Bending the Arc

The Earth Day Fair returns to Founder’s Hall at the motherhouse of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) at 320 County Rd K in Fond du Lac. On April 27, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the public is invited to interact with Earth-focused exhibitors and participate in various planned activities. 

Get all the event details!

In celebration of Earth Day, CSA hosts Common Ground, a film that unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save or health, and stabilize America’s economy - before it is too late.

Watch the trailer here:

Request a screening and get more information at https://commongroundfilm.org/
 

Trillion Trees Pledge

On Earth Day (May 22) 2024, Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in celebration of Earth Day today and Forest Appreciation Week this week, announced that the state is increasing its Trillion Trees Pledge planting goal from planting 75 million trees by the end of 2030 to planting 100 million trees by the end of 2030. Gov. Evers and DNR also released the Wisconsin Trillion Trees Pledge 2023 Annual Report today, which shows Wisconsin has planted more than 32 million trees since Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #112 in 2021 committing Wisconsin to the Trillion Trees Pledge, bringing the state more than 40 percent towards its goal just three years into the pledge. Read the full press release.

Access to Solar

On April 23, Gov. Evers announced that Wisconsin is receiving a grant of $62.4 million from the Biden-Harris Administration to help fund solar systems for low- and moderate-income households across Wisconsin. Read the full story.

Funding New Energy Innovations

On April 24, Gov. Evers announced that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin awarded $7.8 million from the Energy Innovation Grant Program to 28 projects that will expand access to clean energy and invest in the adoption of innovative technologies and processes. Learn more.

Federal Funds Go to Conservation and Restoration

On April 25, Gov. Evers announced that the Wisconsin Department of Administration is set to receive a total of $4.6 million through President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.The award will be directed towards two habitat conservation and restoration projects. Read the full release. 

What will happen next? Consider subscribing to press releases.
 

Catholic Climate Covenant’s 2024 Earth Day program focuses on the growing problem of plastic pollution and complements the secular Earth Day theme of “Planet vs. Plastics”.

Do you know?

• The United States is the world’s largest plastic polluter; every year we produce 35 million tons of plastic waste.
• Every 15.5 hours, Americans throw away enough plastic to fill the largest NFL stadium in the country, AT&T Stadium in Dallas, and the pile grows larger every year.
• Plastic piles up in landfills, litters our communities, pollutes beaches, and breaks down into microplastics that get EVERYWHERE - including inside us?!
• Less than 9% (some say only 5-6%) of plastics actually get recycled in the U.S.
• The production of plastics is a huge source of greenhouse pollution and is expected to overtake emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2030.

In this short video from Environmental Health News, learn how our throwaway culture is connected to plastic pollution and why it has become such a huge problem.  

We must deal with the plastic crisis if we are to control the climate crisis, to improve the health of our air and oceans, and to protect the Earth’s biodiversity and human health. You are encouraged to learn more and avoid adding to the plastic waste crisis whenever and wherever possible.  Learn more by participating in Catholic Climate Covenant’s 2024 Earth Day program - Healing Our Throwaway Culture: A Focus on Plastics. The one-hour program will help your community learn about how plastic production, consumption, and disposal are impacting human and planetary health, and give you strategies for personal, community, and systemic actions. The Earth Day program can be used any day that fits your community’s schedule. Learn more.

In 2022, 175 nations agree to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024, prompting a major step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, use and disposal. Read more. The fourth session of negotiations started earlier this week in Ottawa, Canada. Follow this and insist that our U.S. government supports a strong UN Plastic Treaty with mandatory, ambitious, scientifically based, and enforceable control measures and obligations to ensure results and accountability. 
SIGN AND SHARE THIS PLASTIC POLLUTION PETITION

Consider making some personal commitments.

Laudato Si' Action Platform invites Catholic Religious women and men to participate in an inspiring event, “Voices of Faith and Hope: Global; Catholic Religious in the Heart of Climate Action,” hosted by the religious sector of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission of International Union of Superiors General (UISG).

