Mary Kunesh-Podein is a second-term Minnesota House member, and current Assistant Majority Leader and Vice Chair of the House Education Policy Committee. She is a founding member of the Native American and People of Color & Indigenous (POCI) caucuses and was instrumental in passing the groundbreaking Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Taskforce. Through the New Brighton League of Women Voters, she collaborated on the research and drafting of a policy paper entitled The Impact of Neonicotinoid on Honey Bees, with a goal of preventing further colony collapse disorder and agricultural losses.
Kunesh-Podein supports transitioning to 100% Clean Energy by 2050, single-payer healthcare, a living minimum wage and ending gun violence in our schools.
Rep. Kunesh-Podein on fossil fuel infrastructure in Minnesota:
“I will work with communities, engage decision makers from local to highest offices, deploy legal tools, and elevate the issue in public to stand up against the fossil fuel companies – especially those from outside the US – and prevent the expansion of coal export and oil transport facilities within Minnesota and country wide. Recognizing that the federal government is rolling back protections and pushing ahead dirty energy projects I will continue to work together with entities such as MN350 to push back against coal, oil and fracked gas and work alongside communities to reduce the risk of these proposals.”
