Minnesota: Dakota County partially buys in to Gore's carbon dioxide scam

County charts 'green' agenda - TwinCities.com

The Greening Initiative, which passed 6-1 Tuesday, doesn't outline specific strategies but instead calls for an environmental inventory of county buildings and vehicles. The county will hire a Yale University graduate student intern for $2,000 this summer to create the emissions database.

While all but Commissioner Will Branning voted to support the initiative, county leaders shot down a related declaration that promised to reduce emissions by 80 percent below current levels by the year 2050.

"We're going to wait to see what the inventory says and what staff comes up with as potential things we could do, how much they would cost and how much of the greenhouse-gas emissions they would reduce," said Nancy Schouweiler, chair of the Board of Commissioners.

The Greening Initiative aims to reduce pollution and improve the quality of life for county residents, with the goal of having the county declared Minnesota's first "Green County." In planning documents, members of a countywide steering committee responded "We don't know" when asked who would bestow such a designation.