutrality by 2050. So it's important, too, to note that 2023 is actually the latest year, right, that for which we have these statewide emissions numbers. And you're going on projections that show, again, that the state won't quite meet its targeted goals under some of the current trends. What would it take to get back on track? What are a few actionable things you're hoping for? Yeah, we are always a couple years behind in the data, just the way that data are collected and analyzed. But what we need to do are take actions such as those included in the climate action framework across Minnesota's geography and economy. We need to continue towards our carbon electricity or carbon free electricity by 2040, like get all of our energy coming from renewable sources. But we also need to make progress in the way that we sequester carbon in our soils, the way we grow food, transport food, transportation choices, including fuels and vehicles. and whether we're walking, biking, using trains, planes, or cars, as well as think about the way we heat buildings and the way that we are working across sectors to store carbon whenever possible. Can we talk a little bit about artificial intelligence, AI, and how that could make it maybe harder or maybe easier to cut emissions by increasing electricity use. A lot of people are concerned about data centers. One report estimated that by 2028, data centers could use as much electricity each year as about a fifth of U.S. households. So what are the pros and cons of AI and these data centers? Well, I think we've seen that in segments of Minnesota's economy and certainly in individual households, AI has been embraced. And I see that with my own high schoolers. But we also know, as you noted, that the power that is required to run these hyperscale data centers is significant. And in Minnesota, the conversation with policymakers and with local local governance folks, as well as those who are investing in data centers, has acknowledged that we need to continue to be on track towards our 100% renewable goals by 2040. And we need to invest in grid resilience and address affordability, because we can't have data centers moving into communities and then having customers of that local municipal electrical supply subsidize the cost of that hyperscale data center So I think it not only finding ways to continue to be on track towards our carbon neutrality goals but also think about how data centers can potentially be good neighbors and offset concerns about grid resilience and affordability in communities. I also want to talk about transportation, which you mentioned is still, you know, a huge source of emissions in the state. At the federal level, there have been some rollbacks to some of these incentives for electric vehicles, for example. What needs to happen in the state to help reduce emissions from vehicles? Yeah, I'll just say about the federal state roles, I mean, climate leadership has never been more important. And rollbacks at the federal climate commitments will drive up energy costs and threaten gains that we've made in Minnesota. and all the more reason that we need to double down and recommit in Minnesota to do what's right for our goals that are in law. And we have strong leadership at our Department of Transportation, at the Met Council, and with local governments across the state recognizing that not only are people asking for choices, but they're asking for affordability. Certainly fuel prices right now reinforce the fact that we should have more affordable choices. And that includes transit, different ways that we can fuel our cars, looking at ways that we can move commodities as well as people in a different way across the state and across the country. And just lastly, Commissioner, you know, it is Earth Day and people can do things they're not already doing that are small, right? What are some of the small ways that you would encourage Minnesotans to just help out? Yeah, I think that one thing that people can do within their own homes and in their neighborhoods is think about the food choices that they're making and particularly food waste. I mentioned earlier that methane, which comes from degrading organic material, is four times more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. And unfortunately, much of the food that people buy and bring into their homes or have in restaurants or larger institutions is wasted and could be used to feed people, feed animals, or at the very least be processed at an organics facility. And that is one area that we're trying to lift up as something that is possible and actually helps with affordability for all Minnesotans. Excellent. Thank you so much for your time today, Commissioner. Thank you. Katrina Kessler is Commissioner of the MPCA and Chair of the Governor's Subcabinet on Climate Change. Programming is supported by Fagri Drinker, one of the largest law firms in Minnesota, with nearly 300 Minneapolis attorneys helping clients solve complex legal issues and meet their business goals in the Twin Cities and beyond. Fagreedrinker.com. Programming is supported by First Avenue, presenting Metropolitan Ballets Romeo and Juliet at the Fitzgerald Theater on April 26th. Tickets and info at first-avenue.com. One of the state's greenest university campuses is getting even greener. The University of Minnesota Morris was able to reach carbon neutrality when it comes to the electricity that powers its campus. Thanks to two wind turbines named Burt and Ernie, now it's taking steps to decarbonize how it heats its buildings. That's led Morris to a new thermal battery that it began piloting last month. It's believed to be the first campus in the United States to use this technology for heating. Joining me for more on how it all works is Troy Goodneau, the Sustainability Director at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Thanks for being with us, Troy. Thanks for having me. Just to start, so we're all on the same page, would you tell us exactly what carbon neutrality is and why it's such a big mission, a part of Morris' mission to reach this goal? Great question. So the big goal, right, is we know that climate change is a big issue facing human beings. And so one of our goals is to stop putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And so we're looking for ways we can not burn carbon. So how are you going about that? So the University of Minnesota Morris has been working on moving towards carbon neutrality for a long time. And in fact, this is a larger goal of the University of Minnesota system as well. For the University of Minnesota Morris, we already get all of our electricity in a carbon neutral way with 60 percent of that electricity coming from on-site renewables. So we have multiple technologies, but probably the most prominent that people would see when they come into Morris from the highway is the two large industrial wind turbines, which we call Burt and Ernie, which are sitting on the ridge of the Palm de Terre River. and they provide, like I said, over 60% of our annual electricity. So there are many times of the day and across the year where 100% of our electricity is essentially coming from renewable sources. We also have, and this is a mouthful, we also have a 500-kilowatt