Ready for 100 Resolution in La Crosse

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's Judiciary and Administration (J&A) Committee on Tuesday, July 2 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. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEAK. In fact, we are hoping to have only one or two speakers in the interest of time.

The committee will vote on the resolution and it will move forward to the City Council with a recommendation for or against or no recommendation.

The full council will vote on the resolution at its July 11 meeting. The original resolution was referred in May. We hope the updated version will have even  more city council supporters. You can read the resolution at the city's legislative web site. http://cityoflacrosse.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3926780&GUID=B34D11C1-7372-4F3A-A98E-A06C2B6D3465

If you are not able to attend the July 2 meeting, no problem. We will try to have a good crowd of supporters at the July 11 Council meeting, too (no public hearing, just a show of support), and we hope to introduce similar legislation at the county level next.

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,

Debate watch

Two opportunities to watch the June 26 Democratic primary debates. 

Watch and push #ClimateCrisis with the Sunrise Movement's #ChangeTheDebate debate watch  party. Program starts at 7 p.m. Debate begins at 8. It's at Hackberry's, 315 Fifth Avenue South. RSVP and more details here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/la-crosse-region-change-the-debate-presidential-watch-party

OR

Watch with the local Win with Warren group. More details here: https://events.elizabethwarren.com/event/95900/

If we hear of more debate watch parties, we'll edit this page.

Citizen Action organizing in SW Wisconsin

From Citizen Action:

One of the most contentious issues in the Wisconsin State budget is whether to expand BadgerCare (Medicaid). As of right now the GOP is not moving forward with it, but they have not passed a budget yet, and the Governor still has the authority to veto without this critical ability to cover tens of thousands of working Wisconsinites. Here are 6 events coming up in Southern & Western Wisconsin in the next 7 days you can attend to help!

Why should Wisconsin expand BadgerCare? Here are just a few reasons:

-- expanding BadgerCare would cover ~80,000 working (not poor) Wisconsinites without good insurance at work.

-- expanding BadgerCare would save $320 million in the state budget, which could be used to improve health services (& caregiver wages!) and/or help local communities recover after the floods through "shared revenue".

-- expanding BadgerCare would bring in new state & federal funds to our communities. In La Crosse, Monroe, Juneau, Sauk, Vernon, Crawford, & Richland alone, $128 million would come into the communities. Enough to cover 4,308 local working residents!

-- expanding BadgerCare is expected to lower premiums for those with private insurance too. A recent study showed premiums could be $684 lower per person per year!

  

Events Where You Can Help in the next few days

Onalaska (La Crosse Co) - Thursday June 20th, 2pm - Join area supporters of a Rural/Urban Alliance in a round-table discussion to help us design a major local project on addressing a local Driftless Region version of a Green New Deal and getting to Healthcare-for-All via BadgerCare expansion! Click here for details

Viroqua (Vernon Co) - Thursday June 20th, 6pm - Join area supporters of a Rural/Urban Alliance in a round-table discussion to help us design a major local project on addressing a local Driftless Region version of a Green New Deal and getting to Healthcare-for-All via BadgerCare expansion! Click here for details

La Crosse - Monday, June 24th, 9am - Join an important press conference with Citizen Action, State Representative Steve Doyle, county leaders and healthcare professionals to urge state action to expand BadgerCare. This media event will be in tandem with coordinated actions taking place across Wisconsin for an Expand BadgerCare Day of Action. Join this one! Click here for details

Ask the questions

Next month, Netroots Nation will host a presidential candidate forum. You'll be able to watch online and you may use this form to submit a question for consideration.

While no candidates are coming to Wisconsin, lots of them are criss-crossing Iowa. If you can, use the Des Moines Register's candidate tracker and head on down to ask your questions in person.

Consider becoming a health care or climate bird dog, using Bold Iowa's example.

Ask your questions locally, too. Letters to the editor are one way to encourage people to think differently, and we definitely need that in our community where the local paper's favorite opinionator is English major right wing mouthpiece Rich Lowry and a bevy of other rightists. The best sane readers who DO believe in global warming and women's bodily autonomy can hope for is an occasional tepid EJ Dionne.

