By Annie Sanders, Guest Column

In early January of this year, I arrived in Albert Lea to work for the Minnesota Environmental Partnership to educate and engage people on clean energy, global warming and protecting Minnesota&8217;s great outdoors. I confess I wasn&8217;t sure how receptive people would be, but it was immediately apparent that not only were folks in Albert Lea very concerned about environmental issues, they were ready to take action. With a lot of help from concerned community members, we&8217;ve successfully organized two film screenings, a Global Warming Solutions Forum, weekly meetings for Earth Week, and helped 25 Albert Lea and Austin residents travel to St. Paul for the MEP-sponsored Citizens&8217; Day at the Capitol. I could not have imagined such an overwhelming level of support!

Though I&8217;m leaving very soon, I know Albert Lea will continue to act to protect our great outdoors. Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd, and the newly formed Albert Lea Environmental Coalition has put together the first annual Albert Lea Earth Week 2007. Earth Week will kick off with an Earth Day Rally on Sunday at Fountain Lake Park from 2 to 4 p.m., featuring a mayoral proclamation, Earth Day poster contest, information booths, live music, face-painting, and more.

Then, on Monday, come see &8220;An Inconvenient Truth&8221; at Riverland, Lecture Hall 124, from 7 to 9 p.m., and learn more about how Minnesota is dealing with climate change. And if you&8217;ve ever wondered &8220;Who Killed the Electric Car?&8221; April 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Lecture Hall 124 is the time to find out! On April 27, celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting at Frank Hall Park at 2 p.m., and take home a free red Norway maple. Cap off the week at the Albert Lea Community Cleanup on April 28, meeting at 10 a.m. at the Blazing Star Trail parking lot.

These are wonderful steps that Albert Lea can take to be responsible stewards of our environment, set an example for other communities throughout the state, and send a message to legislators that southeastern Minnesotans value our great outdoors and want action taken to protect it.

Such a message is an especially crucial one to send now, because the Minnesota legislature is currently considering the Global Warming Mitigation Act of 2007. This bill is modeled after Gov. Tim Pawlenty&8217;s call for action on global warming last December, and brings many groups to the table including the Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and utility companies to create a common sense plan to reduce global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. This reduction goal is based on current scientific understanding of how much we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avert the worst threats to our lakes, rivers, streams, parks and climate for our kids and grandkids. The bill also encourages homegrown renewable energy solutions which are far cheaper in the long run than reliance on fossil fuels.

Equally important, Minnesota lakes, rivers and streams &8212; embarrassingly &8212; are not as clean as they should be. Two of every five lakes or rivers tested by the MPCA are found to be contaminated, our Albert Lea lakes among them. And, what may be worse, 86 percent of Minnesota lakes and rivers have yet to be tested! Albert Lea citizens can encourage legislators to invest to protect our great outdoors by asking them to support legislation that will allow Minnesotans to vote on a constitutional amendment that assures funding for testing and cleaning

up our waters for generations to come.

The Albert Lea Earth Week 2007 activities are just one part of the solution. The state of Minnesota needs to become a leader in the country and protect generations to come by passing the Global Warming Mitigation Act of 2007, and by allowing Minnesotans to decide for themselves whether they want to permanently dedicate money that tests and protects our waters. Action needs to happen at all levels: in our homes, in our community, and in the halls of the Capitol. Get involved this Earth Week: do your part, and urge your elected officials to do theirs.

For more information about Earth Week, please contact Paige Shaw at atimshaw@msn.com.