BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton stated, “Our striking members at Kellogg’s ready-to-eat cereal production facilities courageously stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to achieve a fair contract. This agreement makes gains and does not include any concessions,” Shelton notes.
Highlights of the new five-year collective bargaining agreement:
• No take aways; No concessions
• No permanent two-tier system
• A clear path to regular full-time employment
• Plant closing moratorium: No plant shut downs through October 2026
• A significant increase in the pension multiplier
• Maintenance of cost of living raises
And:
The Senate has gone home on recess without fixing the filibuster and passing the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. That is unacceptable. Call your Senator now (Tammy Baldwin DC office: 202-224-5653) and let them know that:
1. You’re extremely angry and that leaving town before getting the job done is absolutely unacceptable, and
2. They should not do this again until they’ve delivered for the American people. No more recesses until they pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
And:
To get the Senate to pass the strongest possible version of the Build Back Better Act and fight the climate crisis, we need hundreds of thousands of people across the country to tell their senators that they’re counting on them to support this critical bill.
Please act today and demand that the Senate move quickly to pass a strong Build Back Better Act.
Computer model projection of surface temperature departures from average on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 15. (Weatherbell.com)
The historic storms that tore through the middle states earlier this week are, some climate scientists say, "the new normal." The map above is from an Axios article on the situation in the midwest as temperatures soar to unprecedented levels--at 7:45 p.m. on December 15 in Wisconsin, it is 68 degrees. This is not normal/this is the new normal.
Monday's rally for climate justice at UWL called on the administration to take students' real climate concerns seriously. One person with other duties chatting about sustainability, as the chancellor seems to believe is adequate, does not lead an institution to take this crisis seriously and really assess what must change and plan how to make those changes and have the power to implement those plans. It's pitiful that he has told students in the past, as every year he scams them and many classes following them into paying for luxurious exercise facilities, that they can't afford $60,000 for a sustainability coordinator. That's one-eenth of a coaching staff. Which is more important?
A parallel move by local climate activists to ask the School Board of La Crosse to commit to transitions in carbon zero 100% renewable energy and creating a climate action plan is under way. So far, the severity of the crisis and understanding of the responsibility each of us has to act on it seems to be missing. To be sure, schools have challenging budgets thanks to Republicans in the state legislature. But don't say we can't afford to do our part to reduce carbon emissions while you continue supporting a full complement and travel schedule for sports teams and have your eyes set on building new very expensive buildings. Moving to renewables will save schools money in the long term and help to keep global heating down. (Have you signed the petition yet?)
We have the tools to make a difference right now, but we have to use them. As Dr. Michael Mann has noted, delaying climate action is the new climate denial. We can make our own changes, and, more importantly, we can demand that the institutions and businesses and governments use them. I urge you to pledge to make this your highest priority in 2022.
Participate in the city's climate action planning. Hound your workplace into creating a climate action plan. Talk about what solutions there are with others. And vote for people who will take this seriously, not a D owned by the fossil fuel industry, but a person who gets what CODE RED FOR HUMANITY means.
Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) on strike against Kellogg’s in Battle Creek, Mich., Lancaster, Pa., Omaha, Neb. and Memphis, Tenn. have overwhelmingly voted to reject the tentative agreement. The strike, which began on October 5, 2021, continues.
Reflecting on the vote, BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton stated, “The members have spoken. The strike continues. The International Union will continue to provide full support to our striking Kellogg’s members.
“The BCTGM is grateful for the outpouring of fraternal support we received from across the labor movement for our striking members at Kellogg’s. Solidarity is critical to this fight.”
In October, 1,400 union members at Kellogg's plants around the country walked off the job after months of negotiations. They felt they had no other options. This Progressive Magazine article provides more background.
