Last Thursday, U. S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid announced that he did not have the 60 votes necessary to pass major climate change legislation. This was very disappointing news for those working to pass comprehensive, equitable legislation to address climate change. It is expected that Congress will instead push through a series of smaller bills focused on addressing liability and safety issues related to the BP oil spill and potentially some other less comprehensive energy efficiency and clean energy measures.

The Minnesota Budget Bites blog has been around for three legislative sessions – providing you with interesting information in a timely way. But we aren’t just at work during the session, we’ll be blogging away all summer and fall as important policy decisions are made at the federal level, as new reports shed light on Minnesota’s social and economic health, and as the state starts gearing up for a very tough legislative session in 2011.

There are a couple of items from our Facebook page this week that we’d like to share with our blog audience:

“I love your blog!”

At the Minnesota Budget Project, we’re proud of how often we hear  that.

Maybe you are one of the people who have said it. Or maybe you’ve thought it as you read one of the over 30 blogs we’ve posted since the Governor’s budget was released on February 15, analyzing the governor’s budget, legislative budget targets, the state’s cash flow challenges, the forecast, and federal health care reform issues.

The Minnesota Budget Project has been closely following legislation to address climate change. Low-income populations will be disproportionately impacted if nothing is done about climate change, but these same households will also be impacted harder by price increases resulting from efforts to stop climate change. It is important, therefore, that any climate change legislation protect low-income households from price increases and make sure that they have access to green jobs, home weatherization and other opportunities.

The 2010 Legislative Session begins this Thursday – February 4th – and it kicks off with two great ways to send a message to policymakers that the public is looking for real solutions this session.

Rally at the Capitol to Save GAMC (Thursday, February 4th, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, State Capitol Rotunda)