Debate watch & public hearings

A local debate watch with Sunrise Movement will be held at Piggy's Restaurant on Tuesday, July 30 at 7 p.m.

At 6 p.m. on July 30, the La Crosse City Council's Judiciary and Administration committee will take up a new solar spring ordinance and will also discuss s permit sought by Mayo Health to demolish houses for a parking lot. If you are interested in holding the city to its carbon drawdown commitment, you may attend the meeting and register or speak on the issues.

A special meeting of the Marietta Town board on Monday, August 5 at 7 p.m. will be held to discuss a CAFO siting moratorium. The meeting will be at 45550 Maple Ridge Road, Boscobel. For more details, contact Fjahnke@crawfordstewardship.org.

On September 4 in Onalaska, the Department of Ag, Trade, and Consumer Protection, will hold a public hearing at Stoney Creek Hotel (3060 South Kinney Coulee Drive, Onalaska) to get comments about proposed updates to CAFO/livestock siting rules. The hearings will be 1 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Learn more, including other ways to submit comments, at tinyurl.com/ATCP51Update

Corps of Engineers public meetings

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District will be hosting public scoping meetings next week, July 22-24, to gather input on the Upper Mississippi River Master Plan. Please share this information with those in your organization ir community. It is important to have direct input to ensure interests are considered in this plan.

The three meetings are:

Monday, July 22 – 4-7 p.m. –County Administration Building - Veterans Conference Room, 225 N. Beaumont Rd., Prairie du Chien 

Tuesday, July 23 – 4-7 p.m. – Onalaska Library - Meeting Room B, 741 Oak Ave. S, Onalaska

Wednesday, July 24 – 4-7 p.m. – Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Ave., Red Wing, Minnesota

The format of during these meetings will be an open house in which the public will have the opportunity to provide official comments.

St. Paul District is updating the Upper Mississippi River Master Plan which is a strategic land use and recreation management document that will guide the District’s comprehensive management and development of natural, recreational, and cultural resources of the Upper Mississippi River basin for years to come. The master plan, while conceptual in nature, will serve as the vision for both environmental stewardship and recreation as the Corps continues to serve the public in the 21^st  century.

In addition to the public scoping meetings, comments concerning the scope of the study may aslo be submitted to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 Fifth Street East, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1638. Comments can also be submitted via email:UMRMasterPlan2019@usace.army.mil.

Additional information can be viewed online at:

https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Upper-Mississippi-River-Master-Plan/

We look forward to hearing from you and those within your organization/community.  

Celebrate 100% Tuesday

Mayor Kabat, Council Members, Sustainable La Crosse Commission, Local Community Members Announce Ready for 100 Sustainability Goals for La Crosse

Goal of carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy by 2050

WHO: Mayor Kabat, Barb Jannsen, local leaders to be announced

WHEN: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 at 1 p.m.

WHERE:  City Hall Lobby, 400 La Crosse St., La Crosse

WHAT:  The La Crosse Common Council unanimously passed a resolution setting sustainability goals for transitioning to carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy by 2050.  

This media event is to celebrate that action.  Co-sponsors of this resolution Barb Jannsen and Justice Weaver will explain the local need for addressing this global crisis.  Mayor Kabat, who previously signed to join Mayors for 100% Clean Energy, will explain some of the actions the city has already taken to begin the process.

With the passage of this resolution, La Crosse becomes the fifth “Ready for 100” city in Wisconsin, joining more than 100 cities across the country in this Sierra Club sponsored initiative to begin addressing climate change at the local level.  

The La Crosse resolution originated from the Sustainable La Crosse Commission, and some commission members will be there to explain where we go from here.

Tuesday - Green New Deal Action Call

Just as the La Crosse Common Council has agreed to move our whole community to 100% renewable, zero carbon energy by 2050 or sooner (come celebrate on Tuesday, July 16 at 1 pm at City Hall!) this message from the national Sierra Club invites us to get involved in the national push for a Green New Deal: 

In just three days, 1,582 people across the country have signed up to attend our activist kickoff call on Tuesday, July 16 to get involved in organizing for the Green New Deal in their community.

Some will be lobbying their local representatives in support of climate legislation, others will be hosting a watch party for the Democratic Presidential Debates on July 30th and 31st. This is big! But the most exciting part is, many of those people have never done anything like this before now. If you're in too, RSVP for the call here.

We’re seeing huge momentum all across the country. This energy didn’t come from the top down. It’s growing from the grassroots -- from everyday people fighting for 100% clean energy, jobs that pay a living wage, and climate policies that prioritize communities of color and working-class people.

