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About Climate Alliance for the Common Good
The Climate Alliance for the Common Good helps people learn about climate change and take action! Empowered people have hope. We have the technology we need to win the fight against climate change. We need to create the political and social will to take action.
We found hope by learning about great tools and technologies we can use to address climate issues. Knowledge guides the steps we need to take and the policies we need to support. We are dedicated to working with citizens in our area, and in fact anywhere, to inspire action against climate change. We provide speakers and tools and want to engage all of us, including organizations, businesses, government, developers, power utilities, and more, and work with everyone to tackle climate change. We see our role as broadly sharing unbiased information about the threat of climate change and what we can all be doing to combat it. Inactivity puts society and its descendants at risk, while action offers hope.
How We Got Started:
The Climate Alliance for the Common Good is a 501 c3. A few years ago, we started out as a group of La Crosse and area citizens and experts with a goal of fighting climate change, especially using some energy conservation techniques (one called exergy, particularly—a method of high-value energy conservation—a longer term infrastructure approach to reusing otherwise wasted heat).
Through this work, we came to understand that some of the biggest challenges to making climate-smart investments and actions arose 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.
Accomplishments during the Alliance’s Initial Focus/High-Value Energy Conservation:
The Climate Alliance (operating as local exergy groups) has a three-year track record of accomplishments as follows:
- Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan: Our input has led to the inclusion of a high-value conservation/exergy strategy in the Wisconsin Climate Plan
- Study by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and the University of Wisconsin-Madison: The group requested a study, which found that taxpayers currently spend $14.4 billion annually for energy produced outside of Wisconsin, making a powerful argument for the implementation, in Wisconsin of high-value conservation and other climate-friendly initiatives that will save citizens billions of dollars.
Engaging the Public and Local Organizations:
- Through multiple speaking engagements, we have met with hundreds of citizens to talk about climate change and how to take action to mitigate it.
- Through advocacy work with developers, power utilities, government, and private business, we support larger projects, such as high-value energy conservation efforts.
- The La Crosse Nonprofit Toolkit on Climate Action helps your nonprofit take specific and effective action in the fight against climate change.
- The La Crosse Small Business Toolkit on Sustainability and an ancillary set of tools are now available on our website. These are free to businesses in the La Crosse area, with a donation requested for businesses outside our area.
