VOTE - then saddle up for the next ride

Due to severe SLEEPINESS there will be no live blogging of election night. But we will hope to update in the next few days.

And we need to start thinking about next year. I propose that GLOBAL WARMING - and specifically what the Coulee Region can actually DO (not talk about, study, discuss, wish on or dream about) to make major steps toward reducing our "energy footprint" - be our top priority.

Click for more.

Former Mayor, John Medinger, signed on to the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. And what has been done?

That's the question.

Under the Agreement, participating cities commit to take following three actions:

* Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;

* Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol -- 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and

* Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system.

I suggest that Coulee Progressives make living up to this agreement one of its top priorities in 2007.

For an interesting report about how Germany is taking major and livable changes, listen to November 7th's Here On Earth broadcast with Craig Morris, a journalist and translator specializing in renewable energy, author of Energy Switch: Proven Solutions for a Renewable Future"

We are now planning for the 2007 Coulee Region Progressives State of the Union on Friday, January 26. More details soon - I'm feeling an energy conservation theme coming on.