St. Cloud Sun

The legislative session has just started and Rep. Shane Mekeland (R-Clear Lake) has introduced two separate bills aimed at protecting Minnesota’s energy supply – the first would create penalty for trespassing or damaging infrastructure (like pipelines),  and the second would make it illegal for cities to ban natural gas.

Mekeland said H.F. 3033, the bill on cities not being able to ban natural gas, became an issue when San Francisco approved legislation that required all new government buildings to be fully electric.

“We need a sensible, all-of-the-above energy approach to help guarantee our needs are met at all times,” Mekeland said in a press release issued Feb. 3. “Electric mandates take us the opposite direction. We’ve heard about how our energy grid is fragile, poorly maintained and susceptible to attack and now some people want to limit our options. They’ve even brought it up in House committee meetings. The liberals have prematurely pushed to shutter coal plants in our region and now they want to push out natural gas. It just never ends with them, so my bill would ensure we don’t needlessly make our state more vulnerable to energy instability.”

H.F. 2966, the bill focusing on trespassing or damaging critical infrastructure, is a reincarnation of legislation from former Rep. Dennis Smith. It makes it a felony crime for anyone who is training or recruiting protestors to damage critical infrastructure, which includes pipelines. It would penalize an individual or group “that knowingly recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, conspires with, or otherwise procures” another individual to bring about property damage on a public service facility.

 “This is simply an attempt to deter extremists from engaging in activities that could cause public safety hazards,” Mekeland said. “Free speech is a staple of our Constitution and my bill does not impact anyone’s ability to exercise their right to peaceful protests. What we need to create is a bright line with serious consequences for coordinated, extreme activity that crosses the threshold from free speech and enters the criminal realm, whether it’s trespassing or causing property damage.”

Both of these bills have high priority status ahead of the Feb. 11 start of the legislative session, because they were submitted before the Jan. 30 pre-filing deadline.