MINNEAPOLIS — A breakthrough in the fight against climate change is happening in Minnesota.

Last year, Xcel Energy Executive Vice President Brett Carter told WCCO that transportation is the “largest carbon-emitting industry in the country.”

Carter — along with leaders from the airline, science and banking industries — made a goal of operating the first large-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) chain in the United States.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was picked as a SAF Hub due to Minnesota’s “combination of air demand, existing biofuels infrastructure, a strong agricultural economy and strong research assets,” according to Greater MSP CEO Peter Frosch.

SAF is a safe and certified alternative jet fuel that can reduce lifestyle carbon emissions by 80%.

According to Virgin Atlantic, SAF is made from a combination of used cooking oil, non-food crops, solid waste and industrial waste gases. No retrofitting is needed for the fuel to be used in airplanes, and it can travel through existing pipelines.

When the Minnesota SAF Hub was created, partners made a goal for commercial aviation to reach net zero by 2050. Delta Airlines said last year it wanted 10% of its fuel at MSP Airport to be SAF by 2027, and half by 2035.

That’s a feat that doesn’t happen overnight, but leaders on Tuesday were eager to announce several milestones toward making that dream a reality.

One of the highlights includes plans to develop the state’s first SAF blending facility at a refinery in Rosemount that will blend up to 30 million gallons.

Another milestone is the establishment of SAF production with a grant that will convert an existing ethanol fuel facilty to an integrated alcohol-to-jet-fuel facility in Luverne.

The hub is also working to make SAF cost-competitive with pledges from prominent companies like Delta and Bank of America to purchase it. And leaders are working with the University of Minnesota to eventually make it out of next-generation feedstocks. 

“Together I think that we’re creating a one-of-a-kind model here in Minnesota. A lot of people around the world are talking about SAF, not too many are doing it,” said Christophe Beck, Ecolab’s chairman and CEO. “Once again, here in Minnesota, we’re making it happen and we’re changing the world for the better.”

With the industry just starting out, there isn’t enough SAF being produced right now to fuel the world’s airline for a single week.

MINNEAPOLIS — There are at least eight victims across the Twin Cities metro of smash-and-grab thefts from cars and the forgery that follows. Some agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the cases as part of an organized crime ring.

Andrea walked out of a workout class in Savage to a busted window and broken glass in mid-July.

“I felt completely violated. I was kind of in shock. Did this really happen? And then I went down and saw my purse was gone, and like, okay, they just took everything,” Andrea said.

A few days earlier, that was the scene in the parking lot of a Nature Center in Dayton: broken glass strewn across a car seat and a mom with her purse stolen.

In May, it also happened to Karissa. The rear driver’s side window of her car was smashed outside her gym in Plymouth.

“You can see right out the windows. So it was, I mean, kind of like the audacity to be able to do that,” Karissa said.

The thieves left items in the car behind, even a cell phone. It appears the purse was the target. The victims shut down accounts and closed credit cards.

“Nothing really came about it right away, like no one tried to use credit cards, no one tried to use anything that I had that I could find, not until three months later in July,” Karissa said.

That’s when the women discovered their cases were connected. 

“Well, the next morning, I got a Facebook message from this gal, Karissa, and she asked if my checks had recently been stolen,” Andrea said.

Someone wrote checks from Andrea’s account to the other victims, plus to a woman in Pennsylvania, and cashed them. 

“They had written two checks for like, over two grand. One was almost three grand,” Andrea said.

They’re not the only victims in the metro or even the country.

Elk River police say they have 10 cases of theft and fraud spanning from January to June. They believe they’re connected to what’s called the “Felony Lane Gang.”

Investigators in Minnesota with active cases won’t talk about it, but a New York case explains the fraud scheme.

Last December, a judge sentenced three men and six co-conspirators to federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to documents, the men admitted to being part of a fraud scheme called the “Felony Lane Gang.”

They target cars parked by women, taking purses with checkbooks and IDs. Then they recruit women to impersonate the victims using drive-thru bank lines to cash stolen checks. 

“They drive through the farthest lane in the drive-thru — they’re called the Felony Lane Gang for that reason — and they get checks cashed. They’ll wear wigs, they’ll do whatever they have to do to look like you or look enough like you to get the checks cashed,” Karissa said.

These women want to warn others and say they’ve changed what they leave in the car.    

“I think that the awareness of that is, is great because I wasn’t thinking of it like that prior. Was probably pretty naive to it. Obviously, I had things in my car, and you probably shouldn’t have, so, you know, that was a big lesson learned for me,” Karissa.

None of the locations had cameras outside.

Police say it only takes seconds to smash a window and grab an item. They say it’s a good idea to take valuables with you or hide them in your car. Lock them in a glove compartment or in your trunk before getting to your destination and they say to remember to lock your door.