Minnesotans are recycling at about the same rate as a decade ago, but they're also producing more trash than ever before.
And because of a state population increase, so much more garbage is being created that Minnesota will need new landfills and incinerators sooner than expected.
That's one of several mixed grades in a state environmental report card released Tuesday by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency -- Minnesota's Environment 2005: How Are We Doing?
The report offers a general overview of the status and trends of eight environmental indicators of air quality, water quality and waste generation.
In some areas, the state's environment is managing to hang on despite a big increase in population, urban sprawl, energy use and waste. In other areas, problems continue to mount. The report uses a sliding scale, from poor to fair to good, with most grades coming in at fair.
Considering the state has1 million more people than it did in 1985, an environment that's holding steady may be encouraging, said Mike Sandusky, director of the PCA's Environmental Analysis and Outcomes Division.
But with another million people expected to be driving, building and polluting in the state by 2030, "there is much that needs to be done just to maintain the status quo -- and even more to improve Minnesota's air, water and land," Sandusky said.
State residents continue to recycle about 40 percent of the waste they generate, considered a good grade nationally and about the same rate as a decade ago. But Minnesotans are generating 32 percent more waste than they did 15 years ago, the PCA reports.
Each Minnesotan now produces 1.16 tons of garbage every year, up from .88 tons in 1991. That has planners scrambling to find places to put it. The garbage often ends up in out-of-state sites, but it soon could be heading to expensive new landfills orgarbage-burning devices.
Pat Engelking, a PCA spokeswoman, said the report -- the first of its kind -- is aimed at a general audience. The agency hopes to update it every three to five years, she said.
"It looks at where we are and where we might be headed," she said. "And it looks at things that we can come back to in a few years to measure the change."
The PCA report card comes as lawmakers in St. Paul consider bolstering spending on environmental, water and wetland programs by dedicating a small percentage of the state sales tax to them. And it comes on the heels of recent reports that show Minnesota's natural heritage is degrading at a rapid rate.
The worst grade by the PCA was for the state's hefty increase in greenhouse gas pollution, the heat-trapping gases that most scientists who study the issue say are contributing to global warming.
Carbon dioxide gases from Minnesota sources -- fossil-fuel burning vehicles, industry and power plants -- increased 37 percent from 1985 to 2005.
Vehicle miles driven increased 67 percent in Minnesota since 1985, and energy consumption has gone up41 percent. The state's population has increased 21 percent.
The PCA report claims a slight increase in wetland creation in recent years after Minnesota lost more than half of its original wetlands. But the number doesn't include wetlands exempted from state and federal protection, making the PCA's claims misleading, said Bill Barton, Sierra Club wetland committee volunteer.
"There's no requirement for anyone to report a (destroyed) wetland that's exempted, so the PCA really doesn't have any data to back up their claim," Barton said. "'We're still losing more than we're making."
The PCA report also notes an overall reduction in mercury in the past 15 years, but it fails to mention the actual increase in mercury from energy and taconite production in recent years, said Matt Norton, forestry and wildlife advocate for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.
"To look for mercury in Minnesota waters is to find it, and we're not doing much to stop that," Norton said. "To look at the fact we can't eat fish from so many lakes and streams because of mercury, and for the PCA to give that a grade of fair, that sounds like grade inflation to me."
The PCA report also doesn't quantify other serious environmental problems, such as the rapid loss of large tracts of undeveloped forest in northern Minnesota as private forest land is sold off and parceled for cabins and new homes. In addition, it doesn't analyze the effects of invasive species such as Asian carp, zebra mussels and ruffe.
The 16-page PCA report is available online at www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/reports/mne-2005.html.Duluth News Tribune
