FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 29, 2008

Big Stone II and Our Energy Future: A Native Perspective

Featuring Native scholar and environmental activist Winona LaDuke

Wednesday, March 5th, 7:00 PM at Minnesota State Community and Technical College

Fergus Falls, MN – A public forum March 5th at MSCTC in Legacy Hall will focus on the proposed Big Stone II coal expansion from a Native American perspective. The 7:00 PM forum features acclaimed author and environmental activist Winona LaDuke, an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinaabe and Executive Director of the national organization, Honor the Earth. Joining LaDuke will be Myrna Thompson of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Tribe’s Office of Environmental Protection. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe is located just fifty miles from the Big Stone plant in South Dakota.

LaDuke and Thompson will address students, faculty and the public about critical energy choices facing the region and make a case for the need to transition away from fossil fuels toward a renewable energy economy.

The forum is one of several to be held in Fergus Falls, home of Otter Tail Power. Otter Tail is working hard to build Big Stone II. This second coal-fired power plant near Millbank, South Dakota, close to the Minnesota border, is projected to produce about 500 megawatts of power and approximately 4.7 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year, the equivalent of putting 700,000 more cars on the road.

CO2 emissions are the leading cause of climate change, arguably the most critical environmental issue of our time. Across the nation, cities, towns and states are taking action to curb emissions through conservation and alternative energy development. Minnesota is a national leader in efforts to mitigate climate change. The state passed a renewable energy portfolio mandating a 25% reduction of carbon emissions by 2025.

Honor the Earth is working with the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe to oppose the development of a new coal plant in our region and create strategies to utilize renewable resources to replace the power generated by Big Stone II. Along with the environmental benefits, renewables create five times the number of jobs and over five times the income of fossil fuel plants. “Why hang out with dinosaurs of the last millennium,” says LaDuke, “when you could make a beautiful future in this one?”

Doors at Legacy Hall at MSCTC will open at 6 p.m. A public question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

For more information:
Luke Warner, Honor the Earth, 218-375-3200