We need ALL of us in 2017!

December 2016 Newsletter

Our December newsletter is published online. This one will also be printed and mailed to those who have requested it and/or for whom we don't have an email address. If you are able to read the newsletter online, please consider contacting us to remove your name from our paper newsletter mailing list. This will save resources and money. Email CRSierraClub[at]gmail.com.

PEDRETTI HONORED BY JOHN MUIR CHAPTER - The John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club honored Marilyn Pedretti with the 2016 John Muir Chapter Merit Award for her inspiring leadership, commitment to preserving the environment, and personal commitment to and advocacy for sustainability and renewable energy. The award was presented at the November 19 Volunteer Appreciation and Awards event in Madison.  Read more 

ARRIVE TOGETHER: Building a Twenty-first Century Transportation System for Wisconsin - On Saturday, December 3, the Sierra Club and partner organizations will host a statewide conference on the Milwaukee Area Technical College campus. The all day event includes breakfast and lunch, a plenary session with keynote speaker (US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx invited but not confirmed at this time), sharing of transit stories, breakout sessions, a wrap up round table, and a social hour. Tickets cost just $10 for the whole day (including meals) and scholarships are available. Info/Registration  transportationequitysummit.eventbrite.com

HELP US PLAN FOR 2017 - This year so far, the Coulee Region Sierra Club has worked to highlight issues of transportation and solar energy in addition to cosponsoring several local events. What should our top priorities should be for 2017? More importantly, what can YOU do in cooperation with the club and others in our region to make a difference? What changes would you like to see in our club? Read more ...

HUNDREDS VOICE WATER CONCERNS AT EAU CLAIRE EPA LISTENING SESSION - Coulee Region Sierra Club board president Pat Wilson and La Crosse County Board member Mike Giese traveled to Eau Claire to make statements at the Nov. 15 listening session on Wisconsin water quality issues with US EPA Region V Administrator Robert Kaplan and Region V water quality specialist Christopher Korleski. Read more ...

La Crescent NO DAPL 11/15

FOSSIL FUEL PIPELINE NEWS - Many Sierra Club members joined others from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on November 15 in a Day of Solidarity with those who are fighting to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. Demonstrations were held around the country at Army Corps of Engineers buildings. While the pipeline is nearly complete, the Army Corps issued a stop order while it arranges talks with the Standing Rock Sioux. However Energy Transfer Partners, builder of the line, has filed suit to end government “meddling.”

Please continue to call on the White House to end this environmental disaster waiting to happen and donate to support the Water Protectors (and go if you can). Here are several ways you can help in the fight: tinyurl.com/helpnodapl.  Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, the John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club notes that, “Enbridge is upgrading their Line 61 pipeline to become the world's largest tar sands pipeline, outside of Russia." Read more ...

COULEE REGION SIERRA CLUB WINTER GATHERING! TUES., DEC. 20 at 6 p.m.
1965 Valley Road, La Crosse (call 608 788-3914 with questions)  Bring food to share, drinks provided. DON'T NEED TO BE A SIERRA CLUB MEMBER TO ATTEND! Bring a friend!

TAKE ACTION: No Place For Hate In Our Government - “President-elect Trump is naming some truly terrifying people to advise him and fill his cabinet. Their extreme positions and climate denial are dangerous not just to the environment but to our country in general and millions of Americans. We must speak out immediately. If President-elect Trump wants to uphold his word to bring the country together and be a president for all Americans, then he should publicly rebuke these advisers and declare that he will not listen to anyone that propagates hate or science-denial. Anything less is unacceptable. Stand up against hate and ignorance. Tell your senators and representative to oppose any nominee who holds these extreme views.” Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club  Read more ...

2017 SIERRA CLUB CALENDARS, our group's primary fund-raiser, are now available. Get your calendar at our December gathering or order from Maureen: 784-9324/784-5678 or email. SIERRA CLUB HOLIDAY CARDS are available at the online store. Use code  CARDS20 for a 20% discount. Order at tinyurl.com/sierracards16.


JANUARY FILM AND DISCUSSION - Sierra Club board member Bill Katra will host a film & discussion evening on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 7 p.m. An environmental film will be shown followed by discussion. Refreshments will be available, too. The address is 1008 Avon Street, La Crosse. You don’t need to be a Sierra Club member to attend!

FEBRUARY TOUR AT UWL - On Monday, February 27, Sierra Club members and friends will have the chance to tour UWL’s new student center with special emphasis on its sustainability features. The tour will begin at 7 p.m. Meet at the building’s info counter. Parking in most campus lots is free after 7 p.m. The MTU #4 goes through campus as well. If you have questions, please email CRSierraClub[at]gmail.com.

BOARD NOMINATIONS! - Three of our seven board members have terms expiring in February (not December as previously reported!) Would you like to run for the Sierra Club board and help keep this important organization going in the Coulee Region? Board members meet monthly, sometimes via email. Email CRSierraClub[at]gmail.com BY FEBRUARY 20 to nominate yourself or someone else.