A few days ago, Kellogg's announced that it will hire scabs to replace the 1,400 striking workers. Unfortunately, this is not (yet) illegal. The PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize) would strengthen and broaden federal protections for workers wishing to form and join a union. It was passed by the House during the previous administration when the Senate was controlled by Republicans. It has again been passed by the House, but is stuck in the Senate again. Passing the PRO Act is another reason the filibuster must go or be reformed. You would think Democrats would be prioritizing this for immediate action, moving to suspend the filibuster to get this done before midterm elections. So far, disappointingly, but not surprisingly, three Dems blocking progress are allowed to continue doing so without any consequences from the party.
Until then, consumers have the power to support the union. Here are Kellogg brands. Find alternatives if you aren't already doing so.
IF YOU LIVE IN THE LA CROSSE SCHOOL DISTRICT, please sign the petition and use the action tool to tell the school board and school administrators that we want the school district to pledge to moving to 100% clean renewable energy, to reduce its carbon emissions, and to create a climate action plan that will guide future decisions. It makes no sense to do long-range planning for facilities without first assessing how decisions will affect the climate crisis. Sign here if you're in the district (or have a child enrolled in the La Crosse School District). This effort is a collaborative effort of Citizen Action of Wisconsin-Driftless Co-op, the Coulee Region Sierra Club. Solar on La Crosse Schools, and Wisconsin Conservation Voters.
On Tuesday, December 7, the Wisconsin Farmers Union will hold online candidate training. Registration required.
On Wednesday evening, December 8, the City of La Crosse Planning Department will hold a public input session (ONLINE) about envisioning Pearl Street and the Pearl Street Walkway. This one little street in downtown could be transformed into a sustainable, people-centered car-free model if we want it. Car-free shopping and dining areas have long been popular in other cities from New York and Minneapolis to Glasgow, Oslo, and Amsterdam. Car-free streets have been shown to improve safety, increase sales, reduce air and noise pollution, and support community cohesion. If you have ever eaten at an outdoor café on a car-free street, you will know that the outdoor corrals in La Crosse, surrounded by noisy polluting cars, are not a great experience. Let's make Pearl Street a safe, fun, lively, healthy, CAR-FREE area. Join the Zoom meeting (898 5711 2415)
Citizen Action of Wisconsin is proud to host the state's FIRST 2022 U.S. Senate Candidate Forum with top candidates for the WI U.S. Senate on Tuesday, November 16th, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.
This forum is an important part of our endorsement process. Members from each organizing cooperative from around the state will ask questions of U.S Senate Candidates relating to key parts of Citizen Action's platform, including a fair healthcare system, climate equity, and a strong economy for working people. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide their feedback on their preferred candidate, which will help to inform Citizen Action's endorsement in this race.
Confirmed Candidates:
Mandela Barnes
Sarah Godlewski
Tom Nelson
Alex Lasry
Gillian Battino
This election is critical to building our people power and moving our collective people centered agenda forward. The fate of our democracy, our ability to defeat climate change and create a society where all are welcome, is on the line.
All are welcome!
Join the LCDP and Rep. Steve Doyle for a one-hour information session on how to run for local political office. We will answer questions and cover everything you need to run for city councils, county boards and school board races in the 2022 election.
Over one hundred years ago, the world celebrated peace as a
universal principle. The first World War had just ended and nations
mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars.
Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to
the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated."
After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand
November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into
honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from
a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.
Veterans For Peace has taken the lead in lifting up the
original intention of November 11th – as a day for peace. As veterans, we
know that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to
honor the sacrifices of veterans. We want generations after us to never
know the destruction war has wrought on people and the earth.
Veterans For Peace has been celebrating Armistice Day
almost since the organization's inception, with a few chapters doing
yearly events. Since 2008, with the passing of an official Veterans For Peace resolution,
it became a VFP national effort. Each year, chapters across the country
"Reclaim Armistice Day" by pushing the celebration of peace into the
national conversation on Veterans Day.
