Coal crumbles! And Clean Water Lobby Day

Dairyland Power Cooperative Announces Plans for 

2021 Retirement of Genoa Station #3

LA CROSSE, WI—Dairyland Power Cooperative announced today that its Sustainable Generation Plan includes the retirement of the coal-fired Genoa Station #3 (G-3), located in Genoa, Wis., in mid to late 2021.

“Our employees are Dairyland’s most valued resource,” said Barb Nick, President and CEO. “As we made this difficult decision, we did so with a deep appreciation for the contributions of our employees who have dedicated their talents and energy to help us deliver on our mission to our members.”

"This decision also aligns with our Sustainable Generation Plan and its focus on the continued addition of renewable resources,” said Nick. “The recently announced approval by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin for the Nemadji Trail Energy Center in Superior gives us the added confidence to take this next step to further diversify Dairyland’s resource mix and reduce our carbon intensity.”

The supercritical facility, which was brought online in June 1969, was designed to be highly
efficient and uses low sulfur coal delivered by barge.

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January 30 -Wisconsin Conservation Voters'

CLEAN WATER LOBBY DAY - GET ON THE BUS!

Need a ride to Clean Water Lobby Day? Sign up for the western bus now.

We’re facing the fight of our lives for clean water in Wisconsin. 

Your elected leaders need to hear directly from you. Without your presence and voice, it’s too easy for them to ignore what’s happening. You hold the ability to move the needle forward toward clean water for everyone in the state.

Haven’t registered for lobby day yet? RSVP now.

We have a western bus headed to Madison to make it easier for you. Please sign up now before the Jan. 26 deadline.

WHAT: Clean Water Lobby Day
WHERE: The Madison Concourse Hotel and the State Capitol
WHEN: Jan. 30 from 12:30 to 5 p.m. (with a social hour afterward)

Check out the bus intinerary here. (Bus picks up in Tomah at 10:30

We’re looking forward to seeing you at Clean Water Lobby Day. If you need a ride please sign up today for the western bus here.

Book Club reminder!

 Remember to sign up for the Coulee Region Sierra Club's Enviro Book Club at Goodreads.com. For January, we're reading The Overstory by Richard Powers. Read the powerful review by Barbara Kingsolver and join us!

You might also be interested in this article, "A Talk in the Woods: Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Powers," from Poets & Writers.

Planet or Plastic

Friends at Viroqua Plastic Free alerted us to this new issue of National Geographic Magazine. Most of the issue is devoted to plastic pollution and potential solutions. At the very least, we can Take the Pledge.

Interestingly, the BBC recently highlighted a short video on the nation of Vanuatu which has begun banning plastic bags and single use utensils. In just a year, their environment became much cleaner, but their ultimate victory over plastic pollution depends on others since they import so much of their food and other necessities.

In October, we learned that the Ocean Cleanup Project successfully completed a first pass of inventor Boyan Slat's device to tackle the vast plastic islands in our planet's oceans.

WISPIRG has a new initiative encouraging support for the RIGHT TO REPAIR things like electronics and cell phones which would reduce the amount of waste our communities must deal with. They are also collecting petition signatures to support a ban of single use plstic foam items.

If your New Year includes a pledge to do more to rid our planet of the scourge of plastic pollution, check out the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a growing global alliance of more than 1,000 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders in 60 countries working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean, and the environment. 

At the very least, make sure you have a supply of reusable shopping bags and food containers (and use them!), a reusable water bottle, and a sustainable green food kit (reusable food storage container plus reusable utensils) to use when you eat out and have left overs OR when you are offered plastic plates and utensils.Find and use places that give the option of buying in bulk so you can use your own containers where allowed. Last but not least - make sure to mention NO PLASTIC PLEASE! at every store and restaurant you visit.  

January 2020 Newsletter

TUESDAY, January 28 at 7 p.m.  Water Quality in the Coulee Region with Karl Green, UW-Extension, Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House (8th & Main, La Crosse)     Water is life, and the threat to clean water one of the top concerns of Coulee Region residents. Whether it’s CAFO siting rules, blue green algae, flooding, phosphorous, PFAs, high capacity wells, or new water treatment standards, water issues require our understanding and constant attention.

