The 30% Solution
In August, members of the Southeast Gateway Group's Conservation Committee visited the mayors of Racine and Kenosha to urge them to support and vote for "The 30% Solution"/EC-14. The Sierra Club strove to contact all 754 of the Cool Cities mayors to bring to their attention the September 17-23 meeting of the International Code Council (ICC) in Minneapolis, at which building code officials from around the country will vote on a bold proposal to strengthen building code energy-efficiency standards in new homes by 30%. Mayors who have signed the U. S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Change Protection Agreement (Cool Cities Agreement) have pledged to reduce their cities' greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. They probably will not meet this pledge without improving energy efficiency in homes and buildings, which account for over 40% of America's total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and three-fourths of its electricity. The 30% Solution was submitted by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC), a broad-based alliance of some of the nation's top energy efficiency advocates including government, regional energy efficient networks, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, think tanks, architects, utilities, energy consumers and businesses. The goal was to strengthen the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code by 30% over the 2006 model code. The EECC believes that The 30% Solution: Is affordable and cost-effective for home buyers; Can reduce combined monthly utility and mortgage costs compared to less efficient homes; Can reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Will support a more stable and sustainable lifestyle. The EECC had conducted energy and economic analyses that demonstrate (and the prestigious ICF Consulting, Inc. has independently confirmed) that this proposal will increase residential new construction energy efficiency by 30%. By 2010, the first full year of implementation, estimated energy savings of 68.5 trillion Btu will have been achieved - the equivalent of 11 power plants. Additionally, we would Ø prevent 4 million metric tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and homeowners would save $565 million in previously wasted energy per year. By 2020, these numbers would be up to 4.6 quadrillion Btu, 405 power plants, 268 million metric tons of CO2 and $38 billion in wasted energy per year in the residential sector. Unfortunately, in the wee hours of the morning of the last day of the ICC conference, the new code failed by five votes to gain the required 2/3 majority necessary for adoption. Neither Mayor Gary Becker of Racine nor Mayor Keith Bosman of Kenosha were willing to commit the attendance of themselves or their building inspectors for such a long conference without more specific data than we could supply, but spoke strongly for the proposed increase in energy efficiency and promised further investigation. Each city would have had up to eight votes at the convention. Melissa Warner and I visited with Mayor Becker and we were joined by Barry Thomas, Barbara Meyocks and Dennis Flath for the visit with Mayor Bosman. Most of the information for this article was taken from a pdf. file obtained from the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition.

FROM THE CHAIR
By Nancy Hennessy

TRANSITIONS
I joined the Sierra Club in the 80s but for years I was not an active member. I wrote my annual check to the Sierra Club and felt good that "someone" was doing the work of fighting for the environment. Eight years ago when Melissa Warner asked me if I would consider becoming a member of the Southeast Gateway Group's Executive Committee my response was "Who, me?" I didn't think I was informed enough on environmental issues and I certainly hadn't been active enough in Sierra Club to qualify me ' for such a position. But Melissa insisted that I'd do fine and it would be an opportunity to learn a lot. Well, Melissa was right. During the last eight years it has been a privilege to work with and learn from a dedicated and knowledgeable group of people. The last four years I have been chair of he Executive Committee and thus Chair of the Group. The Sierra Club has a wonderful history of grassroots activism and you don't have to be an expert on environmental issues to be effective. The greater your involvement the more you will learn. I urge you to make the transition from member to active member - there are numerous committees to work on and activities to join. Try it - you'll like it.

