UW-L Fair Trade Sale

A Socially Responsible Alternative to Holiday Shopping

(Sponsored by: Progressives, Environmental Council, and the Native American Student Association)

UW-L student organizers urge the community to shop responsibly this holiday season by providing a fair trade market.

When: Monday, November 29 and Tuesday, November 30th, 9:30 am-6:30 pm

Where: Port O Call, Cartwright Center at UW-La Crosse

What: The Fair Trade Market is as an alternative for holiday shoppers where the buyer can rest assured that each product is 100% socially responsible. These certified products guarantee fair wages for the worker, quality products, community development, and sustainable environment. There will be an extensive array of fairly traded products available for sale from Concern America, Ten Thousand Villages, Heart of the Sky, Beehive Collective, and more. The student organizers of the fair trade market believe that the event will spread awareness about the fair trade movement and how each purchase counts toward the welfare of others in impoverished countries.

New Bike Lane in La Crosse

La Crosse’s now has a bike lane paid for by Communities Putting Prevention to Work /ARRA Grant. Watch a video of the new facility on 7th St. from State Street to La Crosse Street.

Video courtesy of Jack Zabrowski, Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator, La Crosse County Health Department.

Ditch the Car Week Logs 6,000 Green Miles

Over 150 individuals on 10 teams participated in UW-L's recent "Ditch the Car Week" and over 6,000 "green" miles were logged! Feedback offered by participants was consistent. They believed this event should be repeated, and it should be better publicized. With only several weeks of planning for the event, the number of miles logged was impressive.

Team and individual results are summarized on this web site:www.uwlax.edu/biology/dtc/results/1.html.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made this green transportation effort a success.

As More People Ride Bicycles, Safety Improves

Although it would seem that as more people are out riding their bikes, there would be more bicycling accidents. But research is showing that as ridership increases, the accident rate is not changing.

"When there are a lot of bicyclists on the road, according to this theory (Safety in Numbers), drivers take notice. They become more attentive, slow down, pass more cautiously, double-check their blind spots, expect the unexpected. They sense that the road has become a more complicated place, and adjust their behavior accordingly. As a result, the road becomes safer, presumably for everyone." says researcher Peter Jacobsen.

Read the entire article at Grist.org.

Rising Concern About Bottled Water Use on Campuses

"Wars in the past have been fought over oil. Wars in the future, experts say, will be fought over water. And it seems that the opening skirmishes are taking place on campuses, over water in little blue bottles."

These opening sentences are from a new article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Students, faculty and staff on campuses are working to ban the sale and use of bottled water on their campuses. Read the entire online article here.

Noelwah Netusil, environmental economist, to speak on "Valuing Walkability and Vegetation in Portland, Oregon"

Friday, October 15
3:30 p.m., Room 230 Carl Wimberly Hall
No admission charge
Contact: Mike Haupert (haupert.mich@uwlax.edu, (608)785-6863)

Noelwah Netusil (Reed College) will be the next Economics Department seminar speaker. She will be here on Friday, October 15th to present "Valuing Walkability and Vegetation in Portland, Oregon." A copy of her paper is available from Mike Haupert (haupert.mich@uwlax.edu, (608)785-6863) upon request. The seminar will be at 3:30 p.m. in room 230 Wimberly Hall. Noelwah is an environmental economist whose research of late has focused on urban green spaces and sustainable growth. She is interested in talking with faculty with similar research interests. Contact Mike Haupert if you would like to visit with her, as she will have free time both Friday morning and between lunch and the seminar.

Group Wants Solar Panels on the White House

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, and a group of students in a biodiesel powered van are hoping to convince President Obama to have solar panels installed once again on the White House. President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed in 1979, but they were later removed by President Reagan. McKibben and his crew also have one of the original solar panels once on the roof of the White House and want it to be placed on display on the grounds.

Read the entire article here.

