Melissa Hortman was a climate and clean energy champion for Minnesota
Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman is being remembered by advocates and lawmakers as one of the most important climate and clean energy leaders in the state's history.
From the state's trailblazing community solar program to the flurry of energy and environmental laws adopted during Democrats' 2023 trifecta, Hortman had a hand in passing some of the country's most ambitious, consequential state-level clean energy policy during her two-decade legislative career.
Hortman, who was a Democrat, and her husband Mark were shot and killed in their suburban Minneapolis home Saturday in what authorities say was a politically motivated assassination. The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter, is also charged with attempted murder for shooting Democratic Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
Hortman, who was 55 years old, twice tried for a state House seat before finally winning in 2004. Moving through the ranks of House leadership, the attorney served as speaker pro tempore, deputy minority leader, and minority leader before becoming speaker in 2019 and serving in that role for three legislative sessions.
'Clean energy was her first love,' said Michael Noble, who worked with Hortman for more than 20 years during his time as executive director of the Minnesota-based clean-energy policy advocacy organization Fresh Energy. 'She really mastered the details and dug deep into climate and clean energy.'
Hortman chaired the House Energy Policy Committee in 2013, a standout year for solar policy in which she helped pass legislation establishing one of the country's first community solar programs, and also a law requiring utilities to obtain 1.5% of their electricity from solar by 2020, with a goal of 10% by 2030.
'That was the year we put solar on the map,' Noble said.
Community solar advocate John Farrell recalled answering Hortman's questions in detail concerning the benefits and drawbacks of community solar during meetings. She was preparing to defend the bill and convince others, even Republicans, that it could be something they could support.
'She wasn't going to tell them something untrue,' said Farrell, who directs the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an advocacy group. 'She was going to seek reasons why this policy might be something that they would care about or that it might align with their values.'
Nicole Rom, former executive director of the Minnesota-based youth climate advocacy group Climate Generation, said Hortman was committed to educating herself on climate issues. Hortman attended the United Nations' Conference of the Parties (COP) climate conferences and was part of the University of Minnesota's delegation at the 2015 Paris climate talks, where her vision for more ambitious state climate goals and policy may have begun to percolate, Rom said.
The result was the strong climate legislation Minnesota accomplished in 2023, Rom said.
'If she never served a day before or a day after the 2023 session, she would still go down in history as an incredible leader,' said Peter Wagenius, legislative and political director of the Sierra Club's Minnesota chapter.
After Democrats won control of the state House, Senate, and governor's office in the 2022 election, Hortman understood the trifecta was a rare opportunity that may not arise for another decade, he said.
The following year, Hortman combined her skills and experience as a legislator, committee chair, and political leader to push forward an agenda that would fundamentally transform clean energy and transportation in Minnesota while solidifying her reputation as one of the legislative body's greatest leaders.
The session's accomplishments included a state requirement of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, along with more than 70 other energy and environmental policy provisions that created a state green bank, funded renewable energy programs, supported sustainable building, and increased funding for transit. Other laws passed that year required the state to consider the climate impacts of transportation projects, provided electric vehicle rebates, revised the community solar program to focus on lower-income customers, and improved grid-interconnection bottlenecks.
When the trifecta arrived, she ensured her colleagues were 'ready to move on a whole list of items in an unapologetic way,' Wagenius said. Hortman also practiced 'intergenerational respect' by elevating and helping pass laws proposed by first- and second-term legislators, he said.
Democratic Rep. Patty Acomb said Hortman empowered others within the party, made legislators feel they were 'like a team,' and had a habit of never taking credit for legislative success. 'She shied away from that,' Acomb said.
Acomb, who began serving in 2019, became chair of the House Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee four years later. She credits Hortman with that opportunity and with making Minnesota a national leader in clean energy.
'In so many ways, she was a trailblazer,' she said.
Gregg Mast, executive director of the industry group Clean Energy Economy Minnesota, said Hortman followed up on the historic 2023 session with a 2024 legislative agenda that built upon the previous year's success. The Legislature made the permitting process for energy projects less onerous while passing a handful of other measures promoting clean buildings and transportation.
'She knew that ultimately, to reach 100% clean energy by 2040, we actually needed to be putting steel in the ground and building these projects,' Mast said.
Ben Olson, legislative director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, first met Hortman 20 years ago while lobbying for an environmental bill. He found her to be kind, witty, and pleasantly sarcastic, the kind of legislator who asked questions, closely listened to responses, and offered sage advice. 'Everyone liked her, and she was close to everybody who had spent time with her,' he said.
Ellen Anderson, a former Democratic state senator and clean energy champion, remembered when Hortman asked if she could co-teach a course with her on climate change at the University of Minnesota in 2015. Hortman came prepared for classes with notebooks of data and information. 'She was super organized,' Anderson said.
Rom thinks Hortman's love for nature drove her climate and clean energy advocacy. The legislator loved hiking, biking, gardening, and other outdoor activities.
