• Paul and Shiela Wellstone's grave site

    Reflecting on Wellstone Week

    “Politics is what we create by what we do, what we hope for, and what we dare to imagine.”

    –Paul Wellstone

    This week Carleton celebrates the life and work of Paul Wellstone, a former political science professor at Carleton and U.S. Senator from Minnesota. A number of campus events have been organized in his honor this week, as tomorrow will mark the five-year anniversary of his tragic death in a plane crash. At Shrinking Footprints, we thought that it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to reflect upon the late Senator’s support for environmental issues. In addition to his tireless efforts to reform legislation involving campaign finance, health care, veterans, and mental health issues, Wellstone was known in the Senate as a dogged supporter environmental protection. From his involvement in a dispute about the placement of power lines in the 1970s that made him an early advocate for decentralized, renewable energy to a 2001 battle against the confirmation of former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Wellstone was on the front lines of many congressional environmental debates.

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