Letter from the Executive Director

The Will Steger Foundation blog has a number of great articles by our youth leaders this month. From Midwest Powershift in Cleveland, Ohio to youth led meetings with legislative staff, to preparing to participate in the upcoming United Nations climate conference in Durban, South Africa, a generation is getting to work building their future.

Youth have also been submitting observations to our online classroom for Minnesota’s Changing Climate: "I learned that humans have a huge impact on how fast the climate changes and that everything we do affects the changing climate. I also learned that we can change the world.” "I learned that every living thing has an impact on how the world changes." Check them out in our exciting online classroom!

The Changing Arctic event was a great success last month. Over 80 people joined the Will Steger Foundation and partners for a thought-provoking conversation. The half-day event explored what a changing arctic, mainly an ice-free arctic, means for economics, the environment, diplomacy and security.

We are gearing up for Give to the Max Day this Wednesday November 16th and hope you will join us by supporting our work.

Finally, on December 7 & 8 Will Steger will be talking about his eyewitness experience with climate change and the connection between climate, clean air and human health at two events in Grand Rapids and Princeton, MN. We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Nicole Rom, Executive Director

Give to the Max Day – November 16th! A generous donor has provided us with a $1,000 matching grant so your donation to us will go twice as far! Please participate this Wednesday November 16th! Your gift to the Will Steger Foundation will make a huge difference in our ongoing work to educate, inspire and empower people to engage in solutions to climate change.

Education

Will Steger Visits Metro Area Schools

Last week Will and the rest of the WSF education team headed out to see how schools are implementing Minnesota's Changing Climate. Middle school students from the Friends School showed us around Crosby Farm Park where they do monthly observations and collect data about the area. Third graders from Salem Hills Elementary, shared the results of their work, took us on a walk outside to journal, and showed us the garden plot where they will be starting a compost project.

Thanks for letting us visit and sharing all your good work! This week we will be visiting Roseville Middle School and Metro Tech Career Academy on November 18th.

Emerging Leaders

Midwest Power Shift: Big success!

500 young people from across the Midwest gathered in Cleveland State University for a 3 day intensive summit on youth climate action around five core themes: coal, fracking, tar sands, environmental policy, and building the clean energy economy. The summit featured over 60 youth-led workshops, strategic breakouts by state, site visits, keynote speakers including David Orr, Lois Gibbs, and Rev. David Bullock, and a march and rally in opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline. WSF Youth Programs Director, Abby Fenton, was an active member of the youth steering committee, delivered the opening keynote address, and engaged 100 students on site in building a unified Midwest youth climate coalition.

Read more!

• Midwest Power Shift, a generation gets to work building its future
• In Ohio, Youth Activists Rally for a Cause Not a Candidate

YEA! MN Event will Feature a Live Discussion from Durban/COP17

Paul and John

Join high school leaders and community members for a free event at the Edina Public Library, 2-4 PM, Dec 3rd, featuring a live Skype conversation with delegates for the COP 17 international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. WSF is sponsoring YEA! MN Volunteer Educator and Cool Planet Founder Paul Thompson, and organizer for Citizen Climate Lobby, John Howard, as delegates to the UNFCCC conference. Hosted by YEA! MN in partnership with MN350 and Cool Planet, the event will also feature youth speakers and opportunities to take action on critical climate policy at the state and federal level. RSVP...

In The News

National Geographic 50 Greatest Pictures

Will Steger's famous "Lunchbreak" shot from the 1989-90 International Trans-Antarctic Expedition is featured in the 2011 National Geographic 50 Greatest Pictures magazine. Read More…

North American Association of Environmental Education

North American Association of Environmental Education's newsletter features a blog entry about the Climate Literacy Workshop by Kristen Poppleton, Education Program Manager. Read More…

MN Daily

Christy Newell, WSF Policy Intern, recently published a column for the MN Daily at the University of Minnesota. Read More…

National Geographic Adventure

National Geographic Adventure magazine recently released the 2012 Ultimate Adventure Bucket List. Included are Will Steger's Dream Trip and Must-Do trips for 2012. Read More…

National Geographic Adventure

National Geographic Adventure magazine recently released the 2012 Ultimate Adventure Bucket List. Included are Will Steger's Dream Trip and Must-Do trips for 2012. Read More…

MinnPost

Don Shelby recently attended the WSF sponsored event "The Changing Arctic" and wrote a column for MinnPost. Read More…

BusinessWire

Will Steger joined the King and Queen of Norway to open the South Pole Exploration exhibit at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. Read More…

Action!

Will you make the promise to protect kids from pollution?

Protecting kids and families from air pollution seems like the easiest promise to make--and so simple. Every year in this country harmful emissions cause thousands of asthma-related hospital visits, illnesses, and even deaths. The Clean Air Act helps protect us from dangerous pollutants. The EPA estimated that clean air regulations saved more than 160,000 lives in 2010 alone, including the lives of 230 infants. Now the Clean Air Act is under attack. Polluters and some Members of Congress are trying to weaken the Clean Air Act and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from updating Clean Air Act standards. That is why we are asking every citizen, every official, and every parent to promise to protect our children from dangerous pollution. We need to keep the promise we made to future generations when we instituted clean air programs. By signing the promise, we can protect our children’s and families’ health by defeating attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act or interfere with its implementation.

More info…

Photo of the Month

Volunteers, Aimee Jaroscak (212 hours) and Paul Thompson (512 hours) were honored and thanked for their contribution to WSF by enjoying breakfast at Birchwood with Will, Nicole and Janet. We are truly indebted to the 34 dedicated volunteers who donated 1,114 hours this last fiscal year (9/1/10-8/31/11).