The event is May 22, and they are looking to feature diverse and powerful stories from religious around the world. Selected stories will be presented as part of the event, providing a platform for sisters to share their journey and inspire others.

SHARE YOUR STORY HERE

Event Details:
Title: Voices of Faith and Hope: Global Catholic Religious in the Heart of Climate Action
Date: Wednesday, May 22
Time: 6:30 AM Mexico City, 8:30 AM New York, 1:30 PM London, 2:30 PM Rome, 3:30 PM Nairobi, 8:30 PM Manila
Hosts: Laudato Si' Action Platform and International Union of Superiors General

Stories that are not selected for live presentation may still be featured on our blog or social media channels as part of the Laudato Si' Week celebrations and beyond.

Please submit your responses by May 10. They will contact you shortly after to notify you of their decision. This is an opportunity to share your story with a global audience and to highlight the critical role of our faith in the ecological movement. 

CSA is a registered “Green Team” with Faith in Place, an affiliate of Interfaith Power & Light. Faith in Place champions justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; fight for those most impacted by environmental injustice; and believe the environmental movement must be rooted in justice. They offer several free programs, events and resources on their website.

If you missed last week’s virtual earth vigil, you may watch the recording.

Did you know that the City of Fond du Lac is a designated Bird City? Fond du Lac’s Bird City Wisconsin designation is an honor the city achieved in 2012 and has renewed annually since then. This recognition reflects the importance that the Fond du Lac community places on protecting its avian wildlife and the habitat on which they rely. To be recognized as a Bird City, a community must meet criteria spread across six categories: habitat creation and protection, community forest management, limiting threats to birds, education, energy and sustainability, and the official recognition and celebration of World Migratory Bird Day.

Bird City Wisconsin provides highly visible public recognition to municipalities that understand that healthy communities are the sum of many parts, including birds. Bird City Wisconsin supports its communities, including Fond du Lac, in their efforts to protect and manage green space, educate their citizens, build and erect nesting structures, landscape with native plants, and reduce threats to birds like collisions and outdoor cats. Bird City Wisconsin also supports cities’ efforts to generally make urban areas both friendlier for birds and places where people want to live and work.  

Annually, Fond du Lac celebrates World Migratory Bird Day with events during the last week of April and the first week of May.

Birding in Fond du Lac
Thursday, April 25, 6 p.m., Fond du Lac Public Library, McLane Room
Steven Thompson, local bird photographer extraordinaire will share his favorite photos of birds and the best places to bird in Fond du Lac to capture your own stunning images.

CSA Earth Day Fair
Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Visit the Bird City exhibitor table and sign up for a guided bird walk on the CSA escarpment at 2:15.

World Migratory Bird Reception
Thursday, May 2, 5 p.m., THELMA Sadoff Center for the Arts
Bird art on display by members of the THELMA Visual Artists. Tom Schultz, National Geographic Illustrator will give a presentation about his work and Bill Volkert, WI naturalist will be reading from one of his published books.

Guided Bird Watching
Friday, May 3
6 p.m. walk at Camelot Business Park
Saturday, May 4
7 a.m. walk at the Greenway Arboretum
10 a.m. walk at Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
1 p.m. walk at Lake Winnebago shore and boardwalk

Build a Bird: Glass Fusion Workshop
Saturday, May 4, 2 p.m., Trista Holz Studios (13 E. 1st St.)
Work with local artist Trista Holz to learn how to stack and fuse glass into your own beautiful work of ornithological art!

Local Galleries Featuring Bird Art
All May
Gallery & Frame Shop (94 S. Main)
Sumercé Artisans (52 E. Division)
Trista Holz Studios (13 E. 1st St.)

No one should be allowed to gamble with water – but that’s exactly what financial speculators are trying to do by trading water futures on the stock market.  Allowing financial speculators to profit off and drive up prices on a resource is dangerous.  

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna just re-introduced legislation to ban water futures trading.  Ask your representatives to co-sponsor. 

Take Action Here.