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Rebecca as a volunteer trail guide |
Environmentalist
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As Minnesota State Auditor,
Rebecca has issued a landmark
interactive report helping local governments to save taxpayer dollars by finding the best practices for
reducing their energy costs. The report won the National
Excellence in Accountability Award
from the National State Auditors Association.
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As a national environmental leader, Rebecca
was honored for the 2009 National Women's History Month as a "Woman
Taking the Lead to Save our Planet."
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As a member of the Minnesota
Housing Finance Agency board, Rebecca successfully worked to include
green building standards in the single family housing program, making
affordable housing truly affordable.
•
Rebecca and her family live in a
passive solar,
wind-powered, geothermal home
she and her husband designed and built with their own hands. They host
regular open houses and guest lecture on environmental design. The
home has been toured by over 10,000 people as an example of green building,
and has been featured in local and national publications.
•
As a policy maker, Rebecca worked
to protect fragile ecosystems, to
limit brain-damaging mercury emissions,
to understand the possible link
between atrazine and mutation, to protect groundwater,
to promote the
further development of commercial wind power,
and to
ban the use of bladder, skin and lung cancer-causing arsenic-treated wood
when building school playgrounds.
•
Rebecca taught life science and
environmental science for 5 years.
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She drives and promotes hybrid
cars because of their innovative efficiency and reduced emissions.
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She served on the board of the
St Croix Scenic
Coalition.
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She volunteered as a trail
guide for Warner Nature Center.
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She was a volunteer in the
Bluebird Recovery Program.
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A pond on the Ottos' land
serves as one of Minnesota's cleanest and best producing walleye rearing
ponds.
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Rebecca enjoys fishing and
boating with her family in the summer, and encourages responsible
resource use.
•
As a teacher, Rebecca taught the
critical importance of wildlife management through hunting.
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