from http://www.thewheelerreport.com/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: February 15, 2012 Wisconsin Wetlands Association Statement on Passage of SB 368 Today is a sad day for wetlands in Wisconsin. Our strong tradition of allowing economic development while also maintaining a strong commitment to protecting wetlands has just been overturned by the Senate. Once revered nationwide for our high standards, our policies are sinking to the level of so many other states where thousands of acres of wetlands are legally destroyed each year and mitigation rarely lives up to its promise. Only time will tell whether this law, once enacted, will lead to the run on wetlands we fear. The new framework, emphasizing wetland mitigation over avoidance and minimization of wetland impacts, certainly allows it. To those who applaud this bill as an economic engine for the state of Wisconsin we remind you that wetlands contribute billions in free services to Wisconsin’s economy every year. They protect us from floods, support our fish and wildlife, clean our water, and preserve the outdoor heritage Wisconsin residents hold so dear. If this law is enacted, we will no longer be able to count on the state to protect our wetlands. Our focus moving forward will be to work with local communities, and others, to help them capitalize on the economic benefits of protecting and restoring wetlands. For better or worse, wetland protection will now be in the hands of the people .

from http://www.milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/ February 3, 2012 UPDATE: Shell has responded with a list of Community Information FAQ’s. They are attached below. *If you require more information on this issue contact the Milwaukee pipline community information line at: 1-866-467-4775. Milwaukee Riverkeeper has been monitoring the estimated 9,000 gallon jet fuel leak from a Shell Oil Company pipeline along the eastern border of Mitchell International Airport, which discharged jet fuel into Wilson Park Creek and the Kinnickinnic River for OVER A WEEK in late January before the pipeline was shut down. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“600” caption=“DGR Wisconin member Thistle Pettersen, holding “No Blood for Oil” sign”][/caption] View the accompanying article and video at the Chicago Tribun e website Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin member Thistle Petterson was interviewed in the Chicago Tribune about her organizing involvement in the group Grassroutes Caravan, which plans to bring a group of at least 50 bike riders to Chicago during the G-8 and NATO summits to protest for a living planet and an end to imperialism. Their bike ride is called Cycles of Revolution: Brake the Banks. ...

from http://www.progressive.org/ By Rebecca Kemble, February 2, 2012 Last Thursday, Anishinaabe elder Joe Rose of the Bad River Band addressed a press conference at the WI State Capitol. He traveled 250 miles from the shores of Lake Superior to protest the passage of a highly controversial mining bill that opens the door to a huge, open pit mine project that will likely destroy the entire Bad River watershed and the vast wild rice beds that grow within it. Rose gave a short lecture on the creation story and history of his people in the region. He highlighted the relationship between wolves (Ma’iingan) and people in the Anishinaabe creation story. The two were created as brothers and traveled together all over the Earth, giving names to everything. The Creator then sent them on their separate ways, but told them that whatever happened to one would happen to the other.

from http://www.occupiedmedia.us/ by DERRICK JENSEN on Feb 1, 2012 • 5:43 pm We hold these truths to be self-evident: [caption id=“attachment_2507” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Photo: www.bethanybond.com”][/caption] That the real, physical world is the source of our own lives, and the lives of others. A weakened planet is less capable of supporting life, human or otherwise. Thus the health of the real world is primary, more important than any social or economic system, because all social or economic systems are dependent upon a living planet. It is self-evident that to value a social system that harms the planet’s capacity to support life over life itself is to be out of touch with physical reality. That any way of life based on the use of nonrenewable resources is by definition not sustainable. That any way of life based on the hyper-exploitation of renewable resources is by definition not sustainable: if, for example, fewer salmon return every year, eventually there will be none. This means that for a way of life to be sustainable, it must not harm native communities: native prairies, native forests, native fisheries, and so on. That the real world is interdependent, such that harm done to rivers harms those humans and nonhumans whose lives depend on these rivers, harms forests and prairies and wetlands surrounding these rivers, harms the oceans into which these rivers flow. Harm done to mountains harms the rivers flowing through them. Harm done to oceans harms everyone directly or indirectly connected to them. That you cannot argue with physics. If you burn carbon-based fuels, this carbon will go into the air, and have effects in the real world. That creating and releasing poisons into the world will poison humans and nonhumans. That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to create poisons for which there is no antidote. That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to create messes that cannot be cleaned up. That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to destroy places humans or nonhumans need to survive. That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to drive human cultures or nonhuman species extinct. That reality trumps all belief systems: what you believe is not nearly so important as what is real. That on a finite planet you cannot have an economy based on or requiring growth. At least you cannot have one and expect to either have a planet or a future.