Veterans For Peace is calling on everyone to stand up for
peace this Armistice Day. More than ever, the world faces a critical
moment. Tensions are heightened around the world and the U.S. is engaged
militarily in multiple countries, without an end in sight. Here at
home we have seen the increasing militarization of our police forces and
brutal crackdowns on dissent and people’s uprisings against state
power. We must press our government to end reckless military
interventions that endanger the entire world. We must build a culture of
peace.
--------------------
Armistice Day — the commemoration of the truce that brought the end
of WWI — became Veterans Day in 1954 in the aftermath of World War II
and the Korean War. The reason, said President Dwight Eisenhower at the
time, was to honor veterans of all wars, not just WWI.
“But to my grandfather and other World War I vets, that change
symbolized for them a betrayal of what they felt was the promise of
Armistice Day — not just the end of their war, but the end of all wars,
and a commitment to peace,” said Michael Messner, professor of sociology
and gender studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and
Sciences. - "The true meaning of 'Armistice Day'--a commitment to peace" by Susan Bell, November 9, 2018, USC News
I
will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh,
accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I
was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the
nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the
eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the
eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It
was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions
upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have
talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have
told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of
God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke
clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.
COP26 protest sign. Image: Sarah Wilson From BigIssue.com
Please consider applying to be part of the city's community climate action plan team. We need strong climate activists who will work to ensure our climate action plan is strong, substantive, and action-oriented. If you are a young person who will be most affected by doing too little too late, you need to be on this team.
The City of La Crosse is accepting applications for Climate Action Plan Team participants
(LA CROSSE, Wis. November 9, 2021) The
City of La Crosse is beginning the planning process for the City’s first
Climate Action Plan. Climate action plans are comprehensive roadmaps
that outline the specific
Strategies and Actions that a city will implement to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and to help the community increase its resilience to
climate change. The plan will be created by a multi-stakeholder CAP
Planning Team facilitated and supported by the City’s
Climate Action Plan consultant, paleBLUEdot llc.
CAP Team members will work
collaboratively to co-create the City’s plan by exploring, creating,
reviewing, refining, and supporting the prioritization of actions to
achieve the City’s climate goals. The CAP
Team will include City staff members, representatives of other public
agencies, and consultant team members. The City seeks to also include
community members in this collaborative planning team.
The planning team will work together
through a series of 7 or 8 workshop meetings expected to begin January
2022 and continue through August 2022. Team members will also be asked
to complete tasks between work-shop
sessions. The total time commitment including meetings and tasks
between meetings is estimated to be approximately 8 hours per month.
Community participants and need no
experience or background knowledge in climate science to be significant
contributors on this team. The City is accepting applications from
community members 16 and older -
however, please note that parent or guardian approval will be required
for prior to participation by applicants who are under 18. We encourage
you to apply by completing the application form prior to 4pm, Wednesday,
November 24th, 2021.
Nominations are now open for the 2022 La Crosse Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. The award recognizes and honors someone who has demonstrated leadership in and commitment to building community, enhancing diversity, and working for justice.
Get more information about criteria and the nomination packet by emailing mlkdaylaxaward@gmail.com or mailing Leadership Award, c/o Cia Siab, Inc., 1825 Sunset Lane, La Crosse, 54601 or faxing 608-785-8837 (Attn: Thomas Harris). Nominations are due on December 1, 2021.
The award will be presented at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration, January 17 at 7 p.m. at the Viterbo Fine Arts Center. Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington will be the featured speaker.
Dr. Washington, an environmental epidemiologist, engineer, and historian has done decades of research on the effects on human health of industrial pollution. She has spoken widely about environmental justice.
A FULL COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test result (dated after 5 pm on November 30, 2021 or later) will be required to attend WPS La Crosse in person. If you register to attend in person - you can choose instead to attend virtually at no charge until December 1, 2021.
