By Daniel Kerwin

Macalester’s efforts in the Minnesota Campus Energy Challenge (MCEC) gained some steam on Feb. 4 when Minnesota state representatives Erin Murphy and Kate Knuth came to campus to lead a dialogue on global warming solutions. The night started with a screening of the webcast “Solutions for The First 100 Days,” after which there was a brief recorded message from Congresswoman Betty McCollum.

President Brian Rosenberg then introduced Murphy and Knuth, sporting the early stages of the power beard he is growing as a fundraising effort to help send Macalester students to the Powershift event in Washington, D.C., at the end of the month. Murphy represents Macalester’s district in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and Knuth represents district 50B.

Topics discussed during the dialogue included different bills that are currently in the legislature regarding climate change issues, efforts to institute a cap and trade policy for carbon emissions in the state and the importance of transitioning towards green jobs in the state.

The dialogue served as a kick-off event for Thursday’s EnviroMarathon, a 12-hour long series of continuous presentations and discussions that was put on as part of the National Teach In on Global Warming.