Sunrise Movement has pushed the ask envelope at the DNC, too. Last time, climate was almost totally absent from the campaign. This time, most candidates have climate change positions and plans and there's still a strong and growing movement to make it THE issue for 2020.

Monday Dems Potluck

Meet the new chair of the state Democratic Party, Ben Wikler, and talk about how we work for clean water, renewable energy, racial justice, LGBTQ rights and more at this annual fundraiser in Copeland Park.

The Koch machine is already working against our local state senator and state Republicans continue to block out the reality that voters elected Tony Evers on expanding health care access, funding public schools, improving the state's roads and transportation systems, and putting science back in DNR decision-making (and taking "climate change" off the banned ideas list). The gerrymandered minority, like an emergency brake stuck in the on position, is hindering progress toward the goals we all share.

So even if you're mad as hell at Nancy Pelosi or the DCCC or the DNC global warming gag rule, here's your chance to talk and plan work together on the most important issues in our community.

This weekend - Medicare for All canvassing

Thursday state water quality public hearing.

Got clean water? Cross posted from Coulee Region Sierra Club:

PUBLIC HEARING- Speaker's Task Force on Water Quality

The committee will hold a public hearing on the following items at the time specified below:

Thursday, June 13, 2019, 12:30 PM

Cleary Alumni & Friends Center

615 East Avenue North, La Crosse

Invited Panelists:

Wisconsin Rural Water Association

Andrew Aslesen - WRWA Source Water Specialist

State of Minnesota

Dr. Tony Runkel - Chief Geologist at the Minnesota Geological Survey; Paul Putzier - Minnesota Hydrogeologist Supervisor

Midwest Environmental Advocates

Kimberlee Wright - Executive Director

La Crosse County

Gregg Stangle - Director of Department of Land Conservation; Carol Drury - Environmental Health and Lab Manager

Carbon Cycle Consulting LLC

Jason Fuller - Founder

Invited testimony will begin at 12:30 p.m. and is expected to conclude at approximately 3:00 p.m.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to testify at the conclusion of the invited testimony.

UN Climate program June 18/Debate watch June 26

Buried deep (p 36) in the current .pdf of the La Crosse Park & Rec Activities Bulletin, is this free program on June 18 at the Southside Neighborhood Center:

You can sign up by calling the SSNC, 608 789-8298 between now and June 17 or just show up (though if the minimum enrollment is not met, it may be cancelled.) Learn the facts and the plans so you can be s better climate advocate in the community.

#CHANGE THE DEBATE

On Wednesday, June 26, there will be a CHANGE THE DEBATE debate watch party from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. at Hackberry's, 315 Fifth Avenue South. This is a follow up to and continuation of Sunrise Movement's push to make climate crisis THE 2020 presidential debate topic and pass a Green New Deal. More info is at the event site. Flyer coming soon. The event will begin with a Sunrise Movement video and the debate itself begins at 8 p.m. We don't know which candidates will appear on the 26th and which will be on the 27th, but this party is about more than watching the debate. Hope you can make it.

Enduring Families Project at Artspire

Climate Action

From Citizens Climate Lobby:

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) has been introduced into the House of Representatives and Citizens Climate Lobby is putting all of its efforts into getting this bill enacted into legislation. It has not yet been introduced into the Senate. We need both the House and Senate on board to put a market-based price on carbon emissions.

On June 11th, 1200 CCL volunteers who are attending CCL's June International Conference will be lobbying hundreds of Congressional offices in Washington, D.C. during CCL's Lobby Day.

On June 5th, CCL supporters will be lighting up the phones of every Congressional office prior to Lobby Day asking for support for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

1. On Wednesday, June 5th, go to: cclusa.org/call. If you would like a text reminder to call June 5th, sign up at cclusa.org/text.
2. Enter your street address and zip code.
3. Follow the instructions and use the suggested calling scripts to make your calls and report them to CCL.
4. If you can't get through during the day on June 5th, call in the evening and leave a message, or call June 6th.

It's that easy and your calls do make a difference!

REMINDER: La Crosse CCL Meeting

**Wednesday, June 12th**
6:30 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of La Crosse
401 West Ave S, La Crosse, WI

We are meeting in the conference room on the north side of the building.