Welcome New Members
Bristol - Richard Delaney Burlington - Daniel Bruner, Joseph Selenski, Mary Schneider, Peter Hintz, Sally Clausen, Thomas Jorn Caledonia - Daniel Dickert, Mrs. William DeWalt Delevan - David Nystrom, Ed O'Brien, Jean Black East Troy - Frank Schneider, Lisa Thomas Elkhorn - Diane Petruzzini, John Moore, William Seymour Franksville - Daniel Krause Genoa City - Lucia Timchak, Mari Reynolds, Thomas Salach Kansasville - Clayton Squires, Judith Amundsen Kenosha - Alan Goldsmith, Camile Meyers, Carl Johnson, Casey Cushman, Diane Levis, Joanna Cohoon, Lucille Repka, Peggy & William Bounds, Susan Andrea, Tonya Jones Lake Geneva - Marilyn Dee, Mrs. Edward Silander, N. Gra fce Mathews, Sally Polizzi-Robb Lyons - Sharon Smith Pell Lake - Christina Boskovic Powers Lake - Mr. & Mrs. H. Madeen Racine - Abdallah Batayneh, Ann Meier Wiedenbeck, Barbara Laska, Bruce Zahn, Clenton Williams, Daniel Beeman, Debi Machak, Eric May, Gary Brand, Joann Franzke, John Arredondo, Josephine Gregory, Judy Maritato, Kathryn Barrow, Lauren Julius, Lois Aceto, Bonnie Engler, Richard Stibb, Sarah Klaus Rochester - Matt Price Salem - Mr. & Mrs. Edward Peterson Sturtevant - Alyce Nawrocki, Roberta Gray, Sharon Nowakowski Trevor - Sandra Stortz Union Grove - Larry Zamba Waterford - Arthur Rein, Karen Rader, Thomas Lindner Williams Bay - Allen Hermansen

Congratulations, Penny!
Penny Bernard Shaber was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 57th District in Appleton this past month. She is the first Democrat to be elected from that district since 1917. Penn žy is a former Chair of the John Muir Chapter, joining Rep. Spencer Black as the second former JMC Chair in the Legislature.

 Attend the January Planning Meeting
At this meeting we will be putting our energy into brainstorming and planning activities for the year. So bring your ideas for programs, outings, political action, publicity, fundraising, environmental education and conservation. New members are encouraged to attend. It's a great opportunity to get involved, learn about what the group has been doing and share your ideas. We are always looking for new ways to be more effective. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 10th, at the Olympia Brown Unitarian Church Annex, 419 6th St. in Racine We'll start at 9:00 a.m. with coffee and conversation to get you warmed up and feed you lunch to keep you going. The meeting will adjourn by 2:00 p.m.

WLCV Conservation Priorities
Our general membership meeting in January is on the 15th (Third Thursday as always) at the Kenosha Northside Public Library, 1500 27th Ave, starting at 7:00 p.m. four The program will be presented by the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, the group that organizes Conservation Lobby Day. WLCV meets with leaders of conservation organizations and holds listening sessions around the state to determine priorities for the legislative year. Then on Lobby Day conservationists from around the state head to Madison to educate their legislators. This has been a very effecti ve way to make our voices heard on conservation issues. Come and learn about this year's priorities. Then join us on February 25 when we go to Madison for Lobby Day.

SEGG Book Club Is Reading "YOUR LAND AND MINE"
By Edgar Weyburn
Edgar Weyburn, a tenacious and tireless leader of the Sierra Club is described as perhaps the least known yet most successful defender of America's natural heritage. Your Land and Mine focuses on his key conservation campaigns, some of the most crucial of the 20th century, and the fascinating cast of characters that populated them. Join us on January 22nd when we will discuss this book. The book is available from the Sierra Club if you can't find it elsewhere. The Book ¨Club will meet at the John and Lila Berge's house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine. There will be a potluck supper at 5:30 p.m. and the book discussion will start around 7:00. Let John or Lila know if you are coming for the potluck and what dish to pass you are bringing. Those who want to skip the potluck can come at seven.

Sierra Club Calendars Kari Olesen reminds us to get our 2009 Sierra Club Calendars while they are still available. She will have them at the December Holiday Potluck Dinner on December 18, but you can also order them from Kari at (262) 995-4455 or by e-mail at scatteredgoods AT yahoo.com. The Wilderness (wall hung) calendars are $11 and the Engagement (desk type) calendars are $12. Help support the Southeast Gateway Group by buying calendars for yourself and for gifts.

