WISPIRG’s HIGH SPEED RAIL TOUR 2009

What do we want? HIGH SPEED RAIL! When do we want it? NOW!

What do we want? HIGH SPEED RAIL! When do we want it? NOW!

So it has been awhile since we have updated the ol’ brgg blog, but fear not dear readers, we have still been working hard. Its also summer vacation, and dealing with things like the LSAT, getting ready for a study abroad program, and of course afternoons on the terrace, have kept us from staying on top of the site. When school gets started again, expected to see close to daily updates with the goings on of Big Red Go Green.  Anyways, as most of those who follow WISPIRG will know, we have been organizing with the other chapters in our state to coordinate a statewide tour of the propsed high speed rail line that could revolutionize the way Wisconsinites and others from the midwest travel. It would reduce global warming emmissions, increase state tourism, create thousands of jobs, and would actually serve to attract recent graduates of the great colleges we have in the state to stay here, rather than take the education that they invested in to places with better transit options like Chicago, Boston, DC etc… Basically – we rocked it. With media hits from Green Bay to Milwaukee to Madison to Portage to LaCrosse to the Dells, the WISPIRG High Speed Rail Tour 2009 was all over the place. Wanna read more?

check out the linkssss

http://tinyurl.com/mzom4q

http://www.wiscnews.com/wde/news/453039

http://portagedailyregister.com/news/local/article_667968f4-4b42-11de-b7f6-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.wrn.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=84049F86-5056-B82A-379682E4904D9875

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Guster + Reverb + Big Red Go Green = Annihilation of Global Warming

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Guster Campus Consciousness Concert

Eco Festivities

Adam Gardner of Guster talks to Big Red Go Green’s Sami McKeough about Reverb, how Guster is green, and how kick ass Big Red Go Green is!

Check out the all the photos from the exciting days worth of festivities.

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GUSTER CAMPUS CONSCIOUSNESS CONCERT ECO-FESTIVITIES!!!! DILLAZ!!!

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DON’T HAVE A TICKET YET? WIN GUSTER CONCERT TICKETS AND GUSTER MEET AND GREETS AT EACH EVENT!

Eco-Fair 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Library Mall

- 20 Interactive Displays with Prizes, WIN A BIKE!
- Special Appearance by Guster
- Free Brats and Veggie Dogs! Free Ian’s Pizza! Free Ice Cream!
- Clothing Drive, Please bring clothes to donate

The Eco-Fair will consist of a variety of interactive tables that will focus on providing information to individuals about how they can get involved in the environmental movement and make a difference on campus and within the community. A key aspect of the fair will be to raise awareness about the need for strong Global Warming legislation in Wisconsin and how individuals can get involved in the movement to pass it by the end of 2009. At each table there will be fun interactive events that attendees can participate in and win prizes. Prizes range from gift certificates, to bikes, to candy, brats, and ice cream! Two lucky attendees will also have the opportunity to win concert tickets and a “meet and greet” with Guster following the concert! Additionally, there will be a drop off for used clothing and household items that will be donated to a local organization within Madison.

Sponsor: Big Red Go Green, We Conserve, 10,000 Hours of Dane County
Contract: Matt Wessale, wessale@wisc.edu; 612-239-2143

“Revolution Green” 3:00 PM – Play Circle Theatre (Memorial Union)
-Free Film Screening of “Revolution Green”
-How Biodiesel can cure America’s addiction to oil!
-Q&A with Adam Gardner (Guster Lead Singer) and Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance

Free screening of the film Revolution Green which was created by the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, a national non-profit based in Austin, Texas working on independent certification for sustainability in biodiesel. Along with the free screening, the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance will provide a small introduction to the film and follow it up with a Q&A panel with members of the alliance and Adam Gardner (Guster Lead singer). There will be several prizes raffled off at this film screening and two lucky attendees will have a chance to win concert tickets and a post concert meet and greet with Guster.

