This post was written by Minnesota Student Network member Casey Wojtalewicz about his meeting with Senator Klobuchar during this summer recess. 

Yesterday, I and 6 other Minnesotans met at Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office to seek her support for a pledge against any bill revoking the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate CO2 emissions and/or offering more massive subsidies to the coal industry. Across the country, hundreds of other citizens like us have been taking advantage of the Congressional recess to contact their elected officials at home and push them to take strong stances on the side of the environment, health, jobs, and innovation.

Senator Klobuchar herself was unable to meet with us due to other events in the state, however, we had a great session with her Outreach Director and environmental advisor (among other issues), Kelly Scanlan. Kelly heard our stories and concerns, and she agreed with our views on most everything. Senator Klobuchar’s “bottom line” approach to energy is that we need to reduce emissions. Unfortunately, because the Senator was not present, we could not get a pledge that she would go on the record to state her opposition to more coal subsidies and an end to EPA regulation of CO2. We persisted in asking for such a pledge, but Kelly could not speak for the Senator. She also stated that Senator Klobuchar is awaiting a draft of the Senate energy bill before making any public statements. For these issues in particular, Kelly said, Senator Klobuchar will first have to ascertain they are areas of concern in the bill.

Overall, we left the meeting with an understanding that Senator Klobuchar is on our side for these issues. We made it clear to Kelly that we will continue to stand up for these issues, and we expect Senator Klobuchar to do the same. On such an important issue, we cannot stand for soft-spoken leadership or watered down bills. A line has been drawn, and it is time for our elected officials to hold it.