Supplemental Public Service Commission Funds Received by Southeast Gateway Group
by John Berge

At its August 20, 2003, open meeting, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) considered and approved, by a vote of two to one, a supplemental intervenor compensation application filed by the Southeast Gateway Group (SEGG) of the Sierra Club for participation in the Elm Road portion of WE Energies application to expand the Oak Creek Power Plant with three more coal-fired power plants in Oak Creek and/or Caledonia. The supplemental intervenor compensation of $8,850 was used to hire Dr. Timothy Ehlinger, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Interdisciplinary Major in Conservation and Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to give expert testimony in the Technical Hearings which were held in September in Madison. He is recognized as an expert on northern lakes, their fish and other aquatic life with research focused on the habitat requirements, ecology and reproduction of fishes and aquatic macroinvertebrates of north temperate lakes and streams.

At the time this was written, we had not received copies of that testimony “related to water intake and discharge”, but he was expected to testify on the negative effects on fish and other lake organisms which would result from WE Energies proposed “once through cooling” or “open cycle” system for the proposed power plants. According to the Environmental Impact Statement, WE Energies would be pumping about 2,250,000 gallons per minute (gpm) for cooling in addition to the 3,843,100 gallons per day (gpd) used up for process water. That total is almost 3.25 billion gallons per day!

This supplemental grant is in addition to the earlier grant of $28,000 which was used to hire Environmental Attorney Dennis M. Grzezinski to represent the Group and the Sierra Club. That money is all gone, but Mr. Grzezinski continues to represent us pro bono. The money is administered by the Midwest Office of the Sierra Club and so does not become a part of (and totally swamp) our Group budget.

Calendar:

October 2: Conservation Committee will meet at John Berge’s house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine at 7:00 p.m. Contact John at (262) 633-8455 for information.

October 9, 7:00 p.m.: Southeast Gateway Group Executive Committee Meeting at Messiah Lutheran Church located at 3015 Pritchard Drive in Racine. All members are welcome.

October 10?12: John Muir Chapter Annual Assembly. Full information is in the September-October 2003 issue of The Muir View.

October 11: World renown Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL 9:00 a.m.?return early evening. Commuter train or car pool. Mary Ann Ortmayer, (262) 554-5058.

October 18, 2003: Third Saturday Hike and Lunch: Hike Sanders Park located at 4809 Wood Road in Racine County. Meet at the first parking area at 10:00 a.m. The hike will be followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant. Contact Dana Huck at (262) 639-0465 if you plan to attend.

November 1: Deadline for the April-May issue of the Southeast Sierran. See the box on the back page for information as to where to submit articles. Submissions from any members are welcome.

November 6: Conservation Committee will meet at John Berge’s house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine at 7:00 p.m. Contact John at (262) 633-8455 for information.

November 13, 7:00 p.m.: Southeast Gateway Group Executive Committee Meeting at Messiah Lutheran Church located at 3015 Pritchard Drive in Racine. All members are welcome.

November 15, 2003: Third Saturday Hike and Lunch: Hike in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Southern Unit. We will meet at 10:00 a.m. in the parking area on Walworth County Highway H about 1.5 miles north of U.S. Highway 12. We will hike the White Loop of the Nordic Ski and hiking Trails, a 3.2 mile loop that is not considered difficult. The hike will be followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant. Contact Dana Huck at (262) 639-0465 if you plan to attend.

Your Legislative Watchdog
by Jean McGraw

In times past when a crisis threatened our country, a great leader always emerged to lead us out of danger—Washington, Lincoln, F.D.R. We need one now. Where is he?—out there somewhere, I hope…

Greed dominates everything and is admired. CEO’s of financial organizations abrogate or find sneaky ways around any regulations in order to rob millions of ordinary people of their pensions and savings, and enrich themselves with more millions. Bush cut the taxes of his rich contributors true to his promise. He is waging a war or two costing billions of dollars and is running up an unimaginable deficit.

As to the environment, Bush has put the very people who despoil our natural resources in charge of all environmental agencies, and they find ways to enrich themselves and disregard all the environmental progress of the last fifty years.

Bush got rid (we hope) of one ruthless dictator, who turned out not to have any weapons of mass destruction (Was greed for Iraqi oil the underlying motivation?) but there are lots more ruthless dictators out there, and some of them really have weapons of mass destruction. Where does it end?

We have the know-how to straighten out our country. We have lots of talented, brilliant scientists who right now could engineer cars that generate less than half the pollution—or maybe none when hydrogen takes over, but Congress drags its feet (pressure from Big Oil and Big Auto). We know how to build solar houses of mostly synthetic, even recycled, materials that require very little electricity. We can develop wind power, gas, biomass, and other better sources of electricity than polluting coal; but leadership is needed.

The ordinary mass of people are ignorant about the environment, don’t want to be bothered to conserve energy although there are some easy ways, and have no real concept of what is going on in the White House.

Meanwhile not only environmental programs, but Social Security and Medicare are eyed greedily by the private sector who don’t have enough millions.