Sponsor: Big Red Go Green, We Conserve, 10,000 Hours of Dane County
Contract: Matt Wessale, wessale@wisc.edu; 612-239-2143

Campus Consciousness Panel Discussion 5:30 PM – 2650 Humanities
-Panel features Adam Gardner (Guster Lead Singer), Dave Cieslewicz (Mayor of Madison), and Faramarz Vakili (Director of We Conserve)
-Find out how music, legislation, and community activism are present in the environmental movement

This hour long panel discussion will focus on educating those in attendance about how they can become more environmentally conscious and make changes within campus and their community. The panel will focus on providing a variety of perspectives that range from the music industry to Wisconsin politicians. The panel will feature Adam Gardner (the lead singer of Guster), Dave Cieslewicz (Mayor of Madison), Taner Watt (The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance), Faramarz Vakili (the head of We Conserve), and Matt Wessale (Coordinator for UW’s largest environmental group Big Red Go Green). Attendees will also learn about the important need for strong Global Warming legislation in Wisconsin and how they can get involved in making this a reality. There will be several prizes raffled of at this event and two lucky people in attendance will win concert tickets a meet and greet with Guster following the concert.

Sponsor: Big Red Go Green, We Conserve, 10,000 Hours of Dane County
Contact: Matt Wessale, wessale@wisc.edu; 612-239-2143

Guster Campus Consciousness Concert – Doors @ 7:00 PM – Memorial Union Theatre

Tickets are only available to individuals who have registered and qualified for tickets through the 10,000 Hours Concert Program.

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go earth – its your earthday, we gonna party like its your earthday

Helllllloooo. This week BRGG was out in full force, tabling both at library mall for Earth Day and at an environmental conference at the Monona Terrace. We have collected around 1400 postcards in support of global warming legislation on the Madison campus so far this year, and are looking at around 2000 total across the state.  Expect to see us everywhere next Wednesday for all of the Guster Concert and eco-faire festivities, but for now just ask yourself – who wouldnt want to hug a wind turbine on earth day?

 

check out the picssss

 

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Res Hall Energy Kick Off

It was a rainy dreary March day where our story begins – our fearless Res Hall team, lead by Alicia Torres Geary, came ready in their rain boots to push their campaign to reduce energy consumption in the dorms, but the rain came ready to fight. The rain; however, did not emerge victorious. The kick off was kick ass.

 

check it outttttt

BADGER HERALD ARTICLE

 

Red Hats, Beards, and Alicias

Red Hats, Beards, and Alicias

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Congressman Henry Waxman just became one of my favorite people

UPDATED WITH MORE LINKS

Soooo… yeah.

CONGRESSMAN HENRY WAXMAN (D-CA) IS WORKING VERY HARD TO IMPLEMENT STRONG GLOBAL WARMING LEGISLATION ON A NATIONAL LEVEL.

did i just say that? is that right? is this bizarro world?

yes ladies and gentleman, you heard right. Waxman (along with his buddy Markey) today (or maybe yesterday im not sure) outlined a proposal for strong global warming legislation that I really feel has a chance. Not only that but they want it in place by July. Holy Crap. Thats awesome.

 

check out this article dudes

HENRY WAXMAN R00LZ

MORE ARTICLES

Mother Jones Article

NY Times Article

 

 

Moustaches must be catching on...

Moustaches must be catching on...

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It has been awhile…

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, sprng break, school, and general chaos have kept me from blogging as of late. However, the bloggings will continue until morale improves. 

WISPIRG in the newz: In today’s issue of The Badger Herald, columnist Patrick McEwen argued in support of Carbon Tax system as opposed to a cap and trade program to reduce emmissions. It gets a little economically wonkish, but basically the difference between the two systems is that in the Cap and Trade Program the government will determine exactly how much C02 we are emitting and then put a price on those units of carbon. Companies will then bid on those units to in effect pay for their pollution. Then in the long run the government can reduce the amount of carbon available in the market, and thereby create incentives for companies to reduce their carbon emissions. The concept of carbon tax would not give the government as strict of control over the carbon emissions but would still put a price on each unit emitted, thereby also providing incentive to reduce emissions. Regardless of what you agree with, what is important in his article is that he brings up that the time is right for climate change legislation in the state of Wisconsin. He even specifically mentions WISPIRG and the statewide campaign we are involved with to help implement statewide legislation to deal with global warming. I recommend to check out the first sentence, it feels good to hear that from someone besides us treehuggers.

check it outttttttttt

Badger Herald Article

 

This has nothing to do with global warming, but it does involve my favorite band and a great childrens book

“Where the Wild Things Are” movie anyone?

