Ecominds-a Mailing List: Renewable Energy actions and more

[Joe + Madalyn (joemadalyn]

UU EcoMinds-A List for October 18, 2005

UU EcoMinds promotes lifestyles, policies, and technologies
that respect and sustain all life on earth and is a working 
group of the Metro Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
(MUUSJA)

In this posting:

PASSING THE MN RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD (RES)
#1  Oct 18 & 19, 6-9pm  Grassroots outreach and citizen organizing:
Phone bank 
#2  Oct 22, 10:30am: Grassroots outreach:  Doorknocking neighbors to
sign petition
#3  Ongoing: Circulate petitions or encourage friends to sign on-line
#4  Oct. 26, evening: Town Forum on RES and energy issues; citizens &
legislators 
in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina. All are welcome. 

CONSERVATION 
#5  C3 to design "energy efficiency tool kit" for individual and
congregational use.
#6 Nov. 20, 5-8pm: C3 interfaith meeting of metro "green" churches;
network;
plan for Earth Day
#7  Oct 19 or 26: Draft Minneapolis 10-Year Transportation Action Plan
workshops

LEARNING MORE:
#8  Nov. 2, 8pm:  PBS special on GLOBAL WARMING
#9  Nov. 10, 12:15pm: Donald Brown,"Ethical Framework for Analyzing
Global Warming"
at the UM
#10  Nov 20, Dec 4 & Dec 5: Will Steger, arctic explorer, scientist &
first hand
observer of global warming effects

UUA OR UU MINISTRY FOR EARTH NEWS/ACTIONS:
#11  Join the cyber-march against global warming  

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PASSING THE MN RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD

#1  Volunteer Opportunities ? Calling Suburban Citizens

We are working with citizens and Steelworker organizers in crucial
suburbs to
let their legislators know that a majority of Minnesotans support the
Renewable Energy
Standard (RES). The RES was voted down by a narrow margin in 2005, but
with your
help, we can help citizens in the suburbs send a strong message to their
legislators
that moving toward clean, home-grown energy sources will create jobs and
make 
Minnesotans less vulnerable to fluctuating energy prices. 

We are contacting voters in several western suburbs about this issue and
asking them to
take action and we need your support: 

Calling Suburban Voters
Tuesday, October 18 - 6pm-9pm, Steelworkers Office, 2829 University Ave.
SE, Mpls 
Thursday, October 20 - 6pm-9pm, Steelworkers Office, 2829 University
Ave. SE, Mpls 
-------------------------------------
 
#2.  Doorknock in the Suburbs about the Renewable Energy Standard
Saturday, October 22, 10:30am, Plymouth (Location TBA)
Questions or to RSVP: Email fightback05 [at] gmail.com or call 612-623-8003

-----------------------------------
#3 Circulate petitions and encourage others to Sign the Renewable Energy
Petition ?
 Help Us Deliver Thousands of Signatures to Governor Pawlenty.
Thousands of Minnesotans have signed our Renewable Energy petition -
have you?

FFI:  Visit www.fightback05.com for the petition or 
contact the Steelworkers at fightback05 [at] gmail.com to have paper
petitions sent to you

-------------------------------------------

#4  Oct. 26, evening, Minnetonka: Open Town Forum on RES and energy
issues; 
citizens & legislators from Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina. All are
welcome. 

Details are pending, but mark your calendar for this event and tell all 
your friends from these communities to attend.  This forum gathers
citizens 
with their legislators and other community leaders to encourage passage 
on the Renewable Energy Standard. 

----------------------------------------

CONSERVATION 
#5  C3 is working on designing  "energy efficiency tool kit" for
individual use this
fall/winter in the face of drastically rising home heating costs.  They
hope to
present it for use at their workshop for all "green" churches on
November 20 
see next item).  C3 already has tools and assistance available for
congregations 
that are working on increasing their energy efficiency. 

---------------------------------------

#6  Nov 20, 5-8pm, C3 interfaith "green" church networking and Earth Day
planning
Edina Community Lutheran Church
More info to come. Watch the C3 website:  www.c3mn.net

-------------------------------

#7  Oct 19 or 26:  DRAFT MINNEAPOLIS 10-YEAR TRANSPORTATION ACTION PLAN
WORKSHOPS
Wednesday, October 19, 5 ? 7 pm
Butler Square Building, First Floor Conference Room A and B, 
100 North Sixth Street 

Wednesday, October 26, 6:30 ? 8:30 pm; 
Keewaydin Recreation Center, 
3000 East 53rd Street 

The City of Minneapolis is hosting a series of workshops to let citizens
share their
ideas on how the City can improve its transportation system. The
workshops will
provide an overview of the City?s 10-Year Transportation Action Plan,
which is under
development, and provide information on the transportation challenges
facing the City. 
When completed, the Transportation Action Plan will be a citywide plan
that addresses
a full range of transportation options and issues, including
pedestrians, bicycles,
transit, automobile and freight.

