Minnesota AFL-CIO Goes Green!

If you are going to attend the Minnesota State Fair be sure to check out the new Minnesota AFL-CIO Labor Pavilion. It is the first State Fair Building designed to meet ‘Green’ Building Standards and was built with union labor. Fox 9 News has video here. Check it out to see all the cool features. Senator [...]

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The ‘water under the bridge’

Well, not only is the bridge bad but the water under it leaves a lot to be desired. A few weeks ago I received the Rock River Watershed TMDL Newsletter from the Rock County Land Management office. In the newsletter it says, “Pollution is threatening the Rock River“. It goes on to offer an overview [...]

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Mortal Oil

On November 28 two workers died as a result of an explosion and fire at an Enbridge Energy oil pipeline terminal in Clearbrook, MN. On December 1st, just two days later, at the Marathon Oil refinery in St. Paul Park, MN an explosion and fire at a 10,000 barrel tank claimed the life of another worker.  [...]

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If you were a tree, what kind would you be?

This stupid job interview question reared it’s ugly head when the wife of a coworker of mine went to a job interview. Needless to say, it dominated our conversation during an otherwise boring day. What is an appropriate answer to this question? Are there type A and type B trees? Do you have to know the scientific name? If [...]

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Drunk on Ethanol?

Living in corn country you have your ear (no pun intended) to news about ethanol.  It was the subject of my post, Beer or Biofuels, The Utimate Challenge. I recently ran across the following interesting commentary from It’s Getting Hot In Here: Before We Get Drunk on Ethanol, Let’s Make Sure We Get It Right Not all biofuels [...]

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Beer or Biofuels-The Ultimate Challenge

A disturbing story appeared today in the UK’s Independent. Biofuels may be good for the environment, but they are bad news for German beer drinkers. Prices in the country’s pubs look set to rise by 40 per cent this year, because Germany’s farmers are growing less barley for beer production and more crops for biodiesel [...]

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Touch the Sky Prairie

Walking through the tall native bluestem prairie grass A friend of mine recently emailed me inquiring about the location of the scene in the header of this blog. The photograph was taken by me two years ago at an open house and tour for Touch the Sky Prairie, located north of Luverne, Minnesota. This project to preserve [...]

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