Friday, April 16, 2010

Earth Week Events at UW-La Crosse and in La Crosse

Monday, April 19
Composting Teach-in
6:30pm
339 Cartwright
Learn all the dirt about composting!

UW-L Parking Ramp Open Forum
12:00 pm
Port O' Call, Cartwright Center

Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC)
Discussing Green Fund proposals
5:30
326 Cartwright Center

Tuesday, April 20
Dumpster Dive
11-3:00 Hoeschler Clock Tower
People will be dumpster diving for recyclables.

Wednesday, April 21
Neighborhood Clean Up
4:15 p.m.
Meet at the Hoeschler Clock Tower

Bus Route Vote and Green Fund Discussions at Student Senate
Port O' Call, Cartwright Center
TBD

Meteor Shower Night Hike
10:00pm
Meet in Hixon Forest main parking lot at the base of the bluffs

Thursday, April 22
Literacy and Lyrics

Noon-4:00pm
Gazebo by Whitney
Donate books and listen to free local music

Friday, April 23
David Helbach, Secretary of the State Building Commission and administrator for the Division of State Facilities
9:30 a.m.
Port O' Call in Cartwright.
Discussion will include the state heating plant and the costs and benefits of moving off of coal.

Green Rock Fest
7:30pm (show starts) Concordia ballroom
Free music and food! Ages 18+
Featuring: Furlow Riders, Fayme Rochelle & the Waxwings, Hyphon

Saturday, April 23
Earth Fair
11am-5:00pm
Three Rivers Waldorf School

Green Expo
11am-4:00pm in Western Technical College Lunda Center

**Shuttle bus available between these to events

To view community earth month events use the following link:
http://www.greenlacrosse.com/earth-month-2010.asp

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Coal Mine Disaster Vigil at UW-La Crosse

Students involved with efforts against the burning of coal at the UW-La Crosse coal-fired heating plant are holding a candle-lit vigil Tuesday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m. in the clearing to the west of the campus heating plant to acknowledge the loss of life at a coal mine explosion Monday afternoon in West Virginia. Massey Energy Corporation owns the Upper Big Branch coal mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, and is one of two energy companies in a contract to supply coal to a dozen State of Wisconsin coal plants, including the facility at UW-La Crosse.

The UW-La Crosse “No Coal Coalition”, whose members include UW-L Progressives and Environmental Council, is sponsoring the vigil and inviting students, faculty, staff, and community members to attend and support the families of the twelve dead and ten missing coal miners in West Virginia as of early Tuesday morning. The No Coal Coalition demonstrated against Massey Energy Corporation’s destructive mountain-top removal coal mining practice in the Appalachian Mountains at an event on campus February 18, and have called for Governor Jim Doyle to end contracts with the company and Alpha Natural Resources.

Contacts:
Elizabeth Ward, UW-L Student, No Coal Coalition leader
Mobile: (608) 445-4489
Email: ward.eliz@students.uwlax.edu

Jeremy Gragert, UW-L Graduate Student, No Coal Coalition member
Mobile: (612) 220-1970
Email: gragert.jere@students.uwlax.edu

Monday, March 8, 2010

President of Trek Bicycle Corporation to Speak in La Crosse

On Tuesday, March 23 the first Western Wisconsin Bike Summit will take place at the Radisson Center. This local event was organized by a variety of area bicycling groups including Human Powered Trails and Driftless Region Bicycle Coalition in coordination with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). The Summit will offer opportunities in networking, learning and idea sharing. The Summit will connect regional business leaders, individuals and policymakers who have a shared interest in the benefits of bicycling for our community and region.

The keynote speaker for this event will be John Burke, President of the Trek Bicycle Corporation. Mr. Burke has been President of Trek since 1997 and has served as Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport. He will be joined by Kevin Hardman, the Executive Director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and Hansi Johnson, Midwest Regional Director of IMBA. Mr. Hardman is responsible for leading day-to-day operations including deployment of staff and programming, fundraising and sheparding the organization’s statewide legislative advocacy. Mr. Johnson currently works with 53 IMBA-affiliated clubs in five states to secure trail access and to advocate for sustainable trail development and the impacts of quality trails on community life. This event will take place at the Radisson Center, 200 Harborview Plaza in La Crosse. It will begin with a social hour and event booths from 5-6:30pm with a cash bar. At 6:30pm the program will begin. This event is a free event and is open to the public.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

WI State Coal-fired Heating Plants in News

From the Wisconsin State Journal, February 20, 2010

"The state will install more pollution controls, eliminate coal use or possibly shut down five coal-fired heating plants, the Wisconsin Department of Administration announced Friday.

The plants are at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, UW campuses in Eau Claire, Oshkosh and River Falls, plus the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison.

The announcement came the same day the state Department of Natural Resources notified the DOA that five plants were not in compliance and five others needed reviews to determine whether they comply with clean-air regulations."

Read the entire article

News Coverage of Mountaintop Removal Mining Demonstration

The mountaintop removal coal mining demonstration on UW-L's Wittich Field on Thursday, February 18 received both television and newspaper coverage in the La Crosse area. Read more about the demonstration in the La Crosse Tribune article. Watch the WXOW-TV19 video of the demonstration. UW-L students Jeremy Gragert (who "blew" the top off the mountain of snow), Elizabeth Ward and Gretchen Gerrard took part in the demonstration. It's hoped that UW-L can transition from burning coal to using natural gas and then a more sustainable fuel like biomass.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Demonstration

NO MORE COAL event sponsored by Environmental Council at UW-La Crosse

What: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Demonstration

When: 11:00AM on Thursday, February 18

Location: Wittich Field west of UW-La Crosse coal-fired heating plant, east of Wittich Hall.

UW-La Crosse students, faculty and staff are invited to gather around a large pile of snow mimicking a mountain next to the campus coal-fired heating plant to demonstrate against the devastating impact of “mountaintop removal” coal mining occurring in the Appalachian Mountains. The mountain of snow will be dramatically destroyed by a student who will represent coal buried inside the snow pile.

UW-L and 14 other state-owned plants currently burn coal supplied through a contract with Massey Energy and Alpha Natural Resources, companies that use mountaintop removal methods that damage natural areas, ecosystems, rivers and streams, and people and communities of Appalachia.

Information on Mountaintop Removal: http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/mtr/

Contact:
Elizabeth Ward, UW-L Environmental Council member
Mobile: (608) 445-4489
Email: ward.eliz@students.uwlax.edu

Monday, February 8, 2010

UW-L Food Composting Program in the News

The UW-La Crosse post-consumer food waste composting program was featured in the February 6 issue of the La Crosse Tribune. This program was started in the Whitney Center dining hall with a $3,000 grant from the UW System’s Solid Waste Research Program, which is funded by a state tipping fee on landfilled waste. Read the entire article here.

Our thanks to Jessica Kotnour and Jeremy Gragert, UW-L students who have worked to establish this program and raise awareness about it on our campus.