Environment
Wisconsin Legislators Introduce Rights of Nature Bills
*photo credit: Rep. Vincent Miresse
Wisconsin Legislators Introduce Rights of Nature Bills
Wisconsin legislators celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day by introducing a package of bills at the State Capital that will go a long way to protecting our fragile and deteriorating environment in Wisconsin. Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) who is from the Menominee Nation and one of the leaders in the Rights of Nature movement in Wisconsin spoke at the news conference. He said “Let me be real with you: the laws that are supposed to protect our communities ...
Radical Climate Agenda
On 10/7/25, NPR reported that the EPA had cancelled a Biden era program, Solar for All (SFA), along with a $25 million SFA grant to the Hopi Reservation where nearly 3,000 people lack access to electricity and the rest have unreliable electrical service. Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the grant would’ve supported solar panel installation and battery storage for 600 homes on the reservation.
The Hopi had also counted on IRA tax credits to build a microgrid that would’ve generated enough electricity for the entire reservation, and to fund another ...
A Smart Investment for Wisconsin
Too many people think of public services as expenses. Public spending is a burden on taxpayers that must be reduced and controlled. But taxes are the dues we pay for civilization. Taxes provide the capital needed to invest in all the things we need for a successful society. Public spending fuels the investments in people, infrastructure and public goods that pay dividends in the future.
In Wisconsin the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is an example. Republican legislators cut funding for this important program in the recent state budget. If not renewed via additional ...
Sacred Sites, Not Corporate Influence, Deserve Protection
After years of court battles, Kohler can begin construction of a luxury golf course on land eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and home to Native burial sites. A federally mandated 2018 archeological study of the original course unearthed human remains in seven locations.
Kohler is now exploiting a legal loophole. After the courts revoked their wetland permit, the company redesigned the course to avoid wetland permitting – and, importantly, federal requirements for archaeological studies triggered by such permits. The new layout is likely to ...
Protecting Wisconsin Waters
Are we doing enough to protect our waters in Wisconsin?
I have been keeping an eye on the potential for drilling at the Bend site in Taylor County for over a year and here we are seeing this come to fruition with no regard for social license. I look at the damage done by mining operations worldwide. Is that something we really want here? Clean water is a right. Once it is destroyed there is no getting it back. It is also rumored that this company will again be back to make another attempt within the year at exploratory drilling just below the Dells of Eau ...
Honoring the Gift of Water
In my next life I want to be an otter. I’ve seen their playful slides in the snow, and the fact that they can outdo us when it comes to catching trout has me sold. Agile in the water, happy on land, a joy to watch as they lope along like furry slinkies, and, oh, so family oriented, otters suit me just fine. When I’m in my canoe absorbed with my own fishing, I usually hear them before seeing them. Their displeasure with my presence in their private bay is undeniable. They pop their heads up, disapproval written clearly on their faces as they look directly at me, and ...
JUNE 2025 THOMAS STREET NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR WITH THE FRIENDS OF WAUSAU HISTORIC LANDMARKS.
Citizens for a Clean Wausau and the Friends of Wausau Historic Landmarks teamed up in the Thomas Street Neighborhood this month. With the Friends of Wausau Historic Landmarks, we learn about the history of Wausau, the ornate landmarks, the lumber barrons, and how Wausau was formed. This month was a unique blend of the beauty, as well as the damge done from former factories in the area. Thomas Street was the home to Crestline (the area is now owned by Wauleco/Sentry Insurance) and across the street was the former site of Connor Industries, where St Vincent ...
The Backyard Incident
Every year a pair of robins take up residence on a back porch light outside our family back door. I am not sure why they chose this spot since it is precariously close to our comings and goings. They get upset at us every time a family member goes in or out the door. I figure they may like the security the location affords them against predators for when their chicks hatch. This year we noticed three hatchlings in the nest. Their mother and father would diligently feed them, and we saw them grow quickly in their first 10 days of life. We were excited with ...
The Environmental Cost of Computers
There is an old saying, “Whenever you light a candle you also cast a shadow.” There are always downsides to any choices, changes or innovations. Computer chip technology, computers and the Internet have transformed everything and improved many things. But are we looking at the inevitable shadows?
The Minnesota Center for Environment Advocacy (MCEA) recently had a webinar on the environmental impact of data centers which run the online world. They explain the environmental shadows many of us are not seeing. You can watch the MCRA webinar, or read a transcript, by ...
Fifty Five Earth Days Later
2025 marks the fifty fifth Earth Day. The local chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby and our NAOMI friends invite you to celebrate another Beloved Community Earth Day in Wausau at Westview Terrace Park (1501 Bissell St) at 10 AM on Saturday, April 26th.
Wisconsin and Earth Day go back a long way together. Truth be told, without Wisconsin Earth Day might not even exist. Horrified by a disastrous oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, our own Senator Gaylord Nelson conceived and set in motion the gears that made Earth Day 1970 a phenomenon to be ...