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Oct 29, 2026

What's inspiring these four environmental stewards to vote?

With election day just around the corner, we wanted to know what environmental issues are inspiring the MCEA community to get to the polls. We spoke to four MCEA community partners, organizers, staff, and environmental stewards about the change they hope their votes will help make. 

a woman smiling in front of a lake
Aubree Derksen hopes newly elected officials will step up to protect residents from potential harms related to data centers

 
Data centers are driving Aubree Derksen to the polls. This Pine Island resident has seen how local elections can shape her community's future. Her vote is for people to decide what happens in their own backyards. 

 

"We all have a right to clean air, land, and water, and we all need to be good stewards of it for future generations."

-- Aubree Derksen

 

Hear more from Aubree 

 

 

 

MCEA Climate Attorney, Barb Freese, talks with her grandchilden in front of the St. Paul city skyline. Barb says her work is motivated by her desire to protect people in St. Paul and across the world from the worst impacts of climate change. Photo courtesy of Ben Swanson-Hysell
MCEA Climate Attorney, Barb Freese, talks with her grandchilden in front of the St. Paul city skyline. Barb says her work is motivated by her desire to protect people in St. Paul and across the world from the worst impacts of climate change.  Photo courtesy of Ben Swanson-Hysell

 
Meet Barb Freese, an MCEA attorney who persuades state regulators to move away from fossil fuels and toward carbon-free energy as fast as possible. 
and who knows voting can help protect our climate. 

 

Read her story here

 

 

Beth Slocum stands with some of her sheep at her small sheep farm in Vasa, Minn.
Beth Slocum stands with some of her sheep at her small sheep farm in Vasa, Minn.

 
Nitrate levels at Beth Slocum’s farm are so high, three times the federal limit, that they can’t drink the tap water. Instead, they bring water in from the Twin Cities. 
She wants her vote to elect officials that will move away from band-aid solutions and address the source of the problem. 

 

 see what could be fixed

 

 

Libby Bent and her dog by her beloved Tischer Creek, which flows into Lake Superior
Libby Bent and her dog by her beloved Tischer Creek, which flows into Lake Superior

Libby Bent’s dedication to protecting Lake Superior and water everywhere is part of what’s motivating her to vote. She wants elected officials to expand the sulfide-mining ban Governor Walz temporarily put in place in the BWCA watershed across the state

“Worldwide, we’re in a global water bankruptcy. We’ve crossed seven of the nine planetary boundaries. We are in a climate emergency, and warming is accelerating. We need to elect strong leaders who will fearlessly lead us away from the extractive and exploitative policies that are largely causing these changes.” 

-- Libby Bent

find out what's inspiring libby