The climate crisis is not going to fix itself. It's not a movie that ends in a couple of hours or a cyclical bad flu season that goes away. It's an ever and exponentially increasing disaster that threatens all life on Earth. Governments' pledges and promises have led to slight changes but are not nearly enough to bend the curve toward the 1.5 or even 2.0 degrees rise that scientists say will be catastrophic but not life-ending. On our current path, we're headed to 2.7C temperature rise by the end of the century, which means 1.5 and 2.0 before the end of the century.
There are many opportunities for public input on important things. If people don't speak up, the path of least resistance, the path that has brought us to the edge of the climate abyss, will be followed. Your input, participation, and action can make a difference.
Here are some opportunities and a little background. Please participate!
Market Street bike infrastructure - this may seem like a small thing, but it's not. It's a chance for our city to finally get one decent, safe, modern protected bike lane for transportation cyclists of all ages and abilities. As the Jackson Street remodel is rolled out with outdated and unsafe painted bike lanes between moving and parked cars rolls out, we have a chance to get real safe bike infrastructure--Protected Bike Lanes (PBLs)-- on a section of Market Street. Please weigh in on your preferences by taking the survey at
https://arcg.is/0KC191 or emailing comments to
zabrowskij@cityoflacrosse.org.
But before you do, check out these short videos about how a two-way protected bike lane that completely removes moving motorized vehicles from bikes, can make all the difference:
City of La Crosse Climate Action Plan survey and story portal - This survey is a way to inform and involve La Crosse residents as the city begins its planning to fulfil the promise made in 2019, to reduce carbon emissions to zero and transition to 100% renewable energy, community-wide, by 2050. Please take this survey, share your thoughts, stories and ideas, and encourage others to get involved. There will be more opportunities for public input and action coming in 2022 as the city's planning consultant, Pale Blue Dot, works to help us take real and meaningful climate action. This is a meaningful, deep survey that will take time and thought. You can do it in sections. Please complete the survey by March 2022. Survey: https://www.lacrosseclimateactionplan.org/survey and story portal to share artwork, stories, photos, etc. that convey your personal feelings about the climate crisis: https://www.lacrosseclimateactionplan.org/stories
The School District of La Crosse wants to build new schools and close neighborhood schools. That should give you a clue that they probably haven't given an eenth of thought to how their plans fit with needed climate action - encouraging fewer car trips and more trips by walking and biking, for example. Increasing evidence shows that refurbishing existing buildings to high energy standards costs less in terms of money and carbon emissions than building new buildings. A sample survey is linked at their long-range planning site, but you will have to call the District office, 608-789-7628, to get a survey code or have a survey mailed to you if you didn't already get one. It is due by November 8 or 18 (the website sample says Nov. 8, the email reminder from the district says Nov. 18). If you have ever been push-polled by phone, this "survey" will be familiar to you. There's no information about the climate or social equity costs of consolidated schools farther from homes and harder to get to for those without good cars or the ability to take time off work at will, with, possibly larger class sizes and less accessible by public transportation. There are only vague mentions of costs to maintain without any comparisons to cost to refurb or cost to build new (cost in terms of dollars and carbon). There are constant references to old buildings, but, as anyone who has been to Europe knows, old buildings can be perfectly usable, comfortable, and glorious. There's nothing about how school buildings that may be experiencing enrollment dips could be shared with nonprofit office space, a childcare facility, maker spaces, technology centers, retail or service spaces, fixit space, a medical clinic, a training restaurant, or so many others. They want their brand new buildings, and they are pushing you to say you want them too. Please don't.
County of La Crosse Survey on Sustainability Goals - The county also has pledged to zero out carbon emissions and move to 100% renewable energy. There is a new survey that's supposed to help them narrow down targets as they complete an update of their Comprehensive Plan. Warning: this is one of the
worst surveys I have ever taken in my life. If you don't
take it, I wouldn't blame you. Whether or not you take it, I encourage
you to email the county board with your ideas and suggestions because you won't get to put them into this silly survey. If you want to take the survey,complete it by the first week in November.
