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It has been another busy and inspiring month for the Will Steger Foundation. We are excited to work with a new administration on global warming solutions and clean energy opportunities in 2009, from supporting Minnesota and the Midwest’s leadership in leading a clean energy future to supporting a K-12 educational program around the 2009 international Copenhagen negotiation, and restoring the integrity of science in K-12 education and policy. With your continued support, WSF is poised and ready to do what we do best.

Over the past month, Will Steger and the Ellesmere Island Expedition spoke in Washington DC at the headquarters of National Geographic and the National Education Association. Will kicked off SUPERVALU’s first Gold LEED certified CUB store grand opening in St. Paul with Mayor Chris Coleman, SUPERVALU’s CEO Jeff Noddle and other elected officials.

In support of our Emerging Leaders Program, Will and several youth representatives from TEAM MN and five colleges participated in a Civic Engagement Forum on Environmental Sustainability at the College of St. Catherine. And in collaboration with Eric Utne’s new Community Earth Councils, Will, Abby and WSF Emerging Leaders joined a global intergenerational movement to address environmental and social issues at the local level by participating in a symposium that connected generations at the University of Minnesota.

2009 is going to be a moment of enormous opportunity, but together we must work hard to ensure the important groundwork we have laid becomes reality. With your support, we are ready to make real change.

Sincerely,

Nicole Rom, Executive Director

Medill School at Northwestern University, Chicago, hosts the launch of the Will Steger Foundation’s Longest Summer Tour, along with Lt. Governor Patrick Quinn as they headline global warming forums Read more.

Will visits the Environmental Law and Policy Center while in Chicago. He talked recently about what he has seen–and the urgency of taking action now.

Watch the video here.

The 13-day tour wrapped up in Duluth, MN where Will shared the stage with Minesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner, Brad Moore.

Watch the news story here.

Cub Foods opened the first LEED certified grocery store in Minnesota. Will and Mayor Coleman were on hand for the ribbon cutting.

Read about the new store here.

Karal Ann Marling, a professor emerita of art history and American studies at the University of Minnesota published a new book called “Ice: Great Moments in the History of Hard, Cold Water”

In her book, she chronicles the life of Will Steger as one of Minnesota’s explorers.

Highlights from The Longest Summer Tour

“Looking back over the Longest Summer Tour, we remember all the amazing individuals we met along the way, who are working hard on their campuses and in their communities to usher in a more sustainable way of life. These people are students, they are administrators, they are public officials, they are the general public, everyday people committed to being part of the solution... In a time of great uncertainty one thing is clear, people are talking about climate change and looking for a way to engage in solutions...As we return home to the Twin Cities,  I can’t help but feel a sense of hope, pride, and love for the heartland of America, for all that we are and all that we can become.”
– Abby Fenton

Did you participate in The Longest Summer Tour? We want to hear from you! Please take this quick survey and tell us what you thought of the Tour. Click Here to take the Survey.

Read youth blogs, listen to podcasts and daily dispatches from the Tour at www.thelongestsummertour.org

TEAM MN Retreat

Will Steger Foundation joined the Trans-Campus Energy Action Coalition Minnesota (TEAM MN) for their annual retreat at the College of St. Benedict in St Cloud. The gathering was an opportunity for college and university students across the state to strategize for the upcoming year around policy change, recruitment, and upcoming events.  Stay tuned for an opportunity to join MN youth climate leaders at the National Powershift Conference in DC this February! Click Here

YEA! MN

Youth Environmental Activists Minnesota (YEA! MN) will hold its second large meeting open to high school students and teachers across the Twin Cities metro, November 19, 5-7 PM at Edina High School. The meeting will focus on the role youth can play in affecting public policy. Click Here

On Tuesday, November 18, volunteers will gather all over the country -- with help from 1Sky, the Energy Action Coalition and 350,org -- to welcome the President-elect and the new Congress by calling on them to make climate an immediate priority in 2009. Volunteers will also ask the President-elect to go to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Pozna?, Poland, in December, to re-engage the international community and show the world the he is ready to be a leader on climate. Will you join them? Sign up here.

Here in Minnesota, Abby Fenton and a youth representative will join 1sky and other nonprofit organizations to urge Senator Norm Coleman, Al Franken and newly elected US Representative Erik Paulsen to heed voters calling for action on climate in 2009.

Toby, Will and Abby in Duluth, MN at the end of the 2008 Longest Summer Tour