Samhain                                           Waxing Moon of the Winter Solstice

Conference this morning with legislative panelists who will have decision making authority in environmental matters.  I got a clear sense of the lay of the land.  There’s going to be a lot of efficiency, getting things done, streamlining, living in the real world and not dwelling on nit-picky words.  There’s also to be a lot of looking for common ground, shared vision, commitment to decisions already made, what Minnesotan’s want, keen thoughts about supplanting and supplementing. (Legacy Amendment Money)

The session began with a frame, the budget over the next few years.  Sobering doesn’t quite capture it.  More like catastrophic, devastating, difficult, no easy answers.  Environmental issues will seem, to some, as second thoughts at best, or, at worst, as possible pots of money to shore up the general fund.

How the legislature works this year and next depends on a group of newly dominant legislators who have not been running things for many years.  A steep learning curve will come into play at the same time a major economic crisis slides into place.  Not a recipe for a clean, clear-headed approach to the state’s needs, economic or environmental.

It will behoove all of us to avoid game-playing, name-calling and stereotyping.  I know that’s a cliche, but in the heat of what will be a contentious and possibly, bitter, biennium, it’s pretty damn important.