Reducing Global Warming and Promoting Clean, Renewable Energy
The Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter has made reducing the threat of global warming in Wisconsin and promoting smarter energy solutions our top priority. Overreliance on fossil fuels pollutes our air and water and threatens public health. Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants has contaminated every lake, river, and waterway in Wisconsin. Soot pollution from coal-fired power plants has been linked to over 550,000 asthma attacks, 38,000 heart attacks, and 22,000 avoidable deaths annually in the United States. Over 2.1 million people live in areas that contain unhealthy levels of soot or smog. Overreliance on fossil fuels also contributes to global warming – one of the biggest problems facing our planet.
Global temperatures are predicted to increase between 1.1 and 6.4°C (2.0 and 11.5° F) during the current century.
Impacts of global warming threaten Wisconsin’s natural habitats and our critical economic engines, including agriculture, shipping, forestry, recreation, and tourism.
In the face of these concerns, Wisconsin has an opportunity. Cutting-edge, clean energy technologies will fuel the twenty-first century. By investing in efficiency and conservation measures, transitioning to homegrown renewable energy sources, and increasing transportation options, Wisconsin can grow our economy, provide family-supporting jobs, and prevent further damage to our natural resources.
In fact, a University of Massachusetts study found that a significant investment in this kind of clean energy infrastructure could create over 37,000 new jobs here in Wisconsin. Read on to find out how YOU can put Wisconsin on the road to a clean energy future today!
The Clean Energy Jobs Act
The Sierra Club was a member of the Governor's Global Warming Taskforce (GWTF), which brought policy-makers from the Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission (PSC) to the table with industry and environmental stakeholders to create a powerful roadmap to cut Wisconsin’s global warming pollution. The ultimate goal of the GWTF is to reduce Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions 75% from 2005 levels by 2050, action needed to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Passing the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a comprehensive bill to implement key GWTF recommendations, will protect Wisconsin’s economy and our environment from climate change by increasing investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and cleaner transportation options. This critically important legislation will decrease the $21 billion dollars we spend every year to fuel our state's appetite for fossil fuels. Click here to learn more about the Clean Energy Jobs Act and Click here to take action to Pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act!
Increasing Transportation Options: Sierrans on the Move
Transportation accounts for about 1/3 of Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions. The Sierra Club- John Muir Chapter's Global Warming Team supports smart policies including allowing Wisconsin communities to form Regional Transit Authorities (RTA's), supporting Intercity Rail, and policies to increase vehicle and fuel efficiency to reduce transportations contribution to climate change. Under Wisconsin’s cumbersome and antiquated rules, cities that provide transit must contract with one another and squeeze transit funding out of their general revenues, mainly from property taxes. The resulting unstable, underfunded transit cannot compete for federal construction dollars, and cannot provide sustainable service to its communities. Contact the Sierra Club office at (608) 256-0565 or shahla.werner@sierraclub.org if you would like to join Communities on the Move to reform Wisconsin's transit system! Click here to learn aobut the benefits of RTAs and to Take Action today!
Click here to read comments from the Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter regarding WisDOT’s Connections 2030 plan.
STOPPING the Coal Rush
The Sierra Club won a lawsuit in 2007 that requires 13 state-owned coal plants to comply with air emissions standards of the Clean Air Act and increase generating efficiency. This, along with public pressure, led to Governor Doyle's 2008 announcment that the Charter Street Coal plant at UW Madison would be converted to biomass by 2013. Also in 2008 the Public Service Commission unanimously voted to deny Alliant Energy's certificate of need to build a new coal plant in Wisconsin, largely due to massive public opposition to the project. Thanks for taking action to make Wisconsin cleaner and safer for future generations! Even with this success, there is much work left to do to ensure a cleaner energy future in Wisconsin. The State of Wisconsin buys all the coal burned at eight UW campuses, three State health facilities, and two correctional institutions from Massey Coal and Alpha Coal - both mountaintop removal companies. The good news - by working together, we can stop spending our Wisconsin tax dollars on Appalachian destruction while working to end mountaintop removal mining on a national level. You can learn more about mountaintop removal coal mining by visiting Sierra Club's Coal Country website to highlight the stunning new documentary on this topic.
Produced by Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller, Coal Country brings us inside the lives of Appalachian residents who are directly threatened by mountaintop removal, a destructive mining practice where mountaintops are blasted away to expose the coal; the waste is then dumped in the waterways of nearby communities.
Cool Cities and Cool Counties
Created in 2005, Sierra Club’s Cool Cities campaign empowers people to encourage local cities and counties to implement smart energy solutions to save money and build a cleaner, safer future. Wisconsin currently has 19 “Cool Cities” (
Ashland, Bayfield, Fitchburg, Greenfield, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Menomonie, Milwaukee, New Berlin, Oshkosh, Racine, River Falls, Stevens Point, Superior, Washburn, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, and West Allis)
and one “Cool County” (Dane). These local communities are working to solve global warming with innovative energy solutions that cut our dependence on coal and oil, benefit public health, and save taxpayer dollars. Want your city to be "Cool"? The first step is to have your mayor sign the Climate Protection Agreement. Next, cities can work with the International Council of Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI) -Local Governments for Sustainability to inventory their greenhouse gases and create an action plan to make improvements. Madison, Milwaukee and Dane County have all joined the ICLEI. Now we need our other Cool Cities members to take the next step towards reducing global warming!
The Wisconsin Blue Green Alliance
Launched in 2006, the Blue Green Alliance is a strategic initiative led by the United Steelworkers and Sierra Club and including many other "blue" (blue collar/labor) and "green" (environmental) partners. The BGA creates a formal structure for creating a renewed, vibrant base of Americans who will work for good jobs, a clean environment, and a safer world. In Wisconsin, the BGA leverages the power and size of the USW's 35,000 members and retirees, and the Sierra Club’s John Muir Chapter, with its 15,000 members.
Visit our Legislative Tracker to find out what climate-related bills Sierra Club is working on in Wisconsin!
To support our work with a financial contribution, click here. Visit our Volunteer Opportunities page to see how else you can get involved.