JMC Award Winners Announced by Melissa Wrner At this year's Autumn Assembly, the John Muir Chapter announced the winners of its annual awards, and three are from the Southeast Gateway area. The Good Citizen Award is presented to a non-Sierran community group working on innovative programs that benefit the environment. The Rain Garden Project, created by The Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network, Susan Greenfield Executive Director, won the Good Citizen Award. Launched in 2008, the project is designed to improve water quality in the watershed by reducing runoff and increasing infiltration of rainwater. A 300 square foot rain garden can infiltrate up to 12,000 gallons of water each year. RP WIN organized workshops, secured funding to purchase plants, and assisted homeowners in planning and installing rain gardens. Root-Pike WIN's enthusiastic approach, careful p lanning and publicity resulted in the creation of 32 rain gardens in one year alone, exceeding the goal by almost 30%. Fourteen of the gardens are "demonstration rain gardens" and open to the public. The Merit Award is presented to a JMC member who organized solutions to environmental problems. Jeff Sytsma, SEGG Treasurer, has organized our rain barrel project. Water collected in rain barrels is released slowly over time, rather than all at once, and is often diverted from non-pervious surfaces, thus reducing storm water runoff. In addition to other sales, Jeff has partnered with the City of Racine Public Works Department to offer 200 rain barrels to city residents at a subsidized rate. If each barrel diverts 1300 gallons/year (number suggested by Center for Watershed Protection), then 1,300,000 gallons will be redirected each year once this goal is reached. The New Activist Award, for a member of two years or less, was presented to Laura Feider. Laura is secretary of the Executive Committee, and was instrumental in organizing the Bottled Water Education project, emphasizing both the wasteful use of plastic and the undermining of confidence in local water supplies. They created the Ôwater taste test' and took it on the road, enabling many folks to realize that they liked tap water as well as, if not better than, bottled. She has also put SEGG on FaceBook.

Should Those Omnipresent Plastic Bags Carry A Fee?
Another mayor of a major city has recommended a tax on those thin plastic bags which end up in the trees, landfills, incinerators and waters. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of Ne w York City has proposed a six cents per bag fee, after trying to encourage the use of reusable bags in ads and public announcements. The carrot is being replaced with a stick. It is estimated that the New York City budget will benefit by $16 million dollars if people continue with their present dependence on plastic bags. On the other hand, if the tax is high enough, people will change and use reusable cloth bags. In Ireland, the tax was set at thirty-three cents a bag. Within a few weeks the use of plastic bags dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had purchased the cloth bags and remembered to take them with when shopping. On the West Coast, San Francisco already has a tax on plastic bags and it is being considered in Se attle and Los Angeles. In Europe, such a fee, tax or an outright ban is common. Many environmentalists, of course, have immediately announced in favor of the fee, but delicatessen owners, grocery stores and places where people may make spur of the moment decisions (apparently a trait of New Yorkers) are not so sure. One deli owner described customers asking for another bag for a twenty-five cent bag of chips. Maybe this is a program that local mayors, county executives and even the governor should consider, not only for the sake of the environment, but for their battered budgets. It also is a way of reducing our dependence on petroleum since that is the feed stock from which the bags are made. People need to change their habits - replacing ba @d ones with good ones. We don't need a plastic bag to take home something that is already over wrapped. We need to keep the reusable cloth bags in our cars for spur of the moment purchases. The New York plan would have five cents for each bag go to the city and a penny per bag go to the retailer as an incentive to comply. Thanks to Nancy Duerston for bringing New york's proposal to our attention.

Cranberry Sales
Jeff Sytsma, Fund Raising Chair for the Southeast Gateway Group reported that 220 pounds of Cranberries were sold this year by members of the Group. By far the largest order was for 100 pounds in Kenosha. Great work everybody. With less money coming down from the Sierra Club nationally, it is more important than ever that we raise what we need to keep going.

A DAY WITH ALDO LEOPOLD
Our Outing to the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center and "the Shack"
By Nancy Hennessy
[IMAGE - From l. to r. Lila Berge, John Berge, Jay Warner, Nina Leopold Bradley, Melissa Warner, Mary Ann Ortmayer, Harry Knipp, Nancy Hennessy.]