Our environment, the oceans, the climate, our social programs are on the verge of collapse. Please give us a strong voice to make people aware and avoid doomsday before it is too late. Most of the world’s countries disapprove of our current foreign policy. We have the U.N. and should be working to strengthen it, not defy it, and use it to settle disputes between nations.

From the Chair
by Dian Sorenson

From an article in the July 20, 2003 Racine Journal Times by Jonathan D. Shalant, Associated Press. The Associated Press looked at several measures to be voted on in the House of Representatives. They compared lawmaker’s votes to the financial backing they received from interest groups.

Well, you needn’t be told which way they voted, but it appeared to be the more a group donated, the more likely votes went the way the groups wanted. The oil industry gave about $5.8 million, the environmentalists gave $751,079. Our lawmakers are voting for an energy bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, as most of us are aware. Please write to President Bush and your legislators urging them not to open the Refuge to drilling, as the devastation would be irreparable.

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Southeast Gateway Group Cranberry Sale
by Dian Sorenson

Once again this October, the Southeast Gateway Group will be selling special, larger, sweeter, tastier cranberries for just $3.00 per one-pound bag. These are the variety that are used to make Craisins™ and are not available fresh in the grocery stores. We have made special arrangements with a Wisconsin grower, Wetherby’s, to buy case-load lots at fund-raiser prices to bring you these wonderful cranberries. (Note in comparing prices that the grocery stores usually sell 12-ounce bags rather than a full pound.) These cranberries may be frozen right in the bag, so be sure to order plenty for yourself, neighbors, family, friends and co-workers to last throughout the year. The recipes in this issue will give you just a few ideas on how you can use them.

Place your order early, but surely by Monday, October 20th for pick-up by our Treasurer on October 25. Payment must be included with the order. For the name of the order-taker nearest you, call Dian in Racine at

(262) 633-6974 or Roz in Kenosha at (262) 694-3351.

At the time this article had to be written, we still had not recruited enough order takers, so please volunteer to either Dian or Roz so that we have many convenient locations throughout the Southeast Gateway area for people to place their orders and pick them up on or after October 25.

It is imperative that the Group raise money in addition to the relatively small amount that comes to us through the Chapter from the Sierra Club for our programs and activities. We do this through donations and sales of calendars and cranberries. We have been fortunate to receive grants for specific programs such as the planting of native species along the Root River Pathway in Colonial Park and our intervention in the permit application of WE Energies for the major expansion of coal-fired power plans at the Elm Road Generating Site (Oak Creek and/or Caledonia), but these monies cannot be used for our general operating expenses. These cranberries are good tasting, a good buy, and support the Sierra Club in Southeast Wisconsin. So please buy and sell as many of these bigger, redder, plumper, sweeter cranberries as you can.

Cranberry Recipes

Cranberry Cake with Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
2 cups sifted flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
3 tbsp. melted butter or oleomargerine
2 cups raw whole SEGG cranberries

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk, oleomargerine and cranberries. Bake 40?45 minutes at 350° F in greased 9 x 12 inch or 10 x 10 inch cake pan. Test center for doneness with toothpick.

Caramel Sauce: 2 cups brown sugar and 5 tsp. flour blended in saucepan. Add 2?1/2 cups water and cook until thick. Add 1 tbsp. butter or oleomargerine and 1 tsp. vanilla. Serve sauce hot over each serving of cake.

Brandied Cranberry Sauce

Place 4 cups fresh or frozen SEGG cranberries in 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups sugar. Cover and bake at 300° F for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Stir carefully and then stir in 1/3 cup brandy (or orange juice). Pour into jars or serving dishes. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 3 cups.

Cranberry Almond Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1?1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup frozen or fresh SEGG cranberries, rinsed and chopped
1/3 cup slivered almonds
Small amount of sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper cups. Combine flour, both sugars, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, egg and almond extract in separate mixing bowl. Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cranberries. (They don’t need to be completely

thawed.) Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle tops with sugar and almonds. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Makes 12 muffins.

Molded Cranberry Apple Salad

1 small pkg. strawberry Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup chopped SEGG cranberries
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a bowl, thoroughly dissolve gelatin in boiling water, add cold water. Chill until it begins to thicken. Prepare and stir in cranberries, apples and nuts. Spoon into a 1 qt. mold. Chill until set. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Cranberry Apple Pie

Pastry for two-crust pie.
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
4 cups pared, sliced, tart apples
1 tsp. apple pie spices
2 cups fresh whole SEGG cranberries
2 tbsp. butter or oleomargerine

Preheat oven to 425° F. Prepare pastry. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour and spices. Add apples and cranberries, mix to coat well. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with butter or oleomargerine. Cover with top crust. Cut slits into top crust and flute edges. Bake 40 to 50 minutes and then cool.

Cranberry Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped SEGG cranberries

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5-inch loaf pan. Mix sugar and butter together in a medium mixing bowl until completely blended. Add banana, milk and eggs, mixing well. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until moist. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool before slicing.