Trade deals or EARTH! This is crazy!

The TPP is the worst trade deal yet for workers, privacy, affordable health care and the environment.

Take a look at how even wonderful programs are being stopped by previous, less draconian trade agreements that don't care whether our Earth burns to a crisp or not.

From Huffington Post (follow link for entire article)

In just five years, thanks to India's National Solar Mission, India has gone from having virtually no solar capacity to boasting one of the world's fastest-growing solar industries. In just the last year, a parade of leading solar companies has announced plans to establish new factories in India to produce solar cells, the parts of solar panels that use sunlight to produce electricity. India has named the solar program as a core component of its contribution to the Paris agreement to tackle climate change.
But today, the WTO released its ruling against India's National Solar Mission, deciding that India's efforts to boost local production of solar cells violated WTO rules.

What is going on here? And it's not the only case like this:

The WTO ruling against India's homegrown solar program echoes another WTO ruling in 2013 against "buy-local" provisions in a groundbreaking clean energy program in Ontario, which had successfully reduced climate-disrupting emissions while creating thousands of green jobs. Three weeks after the WTO's ruling, Ontario eliminated its "buy-local" provisions and ended incentives for large-scale clean energy projects.

Speaking of bad trade deals, Ranking Democartic Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Sander Levin, has come out the TPP in its current (and only allowable) form. His thoughtful and thorough explanation is worth a read. You can see his talk to reporters attending the February 18 Christian Science Monitor breakfast.

New report on Enbridge threats

A group of national and regional environmental and Tribal groups have released a report exposing the serious threat that Enbridge Inc., the Canadian oil pipeline goliath, poses to the Great Lakes region.

“The fight against tar sands did not end with the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline,” said Catherine Collentine, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign. “In order to protect our climate, our communities, and our waterways, we must stop Enbridge’s scheme to expand its network of dirty oil and tar sands pipelines throughout the Great Lakes region.”

Find more information and a link to the report here.

Immediate action required to save Wisconsin's water

Clean water is just about the most fundamental thing any living thing requires. We are so fortunate in our area to still have streams and underground water resources that are relatively clean (thanks to decades of work by environmental activists). But when money is your religion, then everything is for sale including the future health of our families, wildlife and environment.

Please heed the Wisconsin League of Conservation's warning:

ACT NOW: Stop Death by a Thousand Straws

We need your help right now to make sure Wisconsin’s groundwater crisis doesn’t get worse.

You’ve heard us talk about water problems in the Central Sands of Wisconsin, where over 3,000 wells each pump as much as 100,000 gallons of groundwater per day. These wells are literally making lakes, rivers, and drinking water wells run dry – it’s death by a thousand straws for our groundwater.

A recently introduced bill, Senate Bill 239/Assembly Bill 874, does more than leave us without solutions – it actually makes our groundwater problem worse by locking the door on future fixes and throwing away the key!

SB 239/AB 874 would grant "forever permits," allowing major water users to continue guzzling large quantities of water in perpetuity. Once a property has a permit to pump, the Department of Natural Resources wouldn’t be able to revisit those permits, even when over pumping is impacting lakes, rivers, and drinking water wells. It’s truly ‘till death do us part.

Wisconsin must have the ability to review all the "straws in the drink" and manage the water so that our rivers, lakes, wetlands, and drinking water are protected. After all, groundwater provides drinking water for 70% of Wisconsin citizens, supplies water for industries and businesses in 97% of Wisconsin communities, sources nearly all crop irrigation, and sustains springs, lakes, and rivers.

Take action now, and help us make sure Death by a Thousand Straws doesn’t become law. 

Remember, edited letters are even more influential. We encourage you to share your personal stories and concerns in your letter.

