Daily Digest: Pipeline replacement approved

Good morning, and happy Friday to you and yours. Here's the Digest.

1. Line 3 replacement wins PUC approval. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a new Enbridge Energy Line 3 oil pipeline after an emotional day of deliberations over replacing corroding infrastructure versus limiting future risks to water resources and the climate. The final decision, which was unanimous, came with several conditions, including a decommissioning trust fund to ensure the new pipeline will be retired responsibly decades from now. Enbridge will also be required to follow through on a promise to landowners to remove portions of the old Line 3 upon request.  PUC Chair Nancy Lange broke down during deliberations Thursday, grabbing a handful of tissues and expressing how conflicted she was about allowing fossil fuels to cross the state for decades to come. "How would I feel if I woke up in five years and that line had leaked?" Lange said, referring to the possibility that the old Line 3 would continue operating, despite safety risks, if commissioners denied the proposal to replace it. The conditions placed on the certificate of need — and a later decision about the new Line 3 route — will influence whether and how soon the company can move forward. (MPR News)

2. Banking group wasn't Pawlenty's only source of income. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s time at a Washington financial industry trade association -- the Financial Services Roundtable  -- has come up often during his comeback run for Minnesota governor. But that job, which he officially left in March, wasn't the only way he was making a living outside of politics. Pawlenty's work on corporate boards hasn't gotten as much attention -- and he still serves on two boards. “There’s no conflict as a candidate,” Pawlenty said this spring. “But if you become governor, obviously I would need to get off those boards.” Pawlenty has earned tens of thousands of dollars for the work and millions of dollars worth of stock. (MPR News) 

3. Candidates for governor (most of them) meet in Nisswa. With just over six weeks to go before the primary election, four of the top five candidates for governor from both parties shared a stage in Nisswa Thursday at the Economic Development Association of Minnesota summer conference. It was the first time the three DFL contenders — Erin Murphy, Lori Swanson and Tim Walz — have appeared together since a brief public television interview earlier this month.  In what was an otherwise polite and non-confrontational discussion, state Rep. Erin Murphy took one noticeable shot at her rivals. Murphy, the DFL-endorsed candidate for governor, made it clear that if she's elected she's ready to take a tougher approach when necessary. "I have to say, 12 years in the Legislature has taught me this: it's going to take more than breaking bread with 201 legislators to break the log jam inside the Capitol. It is going to take us together," she said. Murphy added that it is "no time for a tippy-toe kind of politics" when addressing tough issues. (MPR News)

4. Pine Island debates hosting an immigrant detention center. As a national debate over immigration reaches fever pitch, residents of a southeastern Minnesota town are preparing for what likely will be their own politically charged discussion over a potential new immigrant detention center. Pine Island, a town of about 3,300, just 20 minutes north of Rochester, is being eyed by a private prison company looking to build a facility there. Over the last year, representatives from the Utah-based firm Management and Training Corporation (MTC) have visited the site at least twice, and city officials are interested in the hundreds of new jobs such a center could bring. "When you look at the economic driver, it's a big deal," said Mayor Rod Steele, who said he's watched too many young people leave Pine Island for work after graduating. "If they don't work at the dairy or at the school, there's no jobs," he said. "If we could get into a situation where we could create some jobs for our young people, we would love that. We want to see them stick around." (MPR News)

5. Have you voted yet? Minnesota’s primary election is more than a month away, but voters can start casting ballots on Friday. Why would you want to vote now? Maybe because you plan to be away on a family vacation or at the lake or on a bike trip on primary election day, Aug. 14, but you want to cast a ballot for your favorite candidates. This is the third Minnesota election year in which anyone, regardless of whether they will be away from their voting precinct, is allowed to cast an absentee ballot without providing an excuse for why they couldn’t make it to the polls. When legislators changed the voting requirements in 2013, they called the new law “no-excuses early voting.” “I’m calling it ‘Vote from Home,’” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Wednesday. As House Election Committee chairman in 2013, Simon was the chief author of the early-voting bill. His main reason: Make it easier to vote. (Pioneer Press)

The Digest is taking next week off to celebrate the nation's independence. Have a good weekend and a great 4th of July.

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