2023 CHAPTER AWARDS NOVEMBER 1 Every year, the Sierra Club - Wisconsin Chapter recognizes wonderful volunteers and community leaders for their dedication, passion, and leadership. Join us in celebrating our award-winners during an hour-long virtual ceremony. Join us ONLINE on Wednesday, November 1 at 6 p.m. to honor our volunteers and allies. For the link to join, call 608-315-2693 or visit https://tinyurl.com/SCWI-23Awards
NOVEMBER 14 SIERRA CLUB BOOK CLUB In his award-winning book, Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world’s most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Join the discussion at 7 p.m., Nov. 14. Register at https://tinyurl.com/SCWIBvrBk
NOVEMBER 14 INSPIRING SUSTAINABILITY Join the Sustainability Institute on November 14 between 6 and 8 p.m. at the La Crosse Distilling Company, 129 Vine Street, in recognizing and celebrating organizations and individuals who have inspired sustainable action within our community and beyond. Tickets are required for attendance. Ticket sales close at 8 p.m., November 9. A few donated tickets are available for students. Email email@sustaininstitute.com for details. Buy tickets by November 9 at https://tinyurl.com/WISI23Awards Complimentary Food is included with ticket purchase, and a cash bar is available with local beer options and cocktails for purchase. The Sustainability Institute is a non-profit founded in 2012 to celebrate and advance sus-tainability efforts within the driftless region. It sponsors the La Crosse Earth Fair and hosts other year-round programs.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANTS! CRSC is offering grants of up to $200 each for environmental education projects to schools or community organizations involving young people at the elementary and middle school level within the CRSC region: Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties. Applications may be completed online, emailed or mailed. The deadline for applications is January 5, 2024. For more information, visit sierraclub.org/wisconsin/coulee/Education or tinyurl.com/CRSC-Education. Funding for our environ-mental grants is possible thanks to an annual grant from the Paul E. Stry Foundation, shared dues from Sierra Club member-ships, and donations made by community members. To learn more about donating to help support environmental education, email or call us.
CRSC BOARD ELECTIONS The Coulee Region Sierra Club will hold elections for its board of directors in December. The board meets monthly to plan events, coordinate with the state Sierra Club, and network with local and regional partners and allies on Sierra Club issues.
We will elect four board members. Terms are two years and begin in January 2024. Please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com with your name, contact information, and a brief paragraph describing your experience and interests and why you would like to be on the board no later than November 15. If you don’t do email, please call 608-315-2693.
Qualifications include Sierra Club membership and past work or interest in outdoor activities and/or environ-mental issues. The board is especially interested in adding members who live outside of the La Crosse area, but any eligible candidate is welcome.
Voting will be online or by paper ballot. The December newsletter will have candidate statements, the ballot, and instructions for voting by mail or online. If you don’t get an emailed newsletter you’ll get a postcard with instructions. Voting will close on December 30.
SOLAR TOUR Two Coulee Region group communities hosted solar tours during the October 6-8 National Solar Tour program sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society.
“The TREMPs” (Trempealeau Residential Energy Municipal Producers) hosted a self-guided tour of seven sites, including one commercial and one community building, on Saturday, October 7. Tour maps were available online and at several community locations. This was the second year for a solar tour in Trempealeau.
In La Crosse, an open house and tour of the solar installation at Hamilton Elementary School hosted by Solar on La Crosse Schools on Friday, October 6 kicked off the weekend. Eight in-person sites, including an energy-efficient apartment complex and several homes, were listed on the wekend tour map, with several other sites, like a solar panel-topped parking ramp at Gundersen Health and several City of La Crosse buildings, we listed as “info only” drive by opportunities.
Organizers are already making plans for a bigger, better 2024 Solar Tour. If you would like to host a tour in your community or help with an existing one, please email CRSIerraClub@gmail,com or call 608-315-2693.
CHAPTER ELECTION - VOTE NOW! There are three open seats on the state chapter’s executive committee, and voting is going on now! To learn more and vote, look for an email from Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter sent on Oct. 6 with subject line: Help elect your state chapter leader-ship. Our club runs on grass roots power, and your vote is very important. Vote now!
ELECTRO EXPO IN VIROQUA The Vernon County Energy District held an “Electo Expo” on Saturday, October 21. The event is part of the groups outreach and education about energy use, efficiency, and energy self-sufficiency. More than 70 people attended the afternoon event. Session topics included EVs, heat pumps for home heating/cooling, solar and battery storage, heat pump water heaters, and IRA incentives. They also had EV test drives. The keynote speaker was Nick Hylla, Executive Director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.
CRSC hosted a program featuring Alan Buss, VCED Board President, in March 2023. You can view it at https://youtu.be/lDXr2DbScIs or visit their webpage at https://vced.energy for more information
EV/HYBRID INSPECTION EVENT On November 14 at 11 a.m., a tour of Western Technical College’s Automotive Techno-logy Center, 2721 Larson Street, La Crosse, will be part of an “electrified powertrains” inspection event. Faculty member Adam Remke will lead the tour, talk about the WTC program, and provide an explanation of the inspection process. Those who have dropped off cars for inspection will receive a debrief and summary of findings.
Earlier in the day, second year Automotive Technician students will perform a Free Digital Multipoint Inspection of select electric, plug-in hybrid, or hybrid vehicles as part of a “live work” course. They will have already completed a five-week course related to these vehicles and will work under the supervision of instructors. Concerns found during the inspection, may be repaired through the “Trade Simulation Course” that follows.
If you would like your vehicle inspected or if you would just like to attend the tour and program, visit https://tinyurl.com/111423-WTCEVEvent
MORE NOVEMBER EVENTS
