by jboullion | Jun 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Capital Times (Madison):
The impossible happened this week — the U.S. Senate and House voted overwhelmingly to fully fund Amtrak for the next five years. There’s even some matching money to help states set up or expand rail service.
It’s amazing what four-buck-a-gallon gas will do.
Amtrak’s funding package even got the votes of some of its biggest critics, like Florida Republican Rep. John Mica, who admitted for the first time that Americans need some transportation choices.
“Nothing could be more fitting to bring before Congress today, on a day when gasoline has reached $4.05 a gallon across the United States on average,” he announced on the floor.
The two houses need to patch over some minor differences in the bills they passed, but Amtrak backers are confident that won’t be any trouble.
The biggest trouble, though, may still come from the White House. President Bush, who has attempted to dismantle the national rail system throughout his presidency, has pledged to veto the bill. Fortunately, both the House and Senate passed the funding by veto-proof margins. Unless Republicans switch because they don’t want to “embarrass” their president, Bush’s veto will be moot.
Frankly, the president should be embarrassed. His stand on public transportation has marginalized him on the issue. He continues to insist that Amtrak should be dismantled and pieces of it turned over to private companies to run short-line routes. That might work in highly urbanized areas, but without government subsidies the vast expanse of America would be left with no rail service of any kind.
But Bush has been far from alone. There has long been a mind-set against subsidizing rail transportation. Politicians from both sides of the aisle have never had trouble subsidizing the building of more and bigger highways and underwriting the cost of airports and sleek terminals, but when it came to rail, they sang a different tune.
Had we adequately funded Amtrak so that it could have improved trackage in congested areas and run more than one train a day between big cities like Chicago and Minneapolis, for example, the country would today have a reasonable alternative to $4gas and gridlocked and unreliable airports. We might even have had rail service to Madison. . . .
by jboullion | Jun 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Heinen in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Tapping into a higher power, Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield has become the first church in southeastern Wisconsin to install a solar-electric generating system.
Rob Zimmerman, president of Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield, and the Rev. Suzelle Lynch stand on top of the church next to the new solar panels that were recently installed.
Using 42 roof-mounted solar panels, the 8.4-kilowatt system is expected to provide energy equal to about 15% of the electrical needs for the church, 13001 W. North Ave. The system went on line June 5.
Church leaders also hope that the system will generate a conversational buzz. For both theological and practical reasons, they’d like to see more homes, churches and businesses get greener.
“Part of our purpose is to be visible, not only to church members but to the community, so we can be a resource for them,” said the Rev. Suzelle Lynch, the church’s minister.
One principle of Unitarian Universalism is to respect and honor the Earth.
by jboullion | Jun 13, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Miller Brewing:
MILWAUKEE (June 4, 2008) – Miller Brewing Company today released its second annual Sustainable Development Report, entitled “Live Sustainably.” The report details the company’s progress against its global sustainable development priorities, including areas such as alcohol responsibility, water conservation, energy and carbon reduction, recycling, supply chain management and social investment. The report also features employees who are driving notable sustainable development efforts within the company. . . .
Available online at www.millerbrewing.com, the 28-page report includes the following highlights and efforts by Miller employees:
• Reduced Miller’s water-to-beer ratio to less than 4:1. This reduction is nearly two years ahead of schedule, as the company set this as a 2010 goal.
• Reduced fossil fuel consumption to 1.45 therms per barrel, putting Miller well within reach of a 2010 target of 1.40 therms per barrel.
• Reduced waste to landfill by 2.5 million pounds over the last five years. Miller currently recycles 99.9 percent of all packaging waste.
• Initiated a switch to energy-efficient fluorescent lights in all six brewery facilities that will drive a 9 million kilowatt hour reduction across the company.
• Recycled brewery waste water to generate biogas at our Irwindale brewery that produced enough electrical capacity to power 50 average California homes.
• Expanded the Respect 21® Responsible Retailing Program into 10 new markets and launched Keep Your Balance®, a program designed to educate motorcyclists about responsible riding.
• Tallied more than 1.7 million riders over the 20 year history of the Miller Free Rides program that offers alternative transportation on key holidays to prevent drunk driving incidents.
• Made corporate social investments totaling more than $5.1 million across our brewery communities, representing 1.4 percent of the company’s pre-tax profit.
• Contributed more than $1.7 million since 2001 through the Miller Brewing Company Employee Fund, a cross-functional committee of employees who spearhead the giving campaign, establish a set of criteria for non-profit funding and oversee the distribution of the employee donations to local non-profits. In 2007, the fund contributed $278,217 to 19 organizations that focus on hunger, at-risk youth and domestic violence issues.
by jboullion | Jun 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Steve Schultze in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A Milwaukee County Board committee Wednesday revived the idea of levying a half-cent local sales tax to pay for transit, after hearing appeals from major civic and business groups.
The board’s transportation committee voted 4-3 in favor of holding an advisory referendum on the sales tax idea on the November ballot. The tax would be dedicated to transit and generate an estimated $65 million a year. That’s nearly triple what the county is spending in property taxes on transit.
The additional money could help pay for new buses, enhanced bus security, reduced fares and other improvements, said Supervisor Patricia Jursik, the author of the transit sales tax measure.
Under the language of the referendum question, the county tax levy would be reduced by the same amount the new sales tax would raise — a vital safeguard needed to win public support, county supervisors said.
Jursik described the issue as switching transit funding from the property tax, where Wisconsin ranks high, to the sales tax, where the state is comparatively low. Visitors to Milwaukee also would help fund local transit through a transit sales tax, she said.
by jboullion | Jun 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a media release issued by the Milwaukee Common Council:
The Common Council has approved a measure that allows for the acceptance of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities 2008 grant. The measure directs the city’s Office of Environmental Sustainability to apply for and accept a $200,000 grant, matched by $100,000 in allocated city funds, to help remove barriers to the implementation of solar technologies in the city. Milwaukee is one of 12 cities selected for this grant in 2008 and the results of this project will be shared across the country.
Ald. Tony Zielinski (District 14), lead sponsor of the resolution, said the two-year grant will include training for solar panel installers and also provides funds for the production of educational materials to make more residents aware of how solar
technologies work to increase efficiency and save costs.
Under a similar grant, the City of Madison has begun assisting businesses and homeowners who are interested in solar installations.
