Climate Change & Environment
Climate Change is Real
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By James A. Lewis
I recently reached the age of ninety. I have lots of hope that people coming after me will be able to live happy and healthy lives. But my hopes are under threat.
I pray that Americans will soon realize that climate change is real, that it will persist and will intensify unless we act quickly. Climate change is the result of our worldwide use of coal, oil and gas. Our government must--without delay – adopt the standards set out in the Paris Climate Agreement.
We must again assume leadership in the worldwide effort to ...
MAKING THE WORLD WORK FOR EVERYONE – A PALE BLUE DOT PART V
Planet Earth from a distance of 4 billion miles. Photo by Voyager I. Source: NASA/JPL Feb. 1990 (Just below middle of page in orange/brown color band on right)
Imagine we had a magic wand we could simply wave to solve humanity’s problems and make the world work for everyone. We could assess all of the human activities occurring around the Earth, decide if they were beneficial or harmful to the health of people and the planet, and use the wand to end bad activities and initiate good ones. Simple. So, what might we do if we had such a wand:
The use of ...
GREEN NEW DEAL RESOLUTION
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex and Senator Ed Markey released a non-binding resolution that would “recognize the duty of the federal government to create a Green New Deal.”
The phrase “Green New Deal” quickly trended on social media, and the resolution garnered support from dozens of Democratic members of Congress, including Democratic presidential candidates.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is encouraged that Green New Deal supporters have raised the urgency of climate change in the media and within the halls of Congress. “The Green New Deal has clearly ...
OUR CHERISHED FISH
Despite the fact that scientists from around the world warn us, almost daily now, that we are witnessing the unraveling of the climate we depend on, their message hasn't turned our heads in sharp alarm. If you're thirty or less you might have an excuse because it's been that long since we've had a year with normal temperatures.
The earth is heating up. But for the rest of us, well, we just ought to know better. We sure didn't grow up in Wisconsin with regular winter rains, or growing seasons that went past Labor Day weekend. Now we're eating fresh tomatoes from our ...
A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM
A fifteen-year-old girl from Sweden is showing leadership to the rest of the world.
When school began in the fall, Greta Thunberg did not go. She sat down on the steps of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm every morning. She stayed there the entire day.
Her reason? If her country’s politicians couldn’t be bothered to fix the climate change, there was no good reason for her to study, because the world would not be livable.
Her father is a well-known actor and her mother a famous opera singer. Greta spoke to the Climate Rally in Helsinki, Finland and then to ...
Darwin Drove Electric
Let me say that an electric car is a powerful evolutionary force. For years I have been convinced, as have 97% of the world's scientists, that climate change is real, that it is the most serious threat we face and that we are its primary cause. As bad as that sounds it is, in fact, the well from which I draw my optimism and my activism. If we are the source of the problem then we can solve it. That was why I found myself in a Chevy dealership over in Crivitz about to buy my first electric car, to help shrink my carbon footprint.
Truth be told, though, I was frightened. ...
Canada Adopts Carbon Fee & Dividend
By Citizen Climate Lobby
Carbon fee and dividend, the solution to tackle climate change proposed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby, has emerged as the default policy in Canada to price carbon and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming.
Beginning in 2019, Canada’s federal policy will put a rising fee on carbon emissions and return the revenue directly to Canadians. The federal policy is a backstop to cover the four provinces that have not initiated their own carbon-pricing policies. Nearly half of Canadians live in these provinces.
“For ...
Solar Power Coming to Wausau
You can learn more about Solar Power for you. In October Solar Power Hour will be held in the Wausau Area.
Learn how to save money with solar power. The program is well on its way to reaching the next benchmark of 100 kW, triggering a $.10 per watt ($1,000) rebate. Currently the average homeowner buying through the program will receive a $500 rebate, we need just 18 kW more to reach the program's second benchmark.
Attend an upcoming Solar Power Hour to learn more about going solar!
Grow Solar is a collaborative effort to make solar affordable for private home ...
Climate Change Defines Our Era
Imagine living where all the hard working citizens unnecessarily export almost $15 billion of their hard earned money out of state each and every year. Imagine what those folks could do with it if they kept that money right where they live: a better standard of living for all, better services and more local jobs to be sure. Of course, the folks I'm talking about are us.
According to a Wisconsin State Energy Office report that's what we spend every year on the fossil fuels we heat and light our homes and fill our car's gas tanks with - resources we don't have and must ...
IF A TREE DIES IN THE WOODS
If a tree dies in the woods does it make a sound? Does it tell us something? Should we be paying attention?
My wife and I live in the woods. We are fortunate to have some nice mature trees on our property. Walking through the woods recently, I noticed a nice white pine had inexplicably died. It was a beautiful, healthy, 26 inch diameter tree, maybe 70 feet high. But this summer it died suddenly. Why? Everything dies. Nature is always in flux. Is this normal life and death? Or is this a harbinger of things to come?
We don't know why this particular tree died. The most ...