The Governor's Clean Energy Plan - This effort is being spearheaded by the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, which, thanks to the Republic minjority, has a budget of $0 and a staff of one. Nevertheless, the OSCE recently held public input sessions online to gather ideas for the governor's Clean Energy Plan. If you weren't able to attend those sessions, you are welcome to send suggestions, ideas, thoughts, and examples, through the online public input form at:https://appengine.egov.com/apps/wi/cleanenergyplan/writtencomment
These are just a few places your input is requested. Consider how climate action is connected to transportation options, where things are sited, how much energy things require, whether they will reduce the demand for energy or increase it, and whether we need it - is it worth your child's future? - or not. Please participate, share the links, and then look for more ways to take and demand climate action.
Around the country, Trump-pets are bullying, threatening, and disrupting school boards over public health and social justice issues. As explained in this Washington Post article,
"... there is plenty of evidence that the current school board battles are not the spontaneous actions of concerned parents who want to solve problems. Conservative organizations have held “School Board Boot Camp” and sent leaders from out of state to speak at school board meetings. According to The Washington Post, Republican megadonors have financed efforts to fight masks in schools. A draft letter that one conservative group circulated provides a script: “NAME is excited to be joining NAME OF SCHOOL this year,” it reads, and “I have to speak up for what is best for my kids."
Tonight, at the Holmen School Board meeting, it's likely that a loud minority will attempt to take over the board. This has happened in other communities where the cultists have then slashed budgets, changed policies, and rolled back progress made addressing equity and social justice issues. It can happen here. It happened in Kenosha.
If you are a citizen living within the Holmen School District, please attend tonight's rally and, especially tonight's school board meeting.Meet by the lower parking lot side door at the Frederic Frick Administrative Center, 1019 McHugh Road.
The city of La Crosse will consider a resolution of welcome and support at its October 14 meeting. A resolution sponsor, Council Member Rebecca Schwarz, reported that it has passed the committees, though one community member spoke against it at the Judiciary and Advisory committee. Council Member Mackenzie Mindel, the other sponsor, responded to those concerns.
Consider emailing the council and mayor to let them know you support such a resolution and encouraging its passage (zzcouncilmembers@cityoflacrosse.org and reynoldsm@cityoflacrosse.org).
On October 19, join an online discussion about, "Getting to know our new Afghan neighbors." The live stream link can be found at: www.viterbo.edu/afghansupport
Donations for visitors housed at Fort McCoy are still being accepted. Thirteen thousand people who left their lives and homes behind with nothing but the clothes on their backs have many needs. Current and continuing needs include appropriate everyday clothing, winter outerwear, underwear, and shoes.
Please consider using one of the online portals to ensure your donation meets the most urgent needs. Or use the lists on these sites and shop on other sites. (For example, Fruit of the Loom (fruit.com) has men's sweatshirts on clearance for $5 to $6.50 each.)
If you shop online, please set the shipping address to Team Rubicon Resettlement, Sparta Armory, 602 E Division St, Sparta WI 54656. Donations of NEW items may also be delivered to the armory between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week.
We, the undersigned, come from the trenches in the fight against fossil fuels. From fracking sites and oil wells, to pipelines and refineries, to plastic plants and more, we are impacted Indigenous, Brown, Black, and low-income communities living on the frontlines of this climate emergency. Over the years we have written thousands of messages to politicians, attended countless hearings, testified hundreds of times, and have placed our bodies on the line when needed, all the while our government continues to ignore the science and Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and steers us toward climate catastrophe.
We have everything to lose and no time to wait. President Biden promised to address the climate emergency and a history of environmental injustice, but so far, his administration continues to allow the fossil fuel industry to poison our communities and desolate our Mother Earth. The President could stop dangerous fossil fuel projects like the Line 3 pipeline and Formosa Plastics plant with a stroke of his pen, but his inaction is continuing widespread environmental injustice and the violation of Indigenous rights and rights of nature. We will hold Biden to his “Justice 40” initiative; we expect him to help stop the destruction of fenceline communities, homelands and neighborhoods by the fossil fuel industry, and demand equity, restorative justice actions for the same.
