Climate Alliance for the Common Good
Take Action to Protect Our Climate
  • Read about the Climate Alliance on WPR

    Climate Alliance executive director, Tom Schlesinger, was interviewed by Ezra Wall of WPR on the need for urgent action and the tools available.

    View on WPR.org
  • Protect Wisconsin's Rapid Access to Federal Funds

    Let your state representatives know you want to keep Wisconsin's streamlined access to federal funds. Tell them to vote NO on Assembly Joint Resolution 6 (AJR6).

    Find out more
  • To Be Scheduled: Free Sustainability Workshop for Small Businesses

    If we get enough interest, we will host a workshop on small businesse sustainability, sponsored by the Climate Alliance for the Common Good. Let us know! The workshop is based on the free La Crosse Small Business Toolkit for Sustainability, downloadable from this site.

    Download toolkit

Climate Alliance for the Common Good

Climate Alliance for the Common Good wants to help people learn about climate change and what we can do to address it. Empowered people have hope. We have the technology we need to win the fight against climate change.  We need to work together to create the political and social will to act as a community and through individual actions.

Who We Are

We are dedicated to working with people in the La Crosse area to unite us to take steps to fight climate change. In 2019, a small group of us started working to promote infrastructure that supports climate-smart development. Although we made progress with policy, came to understand that some of the biggest challenges to making climate-smart investments and actions grew from a lack of information: people don't know the many ways available to stop climate change. We humans already have the tools, with more becoming available all the time, to stop climate change in its tracks. Our group decided to switch gears, so that rather than pushing a specific infrastructure change, we would engage the community and work locally in addressing global climate change.

Who We Are

Talks and Services

We offer speakers; share information on area climate events; and provide updates on the newest information around climate change. We are also working on toolkits to help individuals and organizations choose from a list of recommended climate actions.

The Climate Alliance has worked with multiple groups in the area, giving talks about climate change and the steps we can take to protect our planet. For example, we have presented to five Rotary Clubs, religious groups, and others. If you are interested in talking to us about making a presentation, please contact us.

The Climate Alliance is also looking to help environmental groups in the area get the word out about any activities or events they have planned. If you have an event you would like us to add to the calendar, please get in touch.

Climate Updates is a way to keep up with recent climate scientific findings and climate technologies and policies. It will also include a wide range of topics that may help you find ways to take action.

We have a toolkit to help small businesses and organizations take action in protecting our planet in a way that is economically advantageous, and that brings in the climate-conscious customers that make up the majority of the local population. We are considering other possibilities about toolkits, such as a toolkit designed for individual residences and more; let us know if you have suggestions or would like to be notified when a new toolkit comes available.

 

Learn

Learn

To protect our planet, we need to understand facts about climate change, technology that can protect our climate, and initiatives and possible policies to curb greenhouse gasses.

98% of climate scientists concur that the climate is changing because of human-driven greenhouse gas emissions. This and lots more very depressing data backs the science of climate change. Some climate science even supports a little optimism -- we are making a difference! Click here for more science facts.

Another fact is that we have technology we can use to stop climate change and reach climate neutrality. An amazing array of technology is becoming more widely available now, when the need for it is urgent. Click here for more about climate-positive technology.

Initiatives, policy, and cooperation have been used by countries and cities around the world to halt and even reverse climate change. These efforts made an enormous difference in species' survival and in curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Click here for more about climate-positive policy.

The new economy, based on climate-friendly models, offers significant potential economic development. Spurred by consumers, policy, and more, these changes will provide enormous opportunities for savings and new businesses. Click here for more about the economic benefits of a climate-based economy.

As the world drives towards a solution to the climate crisis, new words and phrases reflect the evolution of technology, science, and behavior. Click here for a brief climate glossary.

Knowledge, combined with the combined will of concerned people, will make the difference in protecting our climate.

Learning is the Basis for Hope

We need to have hope that we can address climate change. Hope rests on three legs: "the science reporting on current and potential conditions, the technology offering solutions, and the organizing which is shifting perspectives and policy." To counter doom-scrolling and the frightening and enormous nature of climate destruction, we can find hope in each of the arenas:

  • Science
  • Technology
  • Policy
  • Economic Benefits

We have also included a climate glossary section, to help us all keep up with new terminology as the field of climate science and technology advances.

Climate science gives us both fear and hope. By understanding the overall climate, we can determine the sources of greenhouse gas emissions and begin to control them. We have already used the data about emissions to reduce emissions in a measurable way If we continue, and we will, we can save ourselves from the worst outcomes. We have made a good start.

Technology has been established and continues to emerge that is making the enormous difference in the race to reach climate balance. Incredible advances in clean technology are already in the works; to name just a few: new battery storage solutions; the growth and affordability of solar; increased attention to soil management and agricultural enhancing carbon sequestration.

The same is true of policy-myriad policies are being adopted around the world that are proven effective in driving back the climate challenge; to name a few: the EU policy is to "discourage all further investments into fossil-fuel-based energy infrastructure projects in third countries," California committed to halting all fossil fuel extraction; and the U.S. has invested heavily in climate protection and the news economy that spawns.

The website Carbon Tracker put out an immensely positive report: "current technology could produce a hundred times as much electricity from solar and wind as current global demand; prices on solar continue to drop rapidly and dramatically; and the land required to produce all this energy would take less than is currently given over to fossil fuels."

If we work together we can address the issue of climate change!

La Crosse Area Climate Stories

Coulee Climate Features

Because local action is key to solving the global climate crisis, we want to include stories about local efforts to address climate change. With so many environmental, conservation, and ecological groups in the Coulee region, there's a lot to report on.

If you have a Coulee climate story, please get in touch with the Climate Alliance at contact@climatealliancecg.org. We want to feature your efforts!