Pat Garofalo holds a press conference and a hearing to warn Minnesotans of potential economic fallout from the new federal “clean power plan."

The growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions is refiguring energy politics from the global down to the local level — a development partially reflected in the energy bill that passed the Minnesota Legislature this year.

As part of this year’s omnibus energy bill, state lawmakers passed into law the goal of transitioning the state to a renewable energy economy that doesn’t use of a drop of gasoline or a lump of coal to power itself. A House-Senate panel is now trying to figure out a framework to achieve the goal.

An agreement has been reached on legislation designed to protect homeowners and reduce foreclosures. Representatives from the banking industry, social justice groups, and other interested parties were working out the final details on Thursday.

While the public’s eyes were glued this week to the passage and signing of the gay marriage bill, most lobbyists were camped out in the Capitol well into the night tracking — or awaiting — the deliberations of numerous conference committees.

The centerpiece of the bill is a new standard for investor-owned utilities like Xcel Energy to generate 4 percent of their electricity from solar sources by 2025.

The House passed its energy policy bill 70-63 despite concerns that the bill initially lacked the votes to pass. The bill requires investor-owned utilities to produce 4 percent of their power by 2025 from solar sources. The bill drew criticism from Republicans for its exemptions for timber and taconite mining in northeastern Minnesota, moves that they claimed were made to win votes.

After 10 days of limbo and behind-the-scenes talks at the state Capitol, legislation to boost the state’s solar power industry has passed out of House and Senate committees.

Renewable energy advocates on Monday afternoon rallied in the state Capitol rotunda in support of energy policy legislation that seeks to boost solar energy in Minnesota. Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Paul Thissen were among the officials who rallied a couple hundred activists to support bills in the House and Senate that would call for utilities to generate 4 percent of their electricity from solar energy by 2030.

In announcing their omnibus tax proposal this week, House Democrats sounded like they were back on the campaign trail. The bill is in one sense an expensive I.O.U. to last fall’s voters.