We are asking you to stand with us. As representatives of communities who have carried the brunt of the harm from fossil fuels for generations, we ask you to join us in solidarity—and risk arrest—in Washington DC, October 11-15, 2021, as part of Build Back Fossil Free’s People vs Fossil Fuels Week of Action.
We will be going to Washington DC, to the White House itself, to send a clear message: “President Biden, in light of the upcoming COP26 United Nations climate summit, you cannot claim to be a climate leader when you are still supporting fossil fuels. Stand with frontline communities, stand with future generations, stop approving fossil fuel projects, declare a climate emergency now.”
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 2021 report led by hundreds of scientists once again made it unmistakably clear: Climate change is here, it’s a crisis, and it’s caused by fossil fuels. The report tells us that the window to stop irreversible harm to all life on Earth is sing while Congress wastes time bickering over baby steps.
If we don’t stand together now, no matter where we live, all of us —you, your children and grandchildren will all eventually live in sacrifice zones of drought, record temperatures, wildland fires, hurricanes, floods, food shortages, pandemics and more. Transitioning away from fossil fuels cannot be put off any longer—we can either come together as a species now, or make this planet uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
We know that participating in People vs a big request. This would be a sacrifice of time, money, energy and freedom, and all under the shadow of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. But we also know the despair many of you feel, the anxiety of this moment, seeing environmental devastation and human rights abuses around you, but not knowing how to help.
If you have ever marched, rallied, called your representatives, lobbied, signed petitions to urge governmental leaders to act — we call on you to take the next step. Nonviolent civil disobedience is a time-tested tactic for change. Every movement for change—from suffragettes to the Civil Rights movement--has proven that the defining moments are those where people are willing to risk arrest.
If we all come together, put our bodies on the line in the name of climate justice, we may be able to change the course of history. Please consider joining us on October 11-15 for one day, for the entire week, or for whatever time you can offer.
In solidarity for the protection of Mother Earth and the next seven generations of life,
Dawn Goodwin, RISE Coalition, Stop Line 3
Taysha Martineau, Camp Migizi, Stop Line 3
Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth, Stop Line 3
Sharon Lavigne, Founder, RISE St. James
John Beard, Jr., Founder and CEO of the Port Arthur Community Action Network
Joye Braun, National Pipelines Organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network
Juan Mancias, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas
Tasina Sapa Win Smith, Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective
Siqiniq Maupin, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic
Programming continues as the La Crosse Waking Up White Collaborative welcomes us to examine and pledge action on racism in our community and society and offers opportunities for us to learn how we can actively change the system.
Please visit the website for details. Participate and bring a friend or family member to a discussion or program. Currently, all programming is online only.
Book chats are offered throught the month. These small groups allow for an open dive into specific aspects of the racism baked into our systems and assumptions. Learn more here.
These programs, open to all, are scheduled for October:
Saturday, October 9 at 4 p.m., Dr.Bee Lo and his wife, Lynette Prieur Lo will share their personal stories of times they have seen racism and white supremacy show its ugly face in our community. Living as a biracial couple for the past 30 years they have too many stories to share. Dr. Bee will graciously and vulnerably share some of the things he has experienced as the target of racism from white folks toward him as a HMong person. Lynette will share her journey of understanding the racism and white supremacy that lives within her, as well as share stories of the ghastly racist experiences she has witnessed from strangers and loved ones.
Monday, October 11 at 7 p.m., In honor of Indigenous People's Day and National Coming Out Day, Dr. Roger Kuhn, a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer soma-cultural sex therapist and sexuality educator, will speak about, "Returning to Ourselves." Dr. Kuhn's appearance is sponsored by the UWL Pride Center, Rainbow Unity, Transform, and the Native American Student Association.
Several events are coming up this weekend and in the days and weeks following to let you take immediate climate action. Please do one or more.
