By Gregg Hoffmann
WisBusiness.com
La CROSSE – Tia Nelson, the daughter of the late Senator and Governor Gaylord Nelson, has taken up where her environmentalist father left off and is bringing her message to the Coulee Region.
Nelson is the keynote speaker Friday night at the Coulee Progressives State of the Union event, called “State of the Union 2007: Global Warming Isn’t Cool.”
The event runs from 5 to 11:30 p.m. in the Concordia Ballroom, 1129 La Crosse St. Nelson will speak at 7:30 p.m.
Sliding scale donations of$2 to $15 will be accepted. Non-perishable food items also are accepted.
As director of The Nature Conservancy’s Climate Change Initiative, Tia Nelson pioneered projects that reduce global warming by protecting forests. She got her start at the Conservancy as a legislative representative in 1987 and is largely responsible for the organization’s decision to lobby Congress to pass legislation addressing U.S. global-warming emissions. She won the 2000 EPA Climate Protection Award.
Her father generally is considered the founder of Earth Day and made the environment his main issue during his years in elected office and after.
The State of the Union is just one of four area events this week looking at global warming and related issues. A group in Galesville is scheduled to hold a forum on sustainability at the Galesville Public Library from 7 to 8:30 p.m. tonight. The group will look at the Natural Steo program in use in Sweden.
From 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, the La Crosse area Sierra Club is holding a brainstorming session on what can be done to stem the problem at the Ho Chunk Center in La Crosse.
Also on Thursday night, arctic explorer Will Steger will make a presentation in Winona, Minnesota, called “Eyewitness to Global Warming.” That event starts at 7:30 p.m.