Water Quality Listening Session with US EPA Region V Administrator Robert Kaplan

Pat Wilson and La Crosse County Board member Mike Giese traveled to Eau Claire to make statements at the Nov. 15 listening session on Wisconsin water quality issues with US EPA Region V Administrator Robert Kaplan and Region V water quality specialist Christopher Korleski.  The Listening Session was sponsored by the Sierra Club John Muir Chapter, Midwest Environmental Advocates, River Alliance of Wisconsin and other groups.  There was a standing room only crowd in the lecture hall, with over 200 people from all over Wisconsin.  They wanted to tell the EPA administrators about the water quality problems in Wisconsin and how it affected them, and to ask that the EPA do what it can to help.  Mike Giese and Pat Wilson talked about the problems with WDNR enforcement of the Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, specifically in La Crosse County.   There were complaints of polluted lakes, streams, and well water.  There were complaints about CAFOs and manure spreading and karst topography.  There were complaints about the proliferation of high capacity wells and the effects on water tables and stream flow.  There were complaints about algal blooms and health advisories about swimming in lakes.  There were complaints about sand mines and siltation in trout streams.  But most of all, there were complaints about the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and their lack of action to address any of these issues in a state that’s “open for business” at any cost.  The EPA was asked to step in and enforce federal clean water regulations.

The session was scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. but went to 8:15 p.m. so everyone could speak.  The EPA administrators thanked the group for their comments and said that this kind of session was a big help to them in doing their jobs.

December 8 - Sustainable Business Conference

[cross-posted at Coulee Region Climate Alliance]

Join RENEW Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Sustainabile Business Conference 2016

The 2016 Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference is coming up on Thursday, December 8th in Onalaska, WI. The agenda was just announced, and RENEW's Tyler Huebner will be moderating a panel tilted "Using Renewable Energy in Your Business." 
The panel will feature:

- Ben Reynolds - Reynolds Transfer

- Alan Eber - Gundersen Health

- Dan Andersen - Phillips Medisize

Join RENEW Wisconsin at this excellent event to learn more about cutting edge business sustainability practicies and to disucss how we can help create a successful, sustainable, transparent, Wisconsin business community that will stand out nationally.

When: Thursday, December 8th 8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m., with reception to follow

Where: Empire Screen Printing

Address: N520 Marco Road Onalaska, WI 54650

Learn more and register here!

Chromium-6 (the Erin Brockovich carcinogen) in our water

You may have heard the the well-respected Environmental Workiing Group has a new report out about a carcinogenic contaminant that is in most Americans' water supplies.

'Erin Brockovich' Carcinogen in Tap Water of More than 200 Million Americans

Published in September, the article (and accompanying map) provides a chilling and detailed history of this contaminant and why it is in so many Americans' water and, more importantly, why the EPA has not regulated it. For example, 

The American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry's powerful lobbying arm, argued that before formally releasing the draft for public comment, the EPA should wait for the publication of studies funded by the Council and the Electric Power Research Institute on the biological mechanisms through which chromium-6 triggers cancer. In an April 2011 letter obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, Vincent Cogliano, acting director of IRIS, responded to the chemistry lobby that "granting your request could entail a delay of unknown duration with no public discussion or review of the strong new studies that are now available."

That's exactly what happened.

An external review panel, which the Center for Public Integrity later found included three members who consulted for PG&E in the Brockovich case, pressured the EPA to grant the American Chemistry Council's request. In 2012, the EPA quietly announced that the draft risk assessment will be held up until the chemical lobby's studies are finished. EWG and other public health groups objected vociferously, not only due to the delay on chromium-6 but "the dangerous precedent suggested by delaying risk assessment activities to allow incorporation of as-yet unpublished, industry-funded research."

The EPA's prediction of when the risk assessment will be released for public comment has been pushed back repeatedly – from 2015 to the second quarter of 2016, and then to early 2017. When asked for an update, Cogliano wrote in an Aug. 24 email to EWG: "We expect to release a draft health assessment document in 2017, though I wouldn't use the word 'early.'"

 In La Crosse, where contamination is relatively high according to the EWG map, no plan of upgrading filters has been put forward by the City's Water Utility. An October 13 letter to the editor, requests the mayor and city address the problem immediately.

There is an effort underway to make a more formal multi-organization request of this nature (if your organization would like to be involved, please email CRSierraClub[at]gmail.com).

In the meantime, city water bills have been mailed for the July through October service period. As you write out your check to pay for your water, consider that that water is contaminated and so far nothing has been planned or done to address the problem. You may want to contact the city's water utility (utilities[at]cityoflacrosse.org or 608 789-7536) to find out what they intend to do about this problem (which has been going on for some time already) and when. 

According to the EWG report, the City of Onalaska also has a contamination problem. Not every county or water utility has been tested, so you might want to check your water supply. 