September 13 was a gray day - cool and drizzly - perfect for planting, weeding, mulching and washing windows. It was the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center's semiannual work day so seven members of the SEGG and other volunteers put in 6,000 prairie plants, mulched the equivalent of half an acre and washed 57 large windows. After a morning of work, we had lunch and an opportunity to meet Nina Leopold Bradley, Aldo Leopold's el Údest daughter - who charmed us. At 80 she continues to be an articulate, thoughtful voice for "the land ethic" - the "new" way of thinking about how people can live in concert with nature on the land - an idea that was introduced by her father in "A Sand County Almanac" Our day was completed with a tour of the carbon-neutral, LEED certified Legacy Center and a visit to the Shack. As we sat in the tiny Shack our guide told us stories of how the family used the resources around them to create a cozy livable retreat and worked together to reclaim the abused farmland that surrounded it. Then supper in Baraboo. All in all it was definitely a trip worth taking.

SEGG Elections
Because the October - November issue of the Southeast Sierran was going to be delayed, the Executive Committee postponed the deadline for submitting ballots until the December general membership meeting (the Annual Holiday Potluck) on December 18, 2008. Possibly the Nominations and Election Committee will be able to count the ballots and announce the results at the meeting. Otherwise, the results will be confirmed by the Executive Committee at their January 8 meeting and announced at the Annual Planning Meeting, January 10. See the Calendar on page two for times and locations. Of course, the results of the Executive Committee and Officer elections will appear in the next issue of the Southeast Sierran. To all those who have already submitted their ballots to Barbara Meyocks, a warm thank you is cordially extended. Voting is but one way the membership can participate in the Group.

A LETTER TO THOSE ON THE WEST END OF OUR GROUP
Lauren Pohn invites all the outdoor women and men who are outside the Racine/Kenosha/ Milwaukee area to send her their e-mail addresses so she and you can plan a few fun activities of your own.  She wrote the editor: "All are welcome to plan or request activities in which you would like to participate.  We do need a group e-mail list so we can communicate. Please send your name(s), locations, and e-mail addresses to Lauren Pohn pohn AT sbcglobal.net (Delavan).  One idea is to join the Ice Age Trail group for year-round hikes (short about 3 miles and long about 6 miles) on Tuesday afternoons a gt 4 and on Wednesday mornings at 10:30.  If interested contact Russ Helwig for directions. helwigr AT cni-usa.com." DECEMBER POT LUCK And Picture Show Our annual December Pot Luck is always an opportunity to meet old friends and perhaps make new ones. This year you are invited to share pictures of your recent travels or adventures with the group. Limit yourself to no more than 10 pictures. E-mail them to Laura. She will be putting together a digital slide show for us. Imflowerpower@hotmail.com Once again this year, we will be holding our holiday potluck in the fellowship hall at Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church, 1700 S. Green Bay Road, Racine. When entering the church, go down the ramp to the right. Bring a dish to share and your plate, cup, flatware and serving utensil if necessary. There will be an oven to keep hot dishes hot.

WANTED: A NEW EDITOR FOR THE SOUTHEAST SIERRAN!
Gary Zumach, our most recent editor, has retired and the Group is in need of a new editor. Gary served the Southeast Gateway Group well as editor for over 15 years, starting with the February - March, 1993 issue. Gary brought an artistic flair and a sense of line, space and style to the position as well as the desire to communicate well with the members of the Group. He has also served on the Executive Committee and as Co-Chair of the SEGG. The Group is most appreciative of his efforts and wishes him the best of luck on whatever lies on his horizon. Thank you, Gary, from all of us. Applicants for the position of Group Editor should contact John Berge (262) 633-8455, Nancy Hennessy (262) 639-5639, or Melissa Warner (262) 639-0918 as soon as possible. Experience with desktop publishing and computers would be appreciate „d, but a person with the proper software (and the willingness to learn how to use it) is probably essential, although the Group may buy the software if that becomes necessary. The ability to work with the members of the Executive Committee and the various committee chairs is also a requisite. We have learned to work with a fairly long lead time, so hours are flexible. Salary and benefits are the same as for all other volunteers in the leadership of the Group - the joy of working with others who are concerned about enjoying, exploring and protecting the natural environment, and the thrill of accomplishing something worthwhile. There is an online Sierra Club Editors Group which is a source of ideas, suggestions, help and information about limits within which we operate. The opening is immediately available. As Interim Editor, John Berge put out this issue.