PONSFORD, Minn. - Winona LaDuke of Ponsford has applied for a seat on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission being vacated by outgoing chair Nancy Lange.

Nov. 30 was the final day for applicants to apply to fill Lange’s seat.

LaDuke is co-founder and executive director of Honor the Earth, a national organization that advocates for environmental justice, including working to stop pipeline projects in Minnesota and North Dakota.

In a letter last week to PUC Executive Secretary Daniel P. Wolf, LaDuke wrote that she is “interested in ensuring that infrastructure is safe during times of climate change, and that improvements to infrastructure are equitable, essential and completed in a timely manner.”

LaDuke holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in native economic development and an master’s in rural development from Antioch University. “I was always the kid who bought the railroads and utilities in Monopoly,” she said.

Noting that Minnesota holds a “C” grade on the report card issued every four years by the American Society of Civil Engineers, LaDuke said, “I am deeply concerned that the U.S. has a ‘D+’ in infrastructure and energy infrastructure is also at a ‘D+’, and see the need to remedy infrastructure challenges with proper regulation and capitalization.”