solar agrivoltaic field at the edge of our campus, which is a solar electricity field that is basically also producing green electrons for the campus. And so that's a big way we're getting electricity to the campus. But the kind of the big elephant in the room is this heating question. I do want to get to the heating, but I got to know who picked Bert and Ernie for the names. Yeah, well, you know, we've got a lot of sustainability rock star students at Morris and Rock Star University of Minnesota Morris alums. It was a student named Sidney Bauer. And in fact, if your listeners go to the Bell Museum, there's a really wonderful exhibit about climate adaptation in Minnesota. And one of the featured heroes is Sidney Bauer, who lives here in Morris. Amazing. So why is heating a particularly difficult area to decarbonize? Heating is kind of the big elephant in the room. In fact, the Morris campus, we use about three to four times more energy for heating than we do electricity for all sources. And that's just because, number one, we need a lot of it. Number two, we've generally heated ourselves in the most cost effective way by burning things and burning fossil fuels. And so this is the conundrum is how do we create a reliable, affordable, cheap way of heating ourselves without having to burn fossil fuels, which is also where we began the chat and contributes to climate change impacts. Okay, so let's talk about the thermal battery. How does it work? You bet. So really big picture, you know, one of our goals is most of us, a lot of us, use natural gas to heat. And so the goal is to think about are there ways that we cannot use or use less natural gas for heating? So the really cool thing about our campus is that Bert and Ernie actually produce way more electricity than the campus needs. So we only use about half of the power that comes from Bert and Ernie. So then half of that power we sell to the utility as green electricity. So the question that we've been thinking about is, what if we reallocated some of those electrons towards the purpose of greener heating? And so that led to this current project. And so the current project is a thermal battery, which basically takes green electricity and runs it into essentially like a cement, these limestone pellets, which get very hot. and then that's holding heat and then essentially we can run whatever we want, we can run air through there to heat up from those hot pellets that were heated up by green electricity and make hot air. And this particular project is a little bit more technical and interesting because this particular solution by Cash Energy also acts as a thermochemical battery So it also has this reaction that's interesting where the cement also can go through a chemical reaction to also make even more heat. So it's a special type of thermal battery. Okay. Have you thought about the winter? I mean, when there's obviously a greater demand for heat? Yes. So this demonstration is helping us learn. So it's part of a larger strategy, which is, you know, the goal is to figure out, like, what kinds of technologies can we use in the state of Minnesota to basically get green heat? And so, you know, part of your earlier question was, you know, could we imagine hooking a system up like this to our district energy steam system? The answer is yes. That's what we're exploring right now is what are some of these technologies that would allow us to make green steam to hook up to our larger steam system. As you look into the future, what other factors do you consider or what else do you think it would take to fully perhaps heat the Morris campus in a more sustainable way? Yeah. So, I mean, we know that for our campus, which is really a city within a city, we need a million therm of energy every year to heat our campus. So the question is, you know, where can you get that energy? And for us, you know, what's really remarkable, it's exciting because, you know, 20 years ago, wind and solar were not really the cheapest energy in the upper Midwest. Sure. to install and operate, but it is today. And so right across the border in South Dakota, now the cousins of Bert and Ernie are much bigger. So in 20 years, we're getting turbines that are built that on about the same footprint are putting out three times the amount of power. So this is where what we see as a future, where we're going to capture even more of the wind resource in Minnesota, even more of the solar resource in Minnesota, and thermal battery storage as well as electrical storage technology is going to just play a really big role in the future. So, you know, we're going to be talking about storage a lot in the same way we talked about wind and solar the past 20 years. The next decade is going to be all about a conversation about storage. And just lastly, Troy, I like what you're saying about having these brand new ideas and kind of it sounds like you're saying bring them more into the mainstream and not have them be thought of as super novel ideas or super pricey ideas. What do you think it's going to take over time to change some of that perception for people to lean in more to these types of solutions? Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, so a couple things about how these things work, right? And I think sometimes we forget about, remember when calculators were expensive and the DCR and Betamax and LaserDisc and 8-Trek? And, you know, so everyone kind of thinks like, well, it's expensive now, but that always doesn't seem like very interesting to me, because if we follow the same process of innovation, we get the same results. It's a repeatable thing. We rarely reflect back and say, well, how did that happen? And so, yes, you know, electric cars have been a little bit more expensive or a lot early on. Of course they were, but then they won't be. So I think this is where what I'm really thankful about is, you know, we've got a we've got a, you know, a tech incubator in Minnesota called Grid Catalyst run by Nina Axelson. So, you know, Nina's, you know, basically her firm, Grid Catalyst, you know, did this matchmaking with between us and Cash Energy. Oh, nice. And so found basically was like, hey, it looks like there's a group of people who are interested in advancing this technology and exploring cold heating options. And so the first step is to do the first step we always do, which is to test the technology, kick the tires, and then start scaling and then start reproducing. And that's what we're going to do. And by the way, I would say already, already across the U.S., you know, I mean, if we look at California, you know, they're kind of way ahead on a bunch of things having to do with storage. But already large thermal batteries are being used to power everything from ethanol plants in California to distilleries making whiskey in Scotland. Well, Troy, thank you so much. I really enjoyed learning about all of this technology. Thank you. Thank you for the invitation. Troy Goodnow is the Sustainability Director at the University of Minnesota, Morris. That's going to do it for us today. Tomorrow on Minnesota Now, we'll learn about how the state is trying to regulate prediction markets or bets based on things like war or elections. That's tomorrow at noon. We hope you'll join us.