Forty one years ago this week, Time Magazine placed a picture of Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson on the cover holding a Northern Pike and declaring that the good life had been found in Minnesota.
This article described what has become known as the Minnesota Miracle, a revolution in the state's policy and political landscape that ushered in an era of state prosperity.
Could Minnesota be on the verge of providing a second act to the Minnesota Miracle?
Recent articles in the New York Times and other publications have pointed at Minnesota's nation-leading efforts to shrink the state's carbon footprint through expanded use of renewable energy sources.
Currently Minnesota gets more of its electricity from wind power than all but four other states. And from its peak in 2003, the state has slashed the amount of coal burned in its power plants by nearly one-third.
How did this happen?
The legislature has helped, by setting aggressive carbon reduction goals and providing incentives for public utilities to reach them. But where the similarities between the Minnesota Miracle and the current carbon curbing efforts are the greatest is in the desire by all parties involved to be part of the ultimate solution.
Utilities are finding that while state and federal subsidies for wind and solar were important to get these industries off the ground, the costs are now low enough that they are beating traditional energy production costs and likely would continue to without being subsidized. While the fluctuation of coal and natural gas prices cause similar fluctuations in the cost of electricity produced by these sources, solar and wind power generation have a much more stable fixed cost.