That’s why we’re hosting this activist call: to ask each and every one of you to take a leap. New bills on 100% clean energy and clean cars show that momentum for a Green New Deal is building, but we’re up against a lot and the climate clock is ticking. It’s going to take all of us doing whatever we can, and doing it together.

If you’ve never done a lobby visit before or organized an event, we’ll give you a toolkit and connect you with a coach to guide you every step of the way. Even if you’re not sure you can make the kickoff call, sign up here and we’ll follow up with everything you need.

As the signup numbers keep growing, I’m getting more and more excited to share our upcoming plans alongside Sunrise Movement Co-Founder Varshini Prakash, and Sierra Club Organizer Yassi Kavezade. As we’re preparing for the call, here are some of the things I’ve heard from them: 

• Varshini Prakash, Sunrise Movement Co-Founder: “We need solutions that are commensurate to the scale of the climate crisis. Our politicians have failed to take action  for decades -- now it’s time for us to take the lead and fight for the Green New Deal.”
• Yassi Kavezade, Sierra Club Community Organizer: “A Green New Deal means my generation can pass on a world that we can be proud of.” 

I hope you’ll join us. Here’s that link one more time to sign up -- even if you can’t make the call, we’ll follow up to figure out the best next steps for you to continue growing the Green New Deal.

Talk soon,

Michael Brune

Executive Director

Sierra Club

Jackson County Air Quality Hearing

From Frac Sand Sentinel:

An Air Quality Hearing for Smart Sands in the Town of Hixton, Jackson County, will be held on July 16th, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. in the Jackson Co. Court House, 307 Main St., Black River Falls. It will be the public's opportunity to submit written and oral comments.

Please open up the announcement for further information.

La Crosse, Milwaukee poised for 100% renewable

Reposted with updates

The Ready for 100 resolution pledging the city of La Crosse to achieving zero carbon emissions and all energy from 100% renewable sources by 2050 or sooner will be before the City Council TONIGHT, July 11 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held in the council chambers on the main floor of City Hall.

If you would like to attend and register in support of the resolution, please arrive before 6 p.m. when registration ends. Register in support of resolution #19-0471. There's no speaking tonight. We just want to have as many as possible there to show support. 

The resolution will be part of a "consent agenda" of several items that have been recommended for approval by council committees. There are other items on the agenda before this, so if you wish to stay for the vote, be prepared to wait a bit.

We hope to introduce similar legislation at the county level next.

Milkwaukee city and county are poised to adopt 100% renewable legislation soon, too.

If you have any questions, please email us or call or text  608 315-2693. 

If it passes on July 11, La Crosse will join more than 100 towns, cities, counties, and states moving forward with plans to improve the health, environment, and economies of their communities. Chicago has pledged 100% renewables. Puerto Rico has pledged. The state of Washington has pledged. Orange County, NC has pledged. 

Our mayor has already pledged his support. 

In fact some communities have already achieved 100% renewable goals including Georgetown, TX and Aspen, CO, Burlington, VT and Rockport, MO.

There are many reasons this is a good and needed plan. Xcel Energy has already committed to carbon zero and is adding renewables to its portfolio, in part because of consumer pressure and in part because of economics. Renewable electricity generation is cheaper than fossil fuels. Moving our whole state to in-state generated renewable energy would boost our economy by billions of dollars.

Moving to renewables nationwide will mean an end to oil bomb trains, frac sand mines, oil and gas pipelines, fracking wastewater pollution, petroleum processing explosions, and more. 

Preparing for a transition to 100% renewable heating will grow many new jobs - assessing systems and needed upgrades, refurbing buildings, creating new processes and products, building and installing renewable systems.

A renewable carbon free future is expected to help rural economies, too, with "dual use" solar agriculture and carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture.

Transitioning to 100 renewables for transportation will mean supporting and beefing up an electric bus public transit system, siting and installing EV charging stations, and eliminating health effects of fossil fuel exhaust (even psychological effects.)

In the end, economics and public pressure will make change happen no matter what. Pledging and planning now will allow communities to start saving money on reliable renewable energy and stop wasting money on old systems and inefficient plans while the transition is occurring. 

Here's a little report on Feldheim in Germany, a 100% renewable self-sustaining village. Here's an energy village in Germany featured in an Energy Fair presentation last weekend.  Finally,

Transportation week of action

Cross-posted from La Crosse Area Transit Advocates

Use the graphic above for online. Print and post .pdf flyer at this link.