Local Events Calendar

THURSDAY, JULY 17, 7 P.M.
PANDORA'S HOPE: A LIVABLE WORLD IN A NUCLEAR AGE
Three distinguished campaigners for peace, justice, and sustainability will present a panel discussion on "Pandora's Hope: A Livable World in a Nuclear Age," at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 17, at Skyridge Church of the Brethren, 394 S. Drake Rd., in Kalamazoo.

• Mike Nickerson, founding member of the Green Party of Canada, author of "Planning for Seven Generations" and "Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth As If We Want to Stay," is the husband of
• Donna Dillman, who recently fasted for 68 days, in support of peaceful protests by Algonquin and Obaadjiwan First Nations, opposing a mining claim by a uranium exploration company to 30,000 acres of Algonquin land at the headwaters of the Mississippi water system in Ontario. She is an anti-nuclear activist, as is
• Cliff Kindy, who recently returned from a peacemaking mission in Iraq and has participated in Christian Peace Team missions in Jonesborough, Tennessee, home of Aerojet Ordinance, the Pentagon's principal supplier of depleted-uranium weapons.

Preceding the 7 p.m. discussion, audience members are invited to join with the panelists in a potluck supper at 6 p.m. at Skyridge Church of the Brethren. Appropriate dishes to bring are salads, breads, cheeses, or fruit; participants should also bring their own plates, cups, and tableware. Those planning to attend the potluck should notify Lowey Dickason at loweyd@lodisnet.com or 269-639-8706.

THURSDAY, JULY 24, 7 P.M.
A Conversation with ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU,
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, on "Compassionate Communities"
Miller Auditorium, Kalamazoo
Call Miller Auditorium for free tickets, 269-387-2300, or 1-800-228-9858.
Sponsored by the Fetzer Institute www.fetzer.org.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11, 8:30-3:30
KALAMAZOO AREA WILD ONES ONE-DAY CONFERENCE:
"GARDENING TO SAVE OUR INSECTS AND BIRDS."
At the Kalamazoo Nature Center - Free admission, but pre-registration required, beginning Aug. 1 (limited seating)

Keynote speaker, Douglas Tallamy, Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and author of "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens."
Professor Tallamy maintains that in order to sustain the current diversity of native plants and animals within our borders, we Americans must radically change the way we landscape our yards. We must replace our lawns and nonnative ornamentals with the native plants with which the wildlife of our particular region evolved and which support it better than plants from other parts of the world (or even from different regions of North America) possibly can.

Tallamy's research shows that the plant-eating insects that perform the crucial task of transferring the sun's energy up the food web to other insects and other creatures, including birds, greatly prefer native, to nonnative plants. It's hard to overestimate the importance of Professor Tallamy's book for anyone concerned about the natural world in this time of violent climate disruption and massive species extinction.

"Without insects," E. O. Wilson maintains in The Diversity of Life (1992), "most of the terrestrial life forms on this planet would quickly disappear." Professor Tallamy's keynote speech is appropriately titled "Gardening for Life."

Although the conference is free (unless you order the $7 box lunch), you STILL MUST REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE. SEATING IS LIMITED. To register, call the Kalamazoo Nature Center (269/381-1574), STARTING AUGUST 1. Registration will continue until October 1, or seats are filled.
Co-sponsors of the conference include the Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Environmental Council, the West Michigan Climate Action Network, the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, and the Southwestern Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club.

Take the DFA CO2 Petition Challenge!
What the petition is asking?

Governor Jennifer Granholm, declare CO2 emissions a global warming pollutant!

We, the undersigned, applaud Governor Jennifer Granholm for her efforts to help stop the advance of global warming, including a strong proposed renewable energy standard requiring Michigan produce at least 25% of our electricity from non-polluting, renewable sources by 2025 and recruitment of renewable energy manufacturing jobs to Michigan.

To reach these goals and to decrease the emission of Cardon Dioxide (CO2), we ask that Governor Granholm direct the Department of Environmental Quality to regulate CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants and other operations as a global warming pollutant in all future air quality decisions. Coal-fired power plants already have serious negative impacts on public health, and today they are a major force behind global warming. Global warming is the most significant environmental and humanitarian emergency that has ever faced our planet; Michigan must play a leading role in reducing emissions of CO2, a significant cause of global warming.

What YOU can do.

• Print the attached petition. (If unable to do so, send e-mail to Jan O'Connell, janoconnell@sbcglobal.net or 616 956-6646, with your mailing address and request for form.)
• Join Clean Water Action and more than 40 other supporting organizations, and gather petition signatures from friends, family and neighbors!
• Attend the Global Warming Hearing on May 29
• Then, immediately after the Hearing, bring your petitions to San Chez, 38 W. Fulton, for a little cameraderie while we celebrate the person having the most signatures with a complementary drink! (Or send them in, as directed.)
  

Issue Background

• Scientists largely agree: we must reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
• CO2 is a primary contributor to global warming.
• Use of coal contributes 40% of the world's CO2 emissions.
• Michigan currently operates 19 coal-fired power plants. Seven more are in various stages of permitting.
• Michigan's energy demand is currently in decline.
• Costs of generating energy from new sources is rising.
• But according to a recent report by Lazard, a preeminent financial advisory and asset management firm, projected cost of new energy from coal well exceeds projected costs of new energy from wind, of which Michigan has an abundance.
• The Department of Energy has reported that Michigan's potential electrical generation from wind is, and will be for some time, double its electrical demand.
• Bills have now passed the MI House including an adequate energy efficiency bill (1%/year savings and the cheapest way to make power available for more use) and a weak Renewable Portfolio Standard (10% by 2015, when utilities are already delivering 4%!)
• The Senate should act quickly with a stronger, mandatory RPS to encourage the rapid growth in renewable energy sector that other states have already enjoyed, before we suffer additional competitive disadvantage. ACTION ITEM: CONTACT YOUR SENATOR!
• While we wait impatiently for our lawmakers to enact the EE and RPS bills with strength and for the renewable energy sector to surge in response, as it has elsewhere, there is yet another measure we can take to curb CO2 emissions in our state.
• We can urge the Governor to exercise her executive authority by ordering the DEQ to regulate CO2 emissions as a pollutant! ACTION ITEM: GATHER PETITION SIGNATURES.