Sunday, September 26 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Copeland Park, learn about your future ELECTRIC ride - car and/or bike and/or bus - from people who have electric cars and bikes. Learn about the many benefits of e- vehicles and how they can actually help you save money. Ask Me About My EV: tinyurl.com/DriveEVLaX
Sunday, September 26 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at Emerson Elementary School on Campbell Road, it's the first annual SOLS supporters meeting. Bring your own picnic (only dessert treats will be supplied) and learn about this community group working to put solar on our public schools right here and right now. Solar On La Crosse Schools Annual Supporters Meeting: tinyurl.com/SOLSPicnic
Now through October 4 Sign up for Western Technical College's Drawdown Challenge. This is your chance to pledge and DO things that will help decrease carbon emissions. The sign up will end on October 4 and the challenge actions will happen from October 4 through 23. Actions include everything from researching more climate- friendly options for your family, to trying different ways of shopping, eating, transporting, cooking, and living, to going beyond your family to push for bigger, more meaningful changes in our community and our country.
On September 23, 28, and 30, join a Sierra Club ACTION NIGHT to Build Back Better. At these virtual action events, "we’ll be doing things like posting on social media to pressure our Members of Congress, making window signs, and reaching out to friends and family -- or for a phone bank to call Sierra Club supporters in Arizona and West Virginia to ask them to call Senators Manchin and Sinema, who are two of the key votes needed to secure these wins."
On October 12 from noon to 1 p.m., the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are hosting an online lunch and learn program: Global and Local Climate Action. (Registration available soon.)
Using this money to improve energy efficiency, especially in the city's rental housing stock and, possibly, in new public housing, can reduce our carbon emissions, reduce energy bills for families, and improve health. Using ARPA funds to improve our public transportation system, so people would not feel the need to own a car, will reduce carbon emissions, improve access to jobs and services, and improve public health. Using ARPA funds to and support neighborhood services, like child care and necessities, near where people live and work, will reduce transportation emissions, give people more time for family, and reduce congestion. Our community is not a bunch of disconnected blobs - jobs, health, transportation, school, etc., but is a system of interconnected systems. Improve one and you can improve many. Ignore one and it causes problems in others.
Please use this opportunity to take one or more actions now and pledge to increase your commitment through the end of the year if you can.
The page for helping Afghan visitors is now up and updated as of tonight. Please check that page for new and immediate needs, ways to donate time, money, and goods. Ways to support Afghan visitors.
Especially needed right now:
Personal hygiene items
Cash donations
Those who can commit four to six hours per day working at the Morale-Wellness-Recreation centers at Fort McCoy
Friday, September 10: Northside Elementary School drive for clothes, blankets, toys for Afghan refugees. Drop off: 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the school, 1611 Kane Street.
Items in most need include summer and fall seasonal clothing, blankets and toys.
Donated items can be new or like new, but should be age-appropriate for newborns up to 18-years-olds.
While ARPA is meant to "recover" from the social and economic damage wrought be the novel coronavirus, there is no reason the funds can't be used to prepare for the NEXT and far more serious "pandemic," the climate crisis. In fact, to NOT consider how plans and budgets will work to mitigate global heating is, to me, a dereliction of duty.
With this in mind, considering that the county's preliminary plan does not mention climate change once, nor, really, target any funding toward its already-passed goal of reducing county carbon emissions. The closest we get is one item of a nine-item list:
B) Renewable/Green Infrastructure Incentives: Programs (grants/low interest loans) under this category would be developed to encourage homeowners, farmers, businesses, and other organizations to install renewable/green infrastructure on their properties. Initial capital costs often preclude the use of renewable energy producing systems and their long-term savings. Using ARPA funding for these expenses will stimulate the renewable energy economy, while producing long-term energy savings for homeowners, farmers and businesses.
To me, this is far too timid and, almost, criminal. The climate crisis must be recognized and must be front and center in our planning. Period.
