Environment


A Pollution Free Future

On Tuesday, March 14, the Wausau City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In approving the resolution Wausau has committed themselves to developing an energy plan and moving the city to becoming 100% clean energy by 2050. There were many good speeches that evening but one that was really heartwarming and future driven was given by Jean Abreu. I would like to share it with you. ~Nancy Here it is: “I’m here to speak in support of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Resolution. Not only is this a Fiscally and ...

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Earth Day 2023

Even the most die hard science fiction fan has to admit that Earth, at least in our solar system, is the most exotic destination in the neighborhood.  No where else does such complex life exist, and in such stunning profusion.   By comparison, our companion planets look pretty bland.  It is life in all its diversity that sets our home in this starry universe apart.  How fortunate we all are to share this singular and extravagant gift with one another - something to celebrate, certainly something to protect. Your local Citizen's Climate Lobby Chapter and NAOMI ...

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THE PHOTO OF ONE HUNDRED SHARES

Sometimes all it takes is someone sharing a photo that draws attention. “They’re planning a mine here—not a joke.” This photo above is worth a thousand words and received one hundred shares  on Facebook in very short amount of time. This photo woke sleeping giants that walk among us for the good. This mining project is slated for this year. Anyone who has spent time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has seen the bountiful beauty, the waterfalls, Lake Superior, and the endless forests. The Porcupine Mountains State Park, especially the Presque Isle scenic ...

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Global Resilience Summit 2023

Global Resilience Summit 2023 A FREE 6-Day Online Summit MARCH 14 - 19, 2023 Come join us in this deep exploration of what it means to be human and how we can heal and repair our relationship with the earth, our fellow species, and each other... learning to live and flourish together sustainably, as one global human family. The Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways (GCILL)   Please visit the site for more information on this exciting opportunity,

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Rights of Nature and Indigenous Activism

https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002NUz2AAG&mapLinkHref=&mc_cid=42ff8affd4&mc_eid=da7c25b16d   Rights of Nature and Indigenous Activism Date and Time: Mon, Mar 20, 2023; 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM  (Local Time) Organized By: Great Waters Group Location: Virtual Event Organizers: Jasmine Viges jasmine.viges@refloh2o.com (414) 702-7452 Presenters will be White Earth tribal attorney Frank Bibeau and Thomas Linzey, senior legal counsel for the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights. In 2018, the ...

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Ground Clutter

How we crave that clear, blue sky after what sometimes seems like an eternity of clouds here in the dead of the Wisconsin winter.  Moods brighten as, finally, the awaited sun brushes our winter pines a radiant green, sumac tops flame up and the alfalfa stubble in the field down the road turns from dull tan to flashing gold above the snow.  Most of us are creatures of the day, content and absorbed in life under our heavenly canopy.  But lately I've begun to sense a seductive, day-sky deception afoot here that obscures our fragile reality and in so doing may lead to our ...

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A History of Mining Failures in Northern Wisconsin

Tom Tiffany’s mining fantasies have not been working out.  He authored what may go down as one of the worst laws ever written, designed to create a low cost iron mine by removing the top of the Penokee Hills and filling in the headwaters of the Bad River, a major river feeding Lake Superior, with the mine wastes.  It did not end well for Mr. Tiffany. Then Senator Tiffany’s dream came true when he was able overturn the so-called “Mining Moratorium Law”, despite overwhelming opposition to his scheme.  The law was never a moratorium on metallic mining in our ...

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A Review of Curt Meine’s Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work on the Occasion of Aldo Leopold’s 136th Birthday

One could tick off details about Aldo Leopold’s life—born January 11, 1887, in Burlington, Iowa; educated as a forester at Yale; worked for the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico and Arizona for roughly two decades; married Estella Bergere in October of 1912; accepted an appointment to the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1924; and, in 1935, came into possession of “the shack,” near Baraboo, along the Wisconsin River, a place that figures as a hub in A Sand County Almanac, and on which property he died, of an apparent heart attack, while fighting ...

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The Proposed Master Plan for Rib Mountain State Park Open Letter

The Proposed Master Plan for Rib Mountain State Park which was submitted to the NRB on Dec 14th, 2022 had gone through an extensive public comment process as required by Wisconsin law. However, at the NRB meeting, the plan was significantly amended on the motion of a now  former board member changing the plan by adding approximately 28 acres to the parcel to be leased by Granite Peak Ski Corporation. The amendment designated this added land for construction of three new downhill ski runs and a new ski lift. The new runs and lift will wipe out several existing and ...

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Nuclear Weapons and the Environment

January 22, 2023 marked the second anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On January 22, 2021 nuclear weapons officially became illegal under international law. The world community declared the mass murder resulting from using nuclear weapons a crime against humanity. Currently 92 nations have signed and 68 have ratified the treaty and are bound by its provisions. Unfortunately, none of the nine countries who have nuclear weapons have signed and ratified the treaty. Because they have not, the treaty does not apply to them. As a result, human ...

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