 

 

boo global warming. yay penguins

boo global warming. yay penguins

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Spencer Black, Green Jobs, the Daily Cardinal… Oh My!

 

Last night Big Red Go Green hosted a panel discussion between Representative Spencer Black, WISPIRG Advocate Bruce Speight and Wisconsin Environment’s Dan Kohler. The three discussed what global warming legislation can bring to the state and how a high speed rail line incorporate into a plan to reduce carbon emissions. It was awesome for BRGG to meet with Spencer Black and let him in on the work we are doing across the state in support of the global warming legislation he is working on. Kudos to Liz Whiteman, one of our event interns, for making last night so stellar. 

check it outtttttttttttttt

 

DAILY CARDINAL STORY

 

He <3's the environment about as much as we do!

He <3's the environment about as much as we do!

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Sign Up for Guster Campus Conciousness Concert!!!!!!

brgg1

PRESENTS

guster

Guster Campus Consciousness Concert

What is Guster Campus Consciousness Concert?

The Guster Campus Consciousness Concert is a concert hosted by Big Red Go Green in conjunction with 10,000 Hours of Dane County which seeks to promote environmental consciousness and inform attendees about the dire need for Global Warming legislation in Wisconsin. In addition the concert serves to reward individuals for the hard work they do in their community. A person must simply record 10 hours of community service with a non-profit organization within Dane County by April 1st and in return they will receive FREE tickets to the concert which will be held on April 29th. This concert will be held at Memorial Union Theatre exclusively for volunteers. If you volunteer 20 hours by March 13th, you can also receive a ticket for a friend. This is an opportunity to do the right thing and be rewarded for a job well done.

In addition to the concert Big Red Go Green will be hosting a panel discussion featuring Guster’s lead singer Adam Gardner, his environmentalist wife Lauren Sullivan, and several other prominent environmental figures. The concert will also feature an interactive Eco Village which will serve to promote environmental awareness to concert goers and those who wish to participate. The panel discussion and the Eco Village are free to all UW students and community members.

How do I get the FREE tickets?
1. Create an account to at www.10000hoursmadison.org
2. Volunteer at least 10 hours with Big Red Go Green, WISPIRG or any other non-profit organization within Dane County
3. Log your hours online by April 1st

YOU CAN LOG ANY VOLUNTEER HOURS FROM APRIL 2008 TO NOW!!! YOU VOLUNTEERED 8 MONTHS AGO, NO WORRIES, LOG EM!!!!!

The website will keep track of your hours for you! To track your hours you will log onto www.10000hoursmadison.org, click “Log Hours” under the “Your Hours” title and find the agency you worked with. You will record the date, time and hours of your service and the agency will verify your hours for you. Complete at least 10 hours by April 1st and you will be informed on how to pick up your FREE concert ticket. It’s that easy! Sign up today!

Important Dates

March 13, 2009: Last day to log hours and receive a bonus ticket for a friend

March 22-28, 2009: Volunteer Blitz Week: A great time to get in those last few hours

April 1, 2009: Last day to log hours towards the concert ticket

April 29, 2009: FREE Concert at Memorial Union theatre for volunteers

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!!

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BRGG and the Wisconsin Student Climate Coalition in the news

The Wiconsin Student Climate Coalition, a group of state environmental student orgs that BRGG helped to organize, met this weekend to hash out some details about passing global warming legislation, and some general logistics about our coalition. apparently we arent the only ones who think this is big news…

check it outttttttttttt

Badger Herald Article

Daily Cardinal Article

wanna go save the world?

wanna go save the world?

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