Reckless trade provisions threaten our climate

New Report: TransCanada's $15 Billion USD Case Reveals Reckless Trade Provisions Trade Rules Empower Corporations To Demand Compensation, Threaten Our Communities and Climate Monday, February 22, 2016 Contact:  Dan Byrnes (202) 495-3039 or daniel.byrnes@sierraclub.org LINK TO REPORT HERE   WASHINGTON, DC / BRUSSELS -- Today, Friends of the Earth Europe, the Sierra Club, and 11 other groups from the European Union, United States, and Canada released “Oil Corporations Vs. Climate: How investors use trade agreements to undermine climate action,” a new report that highlights how TransCanada Corporation is planning to use rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to ask a private tribunal to order the U.S. government to pay more than $15 billion of taxpayers’ money as “compensation” for the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.    The report illustrates the threat of pending trade deals that, if passed, would empower thousands of additional multinational corporations to bypass domestic courts and demand government compensation for environmental and climate protections in unaccountable tribunals. These deals include the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The report is being released as the twelfth round of TTIP negotiations kick off in Brussels, Belgium.   “Despite the U.S. and 194 other nations reaching an historic climate agreement in Paris not three months ago, corporate lobby groups are trying to push members of Congress to support destructive trade deals that would give fossil fuel corporations greater power to challenge our climate protections,” said Courtenay Lewis, one of the report’s authors and the Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Responsible Trade Program. “We’re already seeing just how costly and dangerous reckless trade deals can be for U.S. taxpayers. To solve the climate crisis, we cannot afford more irresponsible trade deals that put the interests of fossil fuel corporations above the health of our communities, the stability of our climate, or the principles of our democracy.”   “Tar sands are a climate killer, and the Obama Administration was right to block Keystone XL,” said Colin Roche, another of the report’s authors and the Extractive Industries Campaigner at  Friends of the Earth Europe. “Trade policy should not be a backdoor for corporations to challenge or dissuade measures to tackle climate change. It’s time to drop investor-state dispute mechanisms in any form, stop harmful trade deals and start taking necessary action to stop climate destruction.”   Organizations that have signed on to the report include: * 350.org * Bold Nebraska * Corporate Europe Observatory * Council of Canadians *  Food & Water Watch * Friends of the Earth Europe * Friends of the Earth U.S. *  Greenpeace * Oil Change International * Powershift * Sierra Club * Transnational Institute * Transport and Environment *   To read the report, click here: sc.org/vIzWn   ###   About the Sierra Club The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.   About Friends of the Earth Europe Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and just societies and for the protection of the environment, unites 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International. For further information, see www.foeeurope.org.

One more proof that elections matter

Unbelievable.

Scott Walker bars state agencies from complying with Clean Power Plan

Please, if you are not registered to vote visit myvote.wi.gov. Click on Regular Voter (or the appropriate category for you) and then do the Voter Search. If you are not in the system or if you are but your info is outdated, please register / update your registration. You can fill out an form, print it, and mail it (with appropriate proof of residency).

Today, a Walker appointed Supreme Court justice (and elevated twice before by Walker) got 45% of the vote in our state, but the Government Accountability Board projected that only about 10% of eligible voters would vote. At the same time, the state legislature is ruining environmental protections for generations to come.

Elections matter. Please register and vote. Every time.      - cathy

Sustainable La Crosse meeting on THURSDAY

On Thursday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. in City Hall in the Fifth Floor Conference room. It's hard to find the details online, so a copy of the agenda is shown below. If you can attend, please do!

 1. Call to Order and Roll Call
 2. Approve Minutes of November 19, 2015 [I think they mean Jan. 21, 2016 - cvm]
 3. Public Comment
 4. Staff Reports/Informational Updates-Overview of Regional Sustainability Initiatives
 5. Sustainability La Crosse Indicators Report:  Recommendations from Subcommittee Composed of Rob Tyser, Harvey Bertrand and Tom Thompson
 6. Green Tier Legacy Community Program:  Continuation of Discussion from the November 2015
 Commission Meeting
 7. Discuss Potential Commission Actions and Priority of Goals
 8. Meeting Schedule/Next Meeting Date
 9. Future Agenda Items
10. Adjourn

Tell Congress: Stop Funding Fossils!

From Oil Change International:

Earlier this week, the President sent his annual budget proposal to Congress for consideration. Headlines focused on a new fee the President has proposed on oil, an important idea that is being called “dead on arrival” by an oil-soaked Congress. But also in the budget proposal is a call from the President to end a set of subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, amounting to billions of dollars each year in wasteful spending. This is not the first time the President’s budget has included removal of these subsidies. In fact, this marks the 8th time he’s done so. That’s right, he’s proposed an end to these subsidies in every. single. budget. he’s introduced.

These subsidy cuts the President has proposed cover just a few of the many subsidies that make up the $17 billion each year our federal government sends to the fossil fuel industry. These subsidies are the worst of the worst, and it’s time they were eliminated. These handouts to the industry enable hazardous and extreme fossil fuel development in the United States, development which would fail any reasonable climate test in line with science and international agreements. The President’s budget proposal marks some important steps in eliminating these inappropriate subsidies, and shows that the burgeoning movement demanding that we stop funding fossils is being heard.

Congress has no excuse, they must act to end these subsidies. Make sure your representatives in DC hear from you today.