On January 28, we’ll welcome Karl Green, Community Natural Resource and Economic Development Agent for La Crosse County, who will discuss our region‘s leading water quality issues, what’s being done, and what we can do to protect this precious resource.

Karl is a university professor, parent, outdoorsperson, and community collaborator involved with  several diverse groups, from La Crosse Promise to La Crosse Partners in Learning to the La Crosse Urban Stormwater Group.

Everyone is welcome to this event. You need not be a Sierra Club member to participate. We will also introduce our new board, hear your ideas and hopes for the new year, and discuss plans for 2020. Refreshments will be provided!

Start the new year with a pledge to CLIMATE ACTION!     In 1959, Dr. Edward Teller warned the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. government officials attending his speech that burning fossil fuels emitted carbon dioxide into the atmosphere causing the Earth’s climate to warm, polar ice caps to melt, and coastal cities to be inundated. That was 60 years ago.

Countless papers, speeches, books, articles, testimonies, and movies later, we are rocketing past sustainable limits - CO2 levels of 350 ppm (we just passed 415 ppm) and a global temperature rise of no more than 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels (we are at about 1 degree already).

Last month, the 25th UN conference on climate change ended in failure because powerful interests, rich from a fossil fuel system, will not yield, not even for their own children. Our planet is in grave peril. Some climate experts say CO2 emissions must peak in 2020, but we continue to burn fossil fuels for fun and profit at every opportunity.

Writing in The Correspondent, environment reporter Eric Holthaus calls on us to get political. “It’s not constructive to continue to pretend that polite compromise and incremental changes will save us.”

Every month, we will highlight ways we can, as individuals and members of communities, redouble our efforts to lower carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. This month, consider assessing your family’s personal carbon footprint and make a plan to lower your emissions by at least 5 percent. This page will give you ideas and resources. Share your own ideas for our next newsletter. Email CRSierraClub@gmail.comcrsierraclub@gmail.com

Reminder: Enviro-Edu Grants!      The Coulee Region Sierra Club is offering grants of up
to $200 for environmental education projects involving young people at the elementary and middle school level. The application and more details are available at tinyurl.com/CRSCGrantInfo. The application deadline is JANUARY 5, 2020. Please spread the word about this opportunity available to those in Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon counties. If you have questions, please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com.

Board Elections     Thank you to everyone who voted and to those who volunteered to serve on the board in 2020! Thank you and congratulations to new board members Veronica Bauer and Ned Gaztke. Meet your board at our January meeting. Veronica and Ned will join current board members Kathy Allen, Nancy Hartje, Maureen Kinney, Avery Van Gaard, Cathy Van Maren, and Pat Wilson. Please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com if you have input, ideas, or suggestions.

Thank You!     Thank you to Barb and Don Frank for hosting our annual holiday social on December 17. The food was great, the conversation enlightening, and the energy for making 2020 a great year for our environment, inspiring.

Join Our New CRSC (Online) Book Club!     In 2020, we will try to connect our large Coulee Region nline through an environmental book club. The CRSC Enviro Book Club is now open for your participation at Goodreads.com. To join, make a Goodreads account (or use one you already have), and visit tinyurl.com/CRSCBookClub. We’ll do one book a month, but if that’s too much for you, skip one or two or go at your own pace. In addition
to connecting our club members, this will be a chance for us to share and find new favorites.

You are welcome to set up a time to meet in person with friends and other community members. In-person groups may meet at a library or restaurant where internet access
would allow you to use online comments as talking points and contribute your sub-group’s ideas to the online club.

Let’s try it! We can adjust logistics as we go along if needed. Our January and February books are set, but we want your suggestions for March and beyond. Please use this form (tinyurl.com/CRSCBookNom) to suggest a club book. Next month, we’ll vote on March’s book. If your book is chosen, we’ll include your brief description in the newsletter. At the very least, we’ll end the year with twelve good books to read and share. We might even make some new online book club friends.

For January, Susan Colliton suggested The Overstory by Richard Powers. Good reading. See you online!

