Environment
November Marsh Marigolds
If not the very first to flower in the Central Wisconsin spring, the radiant yellow Marsh Marigold is by far the most exciting of the spring ephemerals. These perky bouquets love shallow seeps of water, poking their golden heads above a green nest of round edged leaves, and where conditions are favorable, they carpet the wet, leafless spring woods for several glorious weeks in April. My first picture this year is dated April 14th, about the time our Forsythia blooms. This early splash of color in the drab days not long after winter's end is joy incarnate. It ...
Rights of Nature Reads
Here is a great list of books from the librarian at the Indian Community School in Franklin about the place of Nature in Native American Culture.
The Night Watchman by Louise ErdrichThis novel, based on the life of Erdrich's grandfather, a Native rights activist, explores the effects of government policy on Indigenous communities. It delves into themes of resilience, family, and connection to land.
All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life by Winona LaDukeWinona LaDuke, a prominent Indigenous environmental activist, offers insights into ...
FREE NOVEMBER 23 EVENTS WILL BRING PROMINENT SPEAKERS TO WAUSAU
FREE NOVEMBER 23 EVENTS WILL BRING PROMINENT SPEAKERS TO WAUSAU
Events at Jefferson Street Inn will cover requesting public records from the government and contamination on Wausau’s southwest side
Have you ever wondered what your rights are in Wisconsin when it comes to getting public records from the government or how to actually request the records?
Or would you like to get important information about serious contamination on Wausau’s southwest side – like dioxin contamination – some of which the government has never provided?
If so, ...
Where Have all the Monarchs Gone?
I just enjoy sitting on my patio, surrounded by the beautiful native plants that grow all along the patio. It is a wonder to me to watch the bees, moths and butterflies along with the birds that visit the plants. If I am quiet enough and don’t move, it is very common to have a goldfinch or other birds that are hungry and want to eat, fly and land on a stalk from the flower that is no more than 6 feet away from me. The birds will stay there as long as I don’t make any quick motions, or my dog doesn’t disturb them. There is nothing better than to see all this ...
Vote for the Climate and Against Ignorance
This month, the Southeast has faced two devastating hurricanes. Not only are families forced into shelters, but entire communities have been wiped from the map. And the road to recovery will be long, arduous, and uncertain. Our hearts should go out to all the victims.
Yet the science is clear, that human-caused climate change is making these storms more severe. We experience stronger, longer, and deadlier weather phenomena than ever before, even here in Wisconsin with more extreme flooding, drought, wildfire smoke, and inconsistent snowfall. This has a bona fide ...
We Need a Serious Leader Like Kyle Kilbourn
Those of us who live in northwestern Wisconsin desperately need a serious leader who understands the challenges we face in the 7th Congressional District. We need a leader who will bring fresh, energetic leadership to Congress.
Kyle Kilbourn will be that serious leader. He is the candidate we need to elect this November.
Kyle Kilbourn will work to keep our air and water clean. The incumbent representative, Tom Tiffany, does the opposite. He consistently opposes conservation measures and environmental protections. For example, he has voted to cut spending for ...
When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them (and Vote Accordingly)
Are we suffering from amnesia? Our climate is rapidly getting more perilous. Just look at last winter, when local economies had to grapple with lower-than-ever snowfall and higher-than-ever temperatures. And yet, Wisconsin is a dead heat in this year’s presidential election.
We need to remember. During his first year in office, then-President Trump withdrew America from the Paris Climate Agreement, joining Iran, Libya, and Yemen as the only countries to not ratify it. Two years later, Trump approved the Keystone XL Pipeline and approved rollbacks of offshore drilling ...
WALLS
Robert Frost said it first and clear enough: “Something there is that doesn't love a wall.” His walls were stony ones, upended and broken by frosty, heaving ground. The walls I do not love are stony too, built not on pastureland, though, but in the hearts of men and women. These heart-stone walls, held fast by a mortar mix of fear and a very human bent for being right and those different, dead wrong. We, thus, protect our neat and tidy interior lawns from the invasive and rambunctiously threatening swamps and woods beyond our perimeters. This tangled, ...
VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS FOR CLIMATE ACTION
In August 2022, Biden and the Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) despite unanimous Republican opposition in both the House and Senate where, as president of the Senate, VP Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act#Legislative_history)
We who are climate-concerned should be grateful because Wisconsin has already gained nearly $1 billion of IRA climate benefits alone. (https://www.wmtv15news.com/2024/08/15/wisconsinites-celebrate-clean-energy-inflation-reduction-act-anniversary) Moreover, the IRA has ...
Project 2025 Will Impact Your Life
Republican policies hurt people. Project 2025 provides a blueprint – and an advance warning – of the many ways Republicans intend to hurt most people and the country.
Project 2025 goes way beyond the usual Republican agenda of outlawing abortion, destroying unions, eliminating all restraints on big business and cutting taxes – again – for the wealthy. This agenda will dismantle all the social, legal, economic and environmental progress of the last 150 years. Many of the rights, protections, expectations and freedoms we currently enjoy will be eviscerated or ...