A significant portion of Minnesota housing was built before 1980, and these homes just endured a long and cold winter. That's renewed calls for the state to use as many weatherization resources as possible.

These programs are aligned with energy-assistance funding for low-income households. Upgrades range from reducing air leakage to furnace repairs. Proposed legislation would allow Minnesota to cover matching federal weatherization funds, and there's pre-weatherization funding to help homes correct issues before the upgrades can move forward.

Mari Ojeda, senior policy associate for energy access and equity with the group Fresh Energy, said crews encounter that too often.

"Mold, asbestos - things like that, that really are problematic for coming into someone's house," she said, "and have to defer the services because they need to address the health and safety issues first."

That means many eligible households are left waiting to reduce their energy burden. It's a particular problem in several rural Minnesota counties, where at least 80% of the housing stock is more than 40 years old.

At the State Capitol, House lawmakers are pushing to expand weatherization funding but the House and Senate remain far apart on larger energy spending bills.

Jon Fabre, supervisor of marketing programs for Otter Tail Power, said his company is a big believer in weatherization, and that these programs have evolved into a more scientific approach. With higher gas-heating costs, he said, it's another way to prevent customers from falling behind on their monthly payments.

"Utilities do well when our customers do well," he said. "We recognize that, and we feel it's just the right thing to do. We're in the business of selling energy, and we want our customers to use that energy as economically as possible to their advantage."

Ojeda said it's important to remember weatherization also can help reduce energy burdens for marginalized residents living in multi-family rental units.

"The energy burden, which is a percentage of one's income that they are spending on energy bills, is four times higher for low-income customers than for the average statewide household," she said.

Six months ago this week, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure law, and Wisconsin's towns and cities are planning how best to spend billions of dollars earmarked for the state.

The law includes more than half a billion dollars to improve the state's public transportation.

Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison, said at a news conference at a city bus garage Tuesday the city will be using some of the resources to help fund a new fleet of nearly fifty electric buses, which will save the city nearly a quarter million gallons of diesel fuel annually.

"And we will save up to 135 metric tons of greenhouse gases for each bus each year," Rhodes-Conway explained. "That's a really remarkable reduction in our climate-change contributions."

The package also includes new funding to support rural broadband access, about $5.2 billion to rehabilitate Wisconsin's highways and $225 million to address its failing bridges. According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, nearly a thousand of Wisconsin's bridges were considered structurally deficient as of last year.

The measure also includes $841 million spread over five years to improve the state's drinking water infrastructure.

Rhodes-Conway pointed out the state is also anticipating $12.8 million annually to help address Perfluorinated and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) and other chemical contamination across the state. PFAS, a family of human-made chemicals, are an issue in several Wisconsin communities, and remediation can be costly. Madison is designing a roughly $500,000 filtration system to address PFAS pollution at one of its drinking-water wells.

"If we get the funds from the infrastructure act, and the filtration system is built, it's likely to be the first municipal PFAS treatment facility in the state," Rhodes-Conway noted. "There's no doubt that more municipalities will follow."

Rhodes-Conway added Madison still is finalizing its PFAS remediation strategy, and the federal government needs to give final approval to those plans before the city can receive the funding.

Tuesday's news conference was the first in a series of events hosted by the advocacy groups Opportunity Wisconsin and For Our Future Wisconsin highlighting how the infrastructure law will benefit the state.

The list of North Dakota counties voicing concerns about a proposed carbon-emissions pipeline is growing longer. Several are now on record opposing the possibility of using eminent domain against property owners.

Summit Carbon Solutions wants to construct a multi-state pipeline to capture carbon emissions from ethanol plants and store it underground in North Dakota. The company is trying to get landowners' permission to build.

But Richland County's Todd McMichael is leading a movement in case eminent domain is used. His county has adopted a resolution opposing such action.

He acknowledged it's non-binding, but said it could influence state regulators.

"What the resolution does, and what we have seen from the past," said McMichael, "is that the Public Service Commission will really study what's going on out there."

McMichael, who owns a farm along the proposed route, said landowners shouldn't be legally forced to surrender property for a project he feels is motivated by corporate profit.

Five counties in the state have approved these resolutions. Summit argues it remains focused on voluntary contracts with residents, and that its project will drastically cut emissions from the ethanol industry.

McMichael said even if the company touts open communication with landowners, he worries that approach won't last unless more residents make their feelings known about the project.

"I do feel that eminent domain could be a plausible action," said McMichael, "if either I don't agree to their dollar amounts, or I just continue to say no."

Eliot Huggins, field organizer with the Dakota Resource Council, said his group isn't opposed to all aspects of carbon sequestration. But he said he thinks the company is rushing an unproven approach in areas not ready to embrace it.

"Climate solutions should be solutions that benefit, you know, all communities," said Huggins. "In rural America, urban America, everywhere. And so, we don't really think a climate solution should be taking landowners' land without them consenting to it."

There's mixed research on the effectiveness of carbon storage.

And while some experts say it does show promise, there are lingering safety concerns. Local opponents point to the rupture of an underground pipeline in Mississippi in 2020.

Federal enforcement of REAL ID for commercial domestic air travel and other purposes will start one year from today, and Pennsylvania officials are advising residents to make a plan and get their necessary documents ready as soon as possible.

REAL ID is a federal law affecting how states issue driver's licenses and ID cards if they are going to be acceptable for federal purposes, such as boarding a domestic flight or entering a federal building.

Keith Brune, chief operating officer of Philadelphia International Airport, said it's important to think ahead now for future travel plans in 2023, when you'll be required to have either a passport or REAL ID to fly.

"We would encourage you to start the process for REAL ID sooner rather than later to beat that last-minute rush, which we're sure is going to happen," Brune urged. "It's been a really long time since a lot of people have traveled, and we don't want anybody showing up and end up being turned away."

To date, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has issued approximately 1.6 million REAL ID products. Residents can order their REAL ID online if they have been pre-verified. Residents need to show their birth certificate or U.S. passport, proof of Social Security number, two proofs of current Pennsylvania address, and proof of all legal name changes.

It is not required for Pennsylvania residents to obtain a REAL ID and PennDOT continues to offer
standard-issue driver's licenses and photo IDs.

Jana Tidwell, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Pennsylvania and Delaware, said as you're making summer 2022 travel plans, make REAL ID considerations a part of it.

"As your driver's license comes up for renewal, make that decision as to whether or not you enjoy the convenience of domestic air travel using your driver's license as that form of identification," Tidwell advised. "We don't want to see anybody's trip ruined."

Other options for obtaining a REAL ID include visiting any PennDOT center open for driver's license services, or visiting one of the 13 REAL ID Centers in the state.