In a blog post for Climate Generation before attending the UN's 2017 climate conference, Hortman wrote about the impact of climate change on trees and how she had planted nearly two dozen in her backyard to offset her family's carbon emissions. It was a message not lost on her two children, Colin and Sophie, who suggested in a statement that people commemorate their parents by planting a tree, visiting a park or trail, petting a dog, and trying a new hobby.
'Hold your loved ones a little closer,' they wrote. 'Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect. The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Insurance firm ordered to pay $44M in lawsuit filed by man freed from prison
A man won $11 million in a lawsuit against police after his conviction for killing a Missouri newspaper's sports editor was overturned, but the city's former insurer resisted paying most of it for almost three years. A Missouri judge this week ordered the company to pay nearly $44 million. Most of the money would go to Ryan Ferguson, whose legal battle with Minnesota-based St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. in Missouri's courts started in 2017, about six weeks after he won a federal lawsuit against six Columbia police officers. Ferguson was convicted in 2004 of killing Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt but was released from prison in 2013 after a state appeals court panel concluded that he hadn't received a fair trial. Ferguson maintained his innocence. The city insurer paid Ferguson $2.7 million almost immediately after he won his federal lawsuit, and his attorneys expected St. Paul to pay $8 million under its coverage for the officers from 2006 to 2011. But the company argued that it wasn't on the hook because the actions leading to Ferguson's arrest and imprisonment occurred before its coverage began. While Ferguson sought to collect, the officers argued that St. Paul was acting in bad faith, shifting the burden to them as individuals and forcing them to face bankruptcy. Ferguson's lawyers took up those claims, and Missouri courts concluded that St. Paul was obligated to pay $5.3 million for the time Ferguson was in prison while it covered the officers. It paid in 2020. But the payment didn't end the dispute, and in November, a jury concluded that St. Paul had acted in bad faith and engaged in a 'vexatious refusal' to pay. Cole County Circuit Judge S. Cotton Walker upheld that finding in his order Monday as he calculated how much money the company would pay — mostly as punishment — under a Missouri law capping such punitive damages. 'It's a way to send a message to insurance companies that if there's coverage, they need to pay,' said Kathleen Zellner, whose firm represents Ferguson. She added: 'You can't just pull the rug out from under people when they've paid the premiums.' The company can appeal the decision. An attorney representing St. Paul did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Under an agreement between Ferguson and the six officers, they stand to split about $5 million of the $44 million. The award of nearly $44 million includes $3.2 million to compensate Ferguson and the officers, another $24.2 million in punitive damages, $535,000 million for the 'vexatious refusal' allegation and interest on all of the damages totaling about $16 million.
Dominion Post
an hour ago
- Dominion Post
COLUMN: Here's the blueprint to how college athletes will one day become trade bait
MORGANTOWN — We are just mere weeks away from the beginning of a new landscape in college athletics. As of July 1, the revenue sharing program stemming from the House settlement will allow universities to begin paying their athletes directly out of a capped pool of roughly $20.5 million for their services. Now, this is not to be confused with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money, which college athletes have already been earning. Basically, the House settlement was a decision that saw just how much conferences and their individual schools were earning through ever-growing TV deals, ticket sales and the likes and the courts ruled that college athletes deserved a cut. Much like the NFL salary cap, that $20.5 million pool will continually grow over time, as TV deals continue to get larger, as do ticket sales, radio broadcasting rights and such. And it basically opens up a new era of college athletes being official employees of their school. Some will fight against that statement, but the bottom line is college athletes will be handed a paycheck. On that paycheck will likely be the school's logo and official name. It will be signed by the school's athletic director or president or someone in the finance office or some other higher-up from that school. If that's not being considered an employee of the school, well, we all know what it looks like. The bigger question to be asked is whether or not college athletes are now professionals? True, they're not earning anything close to NFL or NBA salaries, but they are earning a salary nonetheless. We are here to tell you today there is but one threshold to cross before we can truly refer to college athletes as professionals. And that day is likely coming. Let's take the example of an NFL player. He's paid a salary, so, too, are college athletes beginning July 1. That player has the right to free agency, so do college athletes with the transfer portal. He has the option to hold out for more money. Well, we all remember the story of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who held himself out of spring drills earlier this year, because he was dissatisfied with his NIL money that was reportedly worth $2.4 million. He ended up transferring to UCLA after Tennessee basically told him not to let the door hit him on the way out. Ladies and gentlemen, the only experience remaining that a pro athlete can undergo that a college athlete can't is being traded. And if that sounds corny, too far-fetched or simply impossible, I want to see a show of hands of how many of us would have thought 20 years ago that college athletes would be earning actual paychecks from their schools. My hand isn't raised. I'm guessing your hand isn't raised, either. You may fire back that there are contracts involved between a player and the school. Beyond that, there are ethics. Let's talk about the contract, which used to be the National Letter of Intent (NLI), which binded an athlete to the school and the school to the athlete for one year. The NLI was eliminated in 2024, in part because officials saw what was coming down the road with NIL and revenue sharing. It's basically a grant-in-aid agreement now that serves as that binding contract, which still comes in the form of a scholarship. The guess from here is that future grant-in-aids will also spell out in more detail the percentages said athlete will earn from revenue sharing