This is also a reminder that there is a water quality listening session with the US EPA Region 5 Administrator in Eau Claire on November 15. [To carpool to the event, please email Pat.] After reading the EWG report, you might like to attend and ask why the EPA does not have published chromium-6 guidelines yet.

 

CR Sierra Club - November newsletter

[View the full newsletter (with better layout and graphics)

at issue.com]

PEDRETTI HONORED: The John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club is honoring Marilyn Pedretti with the 2016 John Muir Chapter Merit  Award. You’re invited to join other Sierra Club members at the award ceremony on Saturday, November 19, 2016 at Brocach Irish Pub, 7 W Main St., Madison from 3 to 5 p.m.  Contact Pat Wilson (pbwilson[at]centurytel.net) if you’re interested in carpooling. Read more ...

EPA LISTENING SESSION - NOVEMBER 15 IN EAU CLAIRE (see previous blog post): Anyone interested in carpooling to this event should email Pat

ARRIVE TOGETHER: Building a 21st Century Transportation System in Wisconsin TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT IN MILWAUKEE DECEMBER 3: Tickets cost just $10 for the whole day (including meals) . Scholarships are available. Register online. A FREE bus will go from Madison to the conference in Milwaukee and back to Madison. The Sierra Club will  coordinate rides and car pools to Madison (occupants may then take the conference bus) for those registered by Nov. 21. You may register after that but conference meals and ride assistance are not guaranteed. We are also seeking agencies, officies, and organizations  to help promote and promote registration for this event. There is no cost for partnership. Partners will receive a packet of flyers, posters, and handouts. If you know of anyone interested, please ask them to complete the partner form. Read more ...

2017 SIERRA CLUB CALENDARS AND HOLIDAY CARDS NOW AVAILABLE. Read more.

SIERRA CLUB ENDORSED CANDIDATES NEED OUR HELP WITH GOTV FROM NOW UNTIL NOVEMBER 8! Please contact Stevan Stankovich at 317-372-0134  Read more.

HELP NEEDED! Seeking local member to represent us on the state board. Also seeking membership chair. Read more.

BOARD NOMINATIONS: Seeking nominations for three board positions ending in December. You may nominate yourself or another member who can meet monthly (sometimes by email) and help guide our club next year. NOMINATIONS DUE (email CRSierraClub[at]gmail.com) BY NOV. 20!
Read more.

ENVIRO-EDUCATION GRANTS AVAILABLE!  Teachers and youth leaders - apply for up to $200 to help with your environment-related project. Applications due by December 1! Read more.

JANUARY FILM AND DISCUSSION:  Board member Bill Katra will host a screening of the film, Dear President Obama - The clean energy revolution is now! at his home on Tuesday, January 31. Read more.

SIERRA CLUB - NO DAPL - WEBINAR: Friday, November 4 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Register online.

NOVEMBER 15 - NO DAPL SUPPORT TRUCK LEAVES LA CROSSE: A truckload of supplies, food, equipment will leave La Crosse on November 15. Please learn about this important environmental issue. Read more.

COULEE REGION SIERRA CLUB WINTER GATHERING: Barb and Don Frank (1965 Valley Road, La Crosse) will host this year's winter gathering on Tuesday, December 20 at 6 p.m. Please bring some food to share. Beverages will be provided. EVERYONE IS WELCOME (you need not be a Sierra Club member!) Phone 608 788-3914 with questions.



 

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November 15 Water Quality Listening Session

[UPDATE: Please email Pat if you'd like to carpool to this event!]

from Midwest Environmental Advocates:

Nov 15, 2016

Listening Session with U.S. EPA Region 5 Administrator Robert Kaplan

Listening Session with U.S. EPA Region 5 Administrator Robert Kaplan
Tuesday, November 15, 5-7 p.m. – Eau Claire - Chippewa Valley Technical College, Room 30, Business Education Center, 620 West Clairemont Ave.

Members of the public are invited to come and share their thoughts and concerns about the implementation of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act in Wisconsin to the Administrator of US EPA’s Region V, Robert Kaplan.  Administrator Kaplan will give a brief description of the US EPA’s role in Wisconsin and their current activities in Wisconsin, and then he will hear from the public.  Depending on the number of individuals that want to speak, each person will be requested to limit their remarks to three minutes.

This event is sponsored by the Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter, Midwest Environmental Advocates, River Alliance of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lakes Association and Clean Wisconsin

Parking:
You may park in the RCU Visitor Lot (P1 on the map) or the Student Lot (P3) using the attached parking permit for each vehicle. Another option is to park in the Pay-Per-Hour Lot (P7) for a fee.

If you have any questions or concerns about parking, the Public Safety Office general phone number is 715-833-6202.

Link to RSVP:
http://tinyurl.com/eparsvp
Link to Sierra Club petition:
tinyurl.com/protectwiwater