UW-L Kayakers Featured in La Crosse Tribune Article

Jessie Conaway, outdoor programs manager at Three Rivers and a recreational management instructor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and student Elena Bantle were featured in a recent La Crosse Tribune article about La Crosse’s first paddle to work day, an event organized by Three Rivers Outdoors.

Read the entire article

La Crosse Tribune photograph

Will Allen Plans Five-Story Farm in Milwaukee

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online:

The proposed five-story vertical farm - dramatic in shape and with an expansive, sloped glass front to absorb natural light - would be built at Growing Power's existing 2-acre farm at 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive through local and federal donations and grants. A half-dozen existing greenhouses would be preserved as historic structures. The estimated cost is $7 million to $10 million dollars.

It would have 23,000 square feet for classrooms, a demonstration kitchen, offices, staff locker room, retail store, food processing, loading dock and freezers. An additional 15,000 square feet of sloped area, facing Silver Spring Drive, would be devoted to growing vegetables and fish. Fish tanks for perch and tilapia would be trenched into the ground. The building would have a rooftop solar panel, would capture rainwater to be recycled for watering plants, and would transfer heat from the building top to a thermal mass underneath to store for future use.

Read the entire article

Will Allen Picked for TIME Magazine 100

Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was named one of the 100 people who most affect our world in the 2010 TIME Magazine 100: The World's Most Influential People . Read the article in TIME magazine.

David Helbach, Secretary of the State Building Commission and administrator for the Division of State Facilities speaks at UW-L

On Friday, April 24, David Helbach, Secretary of the State Building Commission and administrator for the Division of State Facilities spoke in UW-L's Cartwright Center about state run coal-fired heating plants and other issues relating to WI state owned and operated facilities. You can hear a podcast of his presentation and question and answer period.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining

This is an online 20 minute video produced by Yale Environment 360 in cooperation with Mediastorm. It's well worth watching to become better educated about this environmentally destructive practice.

From the Yale Environment 360 blog post:

"During the last two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has destroyed or severely damaged more than a million acres of forest and buried nearly 2,000 miles of streams. Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining, a video report produced by Yale Environment 360 in collaboration with MediaStorm, focuses on the environmental and social impacts of this practice and examines the long-term effects on the region’s forests and waterways."

Coal-Burning Campuses Face Increased Pressure to Find Alternative Fuels

From the January 10, 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education (read the full article)

"activist groups such as the Sierra Club, which has organized a prominent campaign against coal on campuses, might make trouble for colleges that continue to burn coal. In late 2007, the group successfully sued the University of Wisconsin at Madison, showing that it had violated the federal Clean Air Act when it did not install pollution-control technology during maintenance on its 50-year-old coal plant.

Bruce Nilles, a lawyer who directs the Sierra Club's national coal campaign, believes that other colleges have similarly extended the lives of their coal plants without installing legally required pollution controls.

The group is now scrutinizing coal plants on four other University of Wisconsin campuses, and plans over the coming year to broaden its investigations into coal plants on dozens of other campuses. "Based on our analyses of the campus coal plants in Wisconsin, we expect to find compliance problems at many of the existing campus coal plants," Mr. Nilles says."

"The University of Wisconsin at Madison is taking on an alternative-energy project that might have rewards for the state, but with considerable challenges for the institution. After the university lost its legal tussle with the Sierra Club, it agreed to a series of concessions to reduce the environmental impact of its Charter Street heating plant, built in 1959, which burns more than 100,000 tons of coal a year.

Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and management, says the university could have met the letter of the agreement with $60-million in upgrades. Instead, Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, announced that the campus facility—by far the largest state-owned coal plant in Wisconsin—would give up coal entirely and switch to biomass by 2013 to help develop a renewable-fuels market within the state.

The $250-million plan has its risks. In a report released last May, consultants hired by the state determined that there probably would not be sufficient biomass supplies in Wisconsin when the plant is scheduled to reopen. The consultants also cited significant uncertainties about the future prices of biomass and argued the change in fuel would lead to infrastructural challenges, like increased traffic of trains and trucks carrying biomass to the plant.

