Environment
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE EARTH DAY?
The first way I will celebrate Earth Day is by using these canvas bags. They were purchased 30 years ago and have served me well. They were used for buying groceries, going camping, going shopping, and going to the library. They were made to last.
Many people compliment me on using them. People tell me they have similar bags and really should use them. But that is as far as that goes. How did using these bags become a habit?
Earth Day is on my mind each day. I hang the bags on the door knob leading to the garage.
The bags are put in the car and ready for their ...
Local people reduce their carbon footprint
On April 30th Clean Green Action hosted a Climate Change Forum at the Fine Arts Center in McMillan Memorial Library. Professor Emeritus Alan Haney reported from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“The IPCC was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environmental Program in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization to provide a sound scientific interpretation of the vast amount of information on climate change,” explained Haney. “IPCC enlisted the cooperation of nearly 1000 scientists from countries all over the world, including ...
Letter to the Editor
Editor:
For the past several years, people in the Wausau area have been voicing their concerns regarding the contamination issues from the Crestline/SNE/Wauleco site going back to 1946.
The Penta soaked through the soil and into the groundwater. Over many decades, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water contaminated with Pentachlorphenal, or Penta a wood preservative that was used at the site, have been pumped into the Wausau Waste Water Treatment plant. Some of this has been released into the Wisconsin River.
As recently as January 21, 2019, Penta reared its ...
Wauleco Wood Waste Burning Plan
Site investigation Work Plan
Wauleco Wood Waste Burning
BRRTS#02-37-000006
Wausau, Wisconsin
March 15, 2019
Prepared for Wauleco, Inc.
Prepared by TRC Environmental Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin
This letter to the editor will highlight two sections of the 140-page Site Investigation Work Plan.
Section 3 Introduction
Section 3.2 Purpose and Approach
“The Purpose of this Site Investigation Work Plan (SI Work Plan) is to respond to the request in the WDNR letter to ‘address aerial deposition of contaminants associated with the combustion ...
JERRY APPS speaks about Civilian Conservation Corps
Well-known author Jerry Apps is launching his latest book, “The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin,” at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 7,
at the Woodson History Center, 410 McIndoe St., Wausau.
He will sign books and talk about what he learned while writing it. Please note the time, 1 p.m., which is different from other History Speaks presentations
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a popular New Deal relief program from 1933 to 1942. The program hired young men to live in rustic camps while they planted trees, cut trails, and worked to reverse the effects of ...
Is Wisconsin’s Grey Wolf an endangered species?
On March 6, 2019 Middle Wisconsin received the following press release from Wisconsin State Senator Tom Tiffany (R Minocqua):
Contact: Senator Tom Tiffany FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: (608) 266-2509 March 6, 2019
Senator Tiffany’s Statement on the Plan to Lift Wolf Protections
MADISON, Wis. - State Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua) released this statement following reports the U.S. Department of Interior plans to lift endangered species protections:
“I absolutely agree with Secretary Bernhardt’s decision to remove endangered species protections for ...
Water is Precious – Part III
Water is cheap. Fixing water quality problems is expensive. Protecting our water before polluting it is less expensive. We can take steps now to preserve our cheapest most precious resource. Changing our perceptions about water use, using nature to help us preserve water and reinvesting in science are easy ways to show how an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
In the last two columns, I discussed how water sustains our lives and how important it is for our economic prosperity. This week I will offer simple, but critical ways we can invest in water, our most ...
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 ...
Wisconsin Fish Tales
It was a real eye opener for those of us who fish Wisconsin's waters last week when retired DNR fisheries biologist Frank Pratt spoke at the UW Center for Civic Engagement. He told us how our changing climate already affects the fish in our rivers, lakes and streams, and what is yet to come. The news could hardly have been worse.
Careful monitoring and diligent record keeping reveal that the waters our fish live in are warming. Numerous factors determine just how much, but the temperature rise ranges between half and one and a half degree Celsius - as much as almost ...
The Year of Clean Drinking Water
It is a remarkable question to have to ask: Why do people oppose protecting our air and water? One would think protecting these vital resources would not be a controversial or a political issue. Everyone's heath and the health of the economy depend on clean water and air. Tourism, agriculture and many other industries must have clean water. You aren't going to have many tourists coming north to see smog and enjoy “dead zone” rivers and lakes.
Governor Tony Evers is trying to move the state forward on these issues. Will the Republican controlled legislature coopera...