from http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/ [caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“170” caption=“Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee”][/caption] SHAWANO, WISCONSIN - What’s love got to do with it? Not much, especially if you say the words “I love you” in the Menominee language in front of a certain Wisconsin teacher. Seventh grader Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee, found this out. Miranda speaks two languages: Menominee and English. She also plays on her basketball team. However, two Thursdays ago she was suspended for one basketball game because she spoke Menominee to a fellow classmate during class. Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. The school body is over 60 percent American Indian. The school is approximately six miles from the south border of the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation. “On January 19 I was told by Miranda she was being benched from playing that night. I found out at 4:20 and we were back at school at 6:30 pm so I could get to the bottom of why she could not play,” said Tanaes Washinawatok, Miranda’s mother.

from http://ashlandcurrent.com Citizens from around the state are planning to protest the proposed Assembly iron mining bill Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. A “Bury the Bill” rally will take place on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the State Capitol on the State Street steps. Then, Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., a “People’s Tribunal” will take place in the north hearing room of the Capitol building’s second floor. ...

from the Earth First! Journal Editorial Collective Following the removal of wolves from the federal endangered species list last month, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has announced that some residents will be able to hunt “problem” wolves by next week. In little over a month the grey wolf’s designation in Wisconsin has moved from endangered to problem. The demonization and execution of the species is set to follow because of the risk wolves pose to the “property” of large landowners. ...

A letter to the national Occupy Wall Street Movement, written by a member of Deep Green Resistance Austin, reminding us of a fundamental premise for any movement seeking a brighter future. from: http://theplanetfeedsus.wordpress.com an open letter to the national Occupy Wall Street movement Dearest Occupy :: I write y’all with the greatest admiration, excitement, hope, and humility. I write with the intention to contribute to the conversations that people are having nationally – and internationally – about what the building of a just and sustainable world would look like. I know these conversations have been going on for a very long time – longer than I can imagine – and that they did not begin with this movement and will not end with it, either. I know I’m not the only one with the content of this letter on their mind. I write from Austin, Texas, from occupied Tonkawa and Apache territories, and what I know of the other general assemblies and convergences comes through the Internet. I know I’m not privy to the majority of the conversations being had. But while trying to follow what people are calling for in this movement I’ve yet to see stated clearly what I consider to be a very important piece of the puzzle. Please know that I write this from a place of humility and respect, and in the spirit of dialogue for change. I do not believe that there is hope for justice or a livable planet if the industrial economy continues. I do not believe any reform or technological innovation we have or could think of – even if realized on a massive, global scale – will prevent the destruction of the planet and the communities that are its breath and life. I believe the keys to deep green democracies and to a sustainable and just future are many – but that none of them are possible so long as industrialism continues. In the face of ecological collapse, global warming, and peak oil, any further growth of the global economy – including the U.S. economy – will only worsen the problem. I believe that our challenge must not be to create more jobs or to grow the economy – but to physically pull apart the infrastructure of the powerful while creating local economies grounded in livelihoods outside the money system, and to redefine growth and economic prosperity altogether. I know this is an intense thing to say, but please hear me out. Many folks are and have been raising the crucial point that we can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet. There are many progressives who do not find this too controversial a statement – for many of us, it’s become a kind of common sense. For many of us, this becomes yet another reason among many why capitalism cannot continue. But there is an unspoken sentiment we continue to share, nonetheless, that while we may not want a capitalist economy, we still want to salvage some sort of an industrial way of life for ourselves. As Derrick Jensen has pointed out, when you begin to listen to the solutions to the ecological crisis being offered by folks across the political spectrum – it becomes clear that almost all of them agree on one thing: the industrial economy must be salvaged at any cost. The primary objective becomes the preservation of industrial civilization – not the preservation of a living, healing planet. But look deeply into any of the processes that make industrialism possible, look deeply into the origins of any of its luxuries and commodities, and you will find - literally – a trail of blood, and a ceaseless taking away from a planet that simply has almost nothing left to give. We understand that we are in an ecological crisis. But do we understand just how late the hour is?

from http://www.intercontinentalcry.org/ BY AHNI JAN 8, 2012 The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are working, along with several NGOs, to stop a controversial mining bill that would gut existing environmental protections and effectively silence the public in order to streamline mining projects in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin State Assembly Bill 426 looks like it could’ve come straight from former Peruvian President Alan Garcia’s waste basket, for all the good it would do. The 183-page bill wants to: Allow for the destruction of high quality wetlands Allow mining waste to be deposited in floodplains and on the shores of lakes and rivers Remove the right of citizens’ to sue for illegal environmental damage by a mine Prohibit the DNR from monitoring mine waste sites or facilities, stopping work at a mine if there are permit violations or pollution, or making mine companies pay fines for those violations. Force the DNR to make a decision on a mining permit within 360 days, otherwise it is automatically approved.