Gary Radloff, an energy-policy specialist with the Wisconsin Bioenergy Institute, which advises state officials on the Charter Street project, acknowledges those challenges. But he believes the state has great potential for growing biomass products on fallow and underutilized land. He sees the Wisconsin biomass market operating something like the state's dairy businesses, in which products from scattered farmers compose a major, vibrant industry.

For now, university officials hope to burn waste wood from the forestry and paper industries. Initially, though, the renovated plant may have to rely primarily on natural gas.

"We may pay a premium on the front end to create a market," Mr. Fish says. "But in the long run, … the bet we're taking is that this is going to be less expensive­, and more sustainable.""

Paper in the Journal Science Raises Serious Concerns About Mountain Top Removal/Valley Fill Coal Mining

From Science
Science 8 January 2010:
Vol. 327. no. 5962, pp. 148 - 149

"Clearly, current attempts to regulate MTM/VF (Mountain Top Mining/Valley Fill) practices are inadequate. Mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses. Considering environmental impacts of MTM/VF, in combination with evidence that the health of people living in surface-mining regions of the central Appalachians is compromised by mining activities, we conclude that MTM/VF permits should not be granted unless new methods can be subjected to rigorous peer review and shown to remedy these problems. Regulators should no longer ignore rigorous science. The United States should take leadership on these issues, particularly since surface mining in many developing countries is expected to grow extensively."

Read the entire article here.

University of Wisconsin Biomass Power Plant Update

From the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Online

"A state-funded, $250 million project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to convert a coal-fired power plant on campus to one that primarily burns biomass such as tree trimmings and crops, ideally becoming a model for how the state can reduce its carbon output and its dependence on fossil fuels.

But the massive venture - accounting for nearly one-fifth of the state's capital budget during the 2009-'11 budget period - faces considerable hurdles."

Read the entire article here.

Free Webinar: Scouting for Residential Electricity Savings

Live webinar | Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 | 1:00-2:30 p.m. (includes live Q&A)
from the Energy Center of Wisconsin

REGISTER HERE     Clean Energy Webinar Website

Presented by Scott Pigg, Principal Project Manager and Ingo Bensch, Senior Project Manager; Energy Center of Wisconsin

U.S. households are plugged in—there are now about 25 consumer electronic products in every household, compared with just three in 1980. A year-long field study in Minnesota sheds new light on the make-up of this growing electrical load and behavioral opportunities to curb the growth.

In this webinar, co-principal investigators Scott Pigg and Ingo Bensch present results from "Plugging into savings," a field research project funded by the Minnesota Office of Energy Security and Minnesota Power Company. Scott and Ingo will share results on:

• in-home metering data on active-mode and standby power draws and electricity consumption for more than 700 devices in 50 homes;
• prevalence of opportunities to reduce electricity waste (such as enabling computer power management), with estimated savings;
• interview results about what consumers are willing (and unwilling) to undertake in the way of in-home savings strategies; and,
• implications for energy efficiency programs.

Gain insights to help residential energy consumers manage their plugged-in electronics and slay their energy vampires.

Scientists Call for End to Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

From Yale Environment 360:

"Mountaintop removal coal mining is causing “pervasive and irreversible damage” to Appalachian forests and streams and the federal government should stop issuing permits for new mines, according to a report issued by 12 environmental scientists. The report, published in the journal Science, reviewed recent studies of the damage caused by mountaintop removal mining and found that the practice releases large amounts of toxic chemicals into streams, harming fish and birds and contaminating human drinking water supplies. The scientists said state and federal regulators have been paying surprisingly little attention to the damage caused by mountaintop removal mining, which involves blasting the tops off mountains to mine coal seams below, then dumping mining debris into streams." Read the entire post.