Pre-registration is not required. Since the workshops will include
presentations on 
transportation challenges facing the City, followed by structured
dialogue, 
participants are encouraged to arrive at the designated meeting start
time. 
Upon request, the City will provide reasonable accommodations to persons

with disabilities or who are in need of a translator. Please submit such

requests or requests for additional information no later than seven 
days prior to the meeting to Charleen Zimmer, Project Manager, 
at (612) 673-3166 or charleen.zimmer [at] ci.minneapolis.mn.us.

-------------------------------

LEARNING MORE:
#8  Nov. 2, 8pm:  PBS special on GLOBAL WARMING

GLOBAL  PBS SPECIAL ON GLOBAL WARMING. Hosted by Alanis  Morissette. 
Underwritten by  Toyota  USA  and Swiss Re, the program examines what is
certainly our 
most crucial environmental issue, in the  context of the United  States.

A  full press kit is also available from the program's publicist Lance 
Webster at _LanceCoach [at] aol.com_  . You can also  download 
the program's two PSAs and a two minute clip at
_http://www.stonehaven.ca/media_ 
We are granting NGOs the right to post the clips on their  websites. 

-----------------------------------

#9  Nov. 10, 12:15pm:  Donald Brown, esq. "Ethical Framework for
Analyzing Global Warming"
at the UM
Thursday, November 10, 2005
12:15pm-1:30pm 
Theater at the UM St. Paul Student Center

Donald Brown, Esq. Director of the Pennsylvania Consortium for
Interdisciplinary 
Environmental Policy will lecture on ?An Ethical Framework for Analyzing
Global Warming. 

The problem of human-induced climate change raises profound ethical
questions because climate change policy will determine which plants, 
animals, and ecosystems will survive and whether nations will support 
a just international order.  Yet, there is a curious lack of ethical 
reflection on a host of important questions raised by climate change 
despite a growing scientific and economic literature on this problem. 
Mr. Brown will explain why express ethical reflection on climate change 
policy options urgently needs to be integrated into the scientific 
and economic matters that are currently framing climate change debate. 
He'll conclude with specific suggestions about how to increase public 
awareness about the ethical dimensions of climate change issues.

Mr. Brown is Director of the Pennsylvania Consortium for
Interdisciplinary 
Environmental Policy, and Senior Counsel for Sustainable Development 
for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Previously,

Mr. Brown was Project Manager for United Nations Organizations at 
the United States EPA Office of International Environmental 
Policy. His most recent book is American Heat: Ethical Problems 
with the United States' Response to Global Warming.

The event is free and open to the public. 
Reservations are strongly encouraged. Lunches are provided to those who 
RSVP by November 3, 2005 to lawvalue [at] umn.edu or 612-625-0055 
(please indicate if vegetarian/vegan). Those without reservations are 
welcome to attend, but should bring a lunch. 
St. Paul Student Center parking is available in the Gortner Ramp on 
Gortner Avenue, across Buford Avenue from the Student Center..

This lecture is the second lecture in the 2005-06 Lunch Series on 
?Energy and the Environment: Science, Ethics & Policy.?
For more information on upcoming events, visit 
http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/news_and_events/#events.

--------------------------------------

#10  Nov 20, Dec 4 & Dec 5:   Will Steger, arctic explorer, 
scientist & first hand observer of global warming effects will speak 
at several local congregations, including MN Valley UU 
Fellowship on December 4.  More details to come!

-------------------------------------

UUA OR UU MINISTRY FOR EARTH NEWS/ACTIONS:

#11   JOIN  CYBER-MARCH AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING  
Add  your signature under Rev. Sinkford's name at  
www.stopglobalwarming.org_ .  Signal to our political leaders  and  the
UUA Board 
of Trustees the depth of our concern for Earth  and for the threat of 
global warming.   Pass this on to your friends, UU or not! There are
lots of other leaders 
collecting signatures in their name.

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E-mail your announcement suggestions to ecominds-editor [at] muusja.org 
If you have questions and want to talk to a real person about 
UU EcoMinds, call Madalyn at 612-926-5249.
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