and the expectations that will follow in order for the athlete to earn the money. All it would take to officially allow the trading of college athletes is the approval from the NCAA or the NCAA's Division I Council to reword those grant-in-aids. That's it. No congressional hearings. No emergency summits where all the conferences meet at some discreet location to debate the topic. Just the NCAA's approval and some lawyer writing a trade clause into the grant-in-aid agreement. It's more difficult to pay your personal property taxes online than it would be to allow the trading of college athletes from one school to another. Which brings us to the ethical stance. As of right now, public sentiment is rather neutral on paying college athletes. Most fan bases would agree that athletes deserve their cut. The biggest worry right now is how their favorite school is going to afford the payments and compete with everyone else. Trust me, that's going to change over time. As those caps continue to grow and the prices of tickets, hot dogs and beers grow right along with it, public sentiment is going to change. As NIL deals continue to grow to the point where more than just a handful of college athletes earn more money than their coaches or college presidents, public sentiment is going to change. As more and more stories like Iamaleava's become more common in college sports, public sentiment will change. Right now, everyone knows college sports is a big business, but the general feeling is sort of like, 'Well, it's not that big of a business.' That's going to change, believe me. And when that five-star quarterback who made more money as a freshman in college than most of us will earn in our lifetimes suddenly turns into a bust, ethics be damned. If your school could get a starting safety and right tackle for that bum, you pull that trigger in a heartbeat. Because these are no longer just college kids. That may have been the proper thing to call them since the 1950s up until about two or three years ago. But a handful of them are no more just college kids any more than the wishbone offense is innovative. Texas Tech softball pitcher NiJaree Canady will earn $1.2 million next season in NIL money. That's on top of whatever the school will pay her in revenue sharing. Come on, is she just a college kid now? They are paid professionals now. Sure, in some cases, they are still 19- and 20-year olds, but some will become 19- and 20-year olds who can afford things at 21 that most of us could never dream of affording in our lives. That's not the proper definition of a college kid. It may not only be unethical, but also against the rules, to even consider trading a college athlete right now, but it may not always be that way. The view from here is that day is coming sooner than you think.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
LA Mayor Rips JD Vance for Calling Senator Padilla 'Jose': 'How Dare You'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass ripped Vice President JD Vance on Friday after he referred to Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla as "Jose." Newsweek reached out to the office of Bass for additional comment Friday night. Why It Matters Republican President Donald Trump has prioritized immigration control as a key pillar of his second administration. The president campaigned in 2024 on the promise of mass deportations and appointed Tom Homan as his administration's border czar to execute his agenda. Protests broke out this month in Los Angeles in reaction to numerous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the area. Trump sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid the strife, against the wishes of California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. The move was ultimately reversed by a judge, restoring Newsom's control over the state's Guard forces. What To Know Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles last week regarding the ongoing protests, and Padilla, a California Democrat, was in attendance. Video footage from the incident showed Padilla pushed to the ground and handcuffed outside the door while attempting to speak to Noem during the conference. Noem stopped speaking for a brief moment during the commotion, then immediately continued. The DHS said she met with Padilla for 15 minutes after the gathering. Vance on Friday landed in Los Angeles amid the Trump administration's ramped up ICE raids in the city. While speaking to reporters, he was asked a question in reference to Padilla's forced removal from Noem's briefing. "The New York Times just did a story" about lawmakers who "keep getting handcuffed, suggesting that ... the Trump administration is cracking down on Democrats," a reporter said. "Can you comment on that?" "Well, I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater," the vice president said. "And that's all it is. I think everybody realizes that's what this is." Bass afterward called out Vance, saying, "Mr. Vice President, how dare you disrespect our senator. You don't know his name," Bass questioned. "But yet you served with him before you were vice president and you continue to serve with him today, because the last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate." Bass continued, "You serve with him today and how dare you disrespect him and call him 'Jose.' But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he's not just anybody to us. He is our senator." When asked about the incident, a Vance spokesperson previously told Newsweek that "He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law." Bass has been a stanch critic of the Trump administration amid the ICE raids throughout the City of Angels and vowed to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities in her city. The mayor has also called for peaceful protests and condemned any violence in reaction to immigration initiatives set in motion by the White House. She also set a curfew for a portion of downtown Los Angeles amid the ongoing unrest. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) What People Are Saying Newsom on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate. Calling him 'Jose Padilla' is not an accident." Padilla posted to X on Friday: "I asked a question—and ended up in handcuffs. If this is how the Trump administration treats a U.S. Senator in broad daylight, imagine what they're doing to immigrants behind closed doors. We cannot stay silent. We will not back down." California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff wrote on X Friday: "JD Vance served alongside Alex Padilla, and knows better. He's taking this cheap shot to distract from the real fear and havoc this Administration is creating. It's pathetic." What Happens Next It is believed that the Trump administration will continue executing his campaign promise of mass deportations throughout the country.
