Minnesota Women's Press

02/08/2025

Each Wednesday morning in Northfield, residents gather for "Chalking the Names" on Bridge Square. The 17,000 names of the children killed in Gaza are written down by anyone who wants to join. Names and chalk provided, but knee cushions are not.

Thank you to one of our Northfield readers for sharing this story with us; 📸 Tim Freeland

02/08/2025

"A lower energy future will look different in Minnesota than in other places around the world, and unrecognizable from how we live today. These transformations are most critical at the local level, as we fight for policies that serve people and the earth, even while our national politics are veering toward the opposite."

Lizzy Sirianni of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future shares how as individuals and communities, we can make small changes that make a big difference for our energy future.
📸 Sarah Whiting

We will need to cope with declining energy availability as a culture. We will all be better off if we reduce the energy we use.

01/08/2025

For our energy issue, we talked to leaders Margaret Cherne-Hendrick of Fresh Energy Inc, Louise Miltich of Great Plains Institute, and Sarah Mooradian of CURE MN about the biggest challenges and most exciting solutions in the fight for sustainable energy innovation and evolution.
📸 Sarah Whiting

Those of us who live in urban and suburban places cannot expect rural people to shoulder the burden of hosting energy infrastructure while shutting them out of the discussion and providing no protections or benefits in return.

01/08/2025

"Solar commons offer a new way to own and share the community wealth potential of solar energy. Instead of sending financial benefits to individual households, solar commons ownership creates financial benefits for a community-based, peer-governed social wealth trust."

The Northland Solar Commons (NSC) project—with collaborators from Heliene Inc. and the University of Minnesota Duluth—will be the second solar commons prototyped in the U.S. The commons' trust beneficiary is Waawaate Programs, a local nonprofit doing food sovereignty work in the Bois Forte Ojibwe community.

Learn more about this innovative Minnesota energy project:
📸 Nah-Dah-Ness Greene

The legal agreement between Heliene and the Bois Forte community beneficiaries represents the guiding principles of solar commoning: reciprocity, mutual aid, regenerative economics, and reparative justice.

31/07/2025

"It is often said that money makes the world go around, but it’s actually energy that powers society. Energy is power — not only in the physical sense, but socially and politically as well."

This month's letter from the editor comes from special energy issue guest editor Priscilla Hoang Thu Trinh. Let Priscilla introduce you to the issue & what you can do to get involved in energy solutions and conversations:
https://www.womenspress.com/powering-the-future-and-toc/

31/07/2025

Summer events are in full swing in Minnesota, with the State Fair less than a couple of weeks away and the Minnesota Fringe Festival kicking off today!

What are your favorite summer events? And what Fringe Festival shows are you planning to check out?

31/07/2025

Welcome to the August Issue: Co-Creating Alternative Energy! From innovating around solar and steel, to tackling the consequences of data centers and fossil fuels, this issue is all about how communities are coming together to build energy solutions and protect our state and our planet for generations to come.

https://www.womenspress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/41-8-August-2025-1.pdf

30/07/2025

A commentary from a Minnesota high school student that we published recently was picked up by the national feminist publication The 19th News: congratulations to Maitreya Reeder for this further recognition of fantastic legislative advocacy!

I learned that you do not need to be a politician, a businessperson, or an official to make your voice heard. If you do not have that type of status, and are not even old enough to vote, that does not mean you do not have power.

29/07/2025

Preventing gun violence remains one of the issues young Minnesotans are most passionate about...and one of the issues it is hardest to get progress on in the U.S.

Over 100 Students Demand Action volunteers recently spoke with elected leaders in Minneapolis: Check out our sneak preview of that conversation, and look forward to the rest + much more content on this crucial topic in our November magazine, focusing on gun issues.

"During the pandemic, we launched a guaranteed income pilot. We decided that in August and we sent out the first checks in October. That's what I love about municipal government. ... My goal is: don't fight back, fight forward."

28/07/2025

Did you know that there are currently 11 hyperscale data centers planned in Minnesota? Learn what consequences these centers could have for our communities, and about the advocates pushing back against billionaires on behalf of Minnesota's future.

Farmington residents in lawsuit against city for approving large data center without transparency and community input.

28/07/2025

"In a session defined by unrest and uncertainty, the passage of my bill wasn’t just a singular victory. It was a testament to the power young people have, and the power held by all citizens who decide to step up, speak up, and make a difference."

Maitreya Reeder—then a junior in high school—shares how she got a bill that will bring naloxone administration and overdose recognition training to middle and high school health classes passed!

I learned that you do not need to be a politician, a businessperson, or an official to make your voice heard. If you do not have that type of status, and are not even old enough to vote, that does not mean you do not have power.