A Tale of Trees I doubt anyone could write a more inspired review of Richard Powers’ powerful, timely novel, The Overstory, than the one by Barbara Kingsolver for the New York Times Book Review. I certainly won’t attempt it. Instead, I will recommend Kingsolver’s review, and The Overstory, to those who haven’t yet taken the journey down the switch-back pathways of this remarkable, treelined novel. It is carved by Powers of the deepest heartwood -- ringed with resonance from human designed mythological symbols of prosperity to today’s human-driven environmental destruction. But trees are resilient beings, and fortunately smarter than we are in many respects. What better reading for the short, bare, cold days of winter than a novel about tall, green, growing things -- and the diverse, devoted human lives they direct and alter.

You’ll find Kingsolver’s review, “The Heroes of This Novel Are Centuries Old and 300 Feet Tall,” at www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/books/review/overstory-richard-powers.html. TheOverstory, winner of the 2018 National Book Award and 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, is available at your favorite book source. - Susan Colliton

Sustain: La Crosse     The Sustainability Institute at Western Technical College invites businesses and organizations of the 7 Rivers Region to apply for their Spring 2020 cohort-based program that will provide participants with, “the inspiration, tools, and network they need to better implement and amplify their unique social and environmental impacts.” The program begins in March. See sustaininstitute.com/sustain for more information.

Monroe County CCTF     In September, the Monroe County board voted unanimously to recognize the dangers of climate change and begin to seek ways to protect county resources and residents through a new Climate Change Task Force. To support the county’s efforts, a new citizen group has formed, POWER (Protect Our Water and Environmental
Resources) is providing awareness and education though public meetings. A November 29 POWER meeting drew more than 75 citizens who heard from a variety of speakers and groups. Participants at a December CCTF meeting learned about the Flood Center at the University of Iowa. We hope to include more updates about this important group and find ways to connect climate change groups in the Coulee Region so we can share energy
and ideas.

Kickapoo Reserve Events     The Kickapoo Valley Reserve near La Farge will host a
Winter Festival on Saturday, January 11 and guided ice formations hikes on January 18 and 25. The reserve is a unique example of the driftless area ecoregion managed under a joint agreement between the State of Wisconsin and the Ho-Chunk Nation. Learn more at
kvr.state.wi.us/events.

Report on Water Conference     Dave and Donna Swanson sent information about the
Discovery Farms Water Conference held in Wisconsin Dells on December 11. Discovery Farms is a Division of the University of Wisconsin Extension. The conference covered best farm practices for water protection, the Southwest Wisconsin water study, help for private well owners, and news about the Water Quality Task Force. The Task Force update included news that the Assembly will recommend funding increases for county conservation positions, a nitrate pilot program, and more. A vote on the bill is expected in spring. Read more at tinyurl.com/DellsWaterConf. Keep up on area issues through reporting by Gillian Pomplun in the Crawford County Independent, www.independentscout.com.

January Water Lobby Day     Wisconsin Conservation Voters will join with others to host a special Clean Water Lobby Day in Madison on Thursday, January 30 from noon to 5 p.m. in the Madison Concourse Hotel and the State Capitol. “The three major threats to our water quality are nitrate from ag pollution, the ‘forever chemicals’ called PFAs, and lead. ... We’re
headed back to the State Capitol to speak directly with lawmakers who hold the future of our water quality in their hands.” Learn more about the day and RSVP at conservationvoters.org/events/clean-water-lobby-day. UPDATE: There will be a bus from Eau Claire with stops in Black River Falls and Tomah. Donations will be accepted to help pay for the bus. After you sign up for lobby day, sign up for the bus at http://bit.ly/2tliMdJ

January Science Cafe - Water     The La Crosse Science Cafe will turn to water quality
with a presentation by Stuart Giblin, the Mississippi River Water Quality Specialist for the Wisconsin DNR. His talk, “Water Quality and the Mississippi River - Past, Present,and Future,” will be held at JavaVino, 2311 State Road, La Crosse on Saturday, January 11 at 6:00 p.m. Read more: www.facebook.com/LaCrosseScienceCafe. 

Position Available     The John Muir Chapter is looking for a campaign coordinator to work on campaigns, recruit and train volunteers, administer communications, and participate in equity, inclusion and justice initiatives. Read more about it at tinyurl.com/rugnytg.