At this point, we don't rely on "encouraging" people to do what MUST be done, rather we need to decide on a zero carbon goal (done) and then work out policies and use resources to make that happen. So, to me, this summary should include something like, "we will use funds, as allowed, to improve bicycle and public transportation infrastructure and reward individuals and businesses who create plans to travel and commute using lower carbon modes. We will offer grants for those who commit to reducing or eliminating the need for private vehicle commuting. Using ARPA funds to eliminate the high dependence on private cars will improve transportation equity, put more money in low-income residents' pockets, and reduce our carbon emissions. We will subsidize weatherization to near or net-zero standards. We will facilitate transitioning from fossil gas for heating and cooling. We will assess the climate impacts of all programs funded by ARPA money." That's just one part of an idea about how these funds can build a more sustainable future.
The survey itself divides things that should not be divided, I think. For example, in discussing housing, there is no discussion of transportation, but these two are intimately related as we saw in 2020. Will ARPA funds be used to grant or build housing that is out in the middle of nowhere, far from services and jobs? To me, no. Priority should be given to ensuring housing, especially for low- and moderate-income residents, is near where people need to go. Or, if not near, then accessible by public transportation and bicycle. Otherwise, the funds are wasted by subsidizing unsustainable systems that are killing our planet.
I also think, from a climate action standpoint, the section on housing is far too limited. Understand that ARPA funds may be used for, "home repairs, weatherization, or other needs," with the aim of addressing economic impacts of income inequality exacerbated by the pandemic. Why not use this to its fullest climate action potential?
People who need to pay high rents for drafty and inefficient housing in poor condition are at higher risk for health problems which cost healthcare dollars and lost wages and decreased productivity. People who have to pay high energy bills because their housing is in poor condition have less money for other basic needs. So, why not commit as much ARPA funding to refurbishing existing housing to net-zero standards and, leveraging other funding sources if needed, installing solar on this housing which could eliminate people's utility bills and improve health outcomes and reduce income inequality.
Why not use ARPA funds to BUILD public housing that uses micro- grids on net-zero buildings to eliminate energy bills altogether. Solarizing public housing is a win-win project. These are not loopy dream unicorns. These are things people are already doing. And, again, transportation. Can new public housing be near shops, jobs, and services? Can there be public transport to serve it (and can that public transport run every 15 minutes most of the day and night?) The national average annual cost to own and operate a car is more than $9,000! Public transportation is an equity issue.
What about the food system?. Lack of food, already a problem for many in our area, became a crisis during the pandemic. The business as usual solution is for richer people to buy and donate canned beans and boxes of macaroni and cheese that have been, probably, unsustainably grown, processed, food-colored, and packaged, then shipped thousands of miles to a grocery store, with each step along the way taking a cut and driving up the cost of the "food." And, often, the processed, packaged, shipped food is not healthy and bad for the planet resulting in societal costs paid by all of us. What would a climate-centered recovery for food insecurity look like that also seeks to address lack of good jobs, saving rural areas (from bacon CAFOs), repairing environmental damage caused by industrial animal products factories, reducing hunger and income inequality. Why can't ARPA funds be used to assess how much actual food (not GMO corn and beans for animal feed and, really, not animals) is currently available in our region and how much more could be sustainably grown. Our current 3,000-mile food footprint does not have to (and should not) be the norm. How can we encourage, support, and build a much more robust local and regional food production system?
Consider, also, the other systems now in place from tourism to lack of worker control over their own labor (why not help more co-ops start?) to child care to consumption to schools and more. You cannot solve a problem called by a bad system within the bad system. Who will think outside the system to find better ways?
We just have to think totally differently about our priorities and communities going forward. The old systems have brought us to the very brink of disaster!! We have to connect systems that support a good life like clean transportation that does not depend on personal wealth, safe healthy housing that does not depend on personal wealth, access to a full life that does not rely on personal wealth.
Please weigh in on these plans. Encourage the county to make climate crisis the number one main concern. Show them how things connect. Speak up.
