TAWI members in Hands Off demonstrations
On Saturday April 5, 2025, over 1 million people nationwide gathered in the streets to protest the stupid cruelty of the Trump/Musk regime. In Wisconsin there were over 30 demonstration sites. The largest peaceful gatherings were in Madison with over 10,000; in Milwaukee with 5,000 and in Green Bay with nearly 2,000.
For background on the Hands Off movement, check out this webpage: https://handsoff2025.com/
For a photographic essay on the role Wisconsinites played in the April 5 Hands Off demonstrations, see this story from the Third Act Wisconsin website: https://thirdact.org/wisconsin/2025/04/06/wisconsin-third-actors-join-tens-of-thousands-of-others-across-the-state-in-hands-off-peaceful-demonstrations/
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Orfordville, WI Hands Off
By Seth T. Jensen
On April 3rd I left Madison for what was supposed to be a short visit with my mom. My plan was to get back to Madison in time for the April 5th Hands Off March, but as usual my mother was two steps ahead of me. Above is the Hands Off gathering she organized in (the Village of) Orfordville, WI! (Population about 1,400 in Southern Wisconsin). This may have been the first time my home town participated in a national day of action.
Resistance is Spreading!
Seth is co-lead of the TAWI Climate Finance Team
Democracy and Voting Team – We Did It! And We’ll Keep At It!
By Meg Warczynski
Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to helping Wisconsin elect Susan Crawford to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. TAWI members hosted four post carding parties (Greendale, Madison, Milwaukee, and West Bend) that generated an estimated 1000 postcards. Our partner organization ActivateAmerica sent us address lists quickly, and it felt great to know that Third Act groups from coast to coast were writing, phoning, and even canvassing for this election. We will continue this work with other Third Act Working Groups next year (for example, in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election) and, of course, in the crucial 2026 mid-term elections.
Postcard writing can work well for just about anyone. Invite some neighbors over, gather over shared concerns, and accomplish something besides commiserating. Or just put on some music and work on your own. (Check out Judy Koeppel’s article in our March newsletter about her postcarding party–looks like fun!) Canvassing door-to-door may not suit everyone but consider giving it a try, perhaps partnering with an experienced canvasser. Whatever you do, whenever possible, use action sign-up links coded to give feedback to Third Act so national staff can monitor recruitment success. Also, please share what you’re doing with our Communications Team and on our Facebook Group or you can email us at wisconsin@thirdact.org. Attach photos for us to post on our website. This will help us widen our circle and expand our effectiveness.
As part of our continuing fight to preserve our democracy, many TAWI members participated in “HandsOff!” actions on April 5th. Check out this news article on our website for more information and some photos. Please keep following our Volunteer Action Page for continually updated suggestions on how you can help protect our democracy and the many publicly-funded services and resources you value.
Meg is co-lead of the TAWI Democracy and Voting Team
SunDay
On the weekend of September 20th and 21st, 2025, we (Third Act and Third Act Wisconsin) are going to come together to celebrate the power and potential of the Sun—the rays that fall on those solar panels, and the wind that turns those majestic turbines.
Mark those dates on your calendar. Stay tuned to the TAWI website https://thirdact.org/wisconsin/ for details, events, and how you can get involved.
Check out the Sunday.earth website https://www.sunday.earth/welcome
for updates and more information.
If you are interested in becoming part of the Third Act Wisconsin SunDay planning and implementation team, contact Steve at wisconsin@thirdact.org. The need for your involvement and contributions is urgent. There is No Time to Waste.
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TAWI Members: Participate in Conservation Voter Lobby Day – Tuesday, May 6, Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison , WI
By Susan Millar
Conservation Voter Lobby Day is May 6 at the Monona Convention Center in Madison. This event, organized by Wisconsin Conservation Voters enables folks like us across Wisconsin to convey to members of our state legislature – together and in person – our views about how and why they should vote on proposed legislation related to clean energy. Go here to:
Learn about,
Register for, and
Reserve a spot on one of three free buses serving western, northeastern, and southeastern parts of the state.
Once you register, please email sbmillar@gmail.com to let the TAWI Power Up Wisconsin team know, so that we can engage you before and during Lobby Day.
Lobby Day will get going around 9am with information about climate legislation, lobby training and lunch. After lunch, groups of us will meet with our state representatives to convey our concerns.
What are the most pressing clean energy issues before our Legislature? For now, we note two especially important issues:
Establishing Integrated Resource Planning (IRP). IRPs – which 33 other states already use – develop strategic statewide plans that require transparency and accountability in mapping out a clean energy future. Why does Wisconsin need an IRP? Because we are behind: only 9 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources. This failure will continue unless we quickly address it, in part because WI utilities now are rushing to build new, polluting, natural gas plants.
Collaborating with the WI Conservative Energy Forum and many others to oppose Senate and Assembly bills designed to make it harder to establish large solar farms.
Susan is co-lead of TAWI Power Up Communities Team
The Latest on Enbridge Line 5
By Ellen Ferwarda
Thanks to the decades-long effort of members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, activity has been halted on construction of a pipeline that would go around their reservation (the reroute) instead of through it. They recognize, like any sane person, that going around the reservation is just as harmful as going through it. It’s all the same watershed!
Last November, against the recommendations of a record number of scientists, economists, engineers and concerned citizens, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WIDNR) gave approval for a permit allowing Enbridge Corp. to start construction on the reroute. This decision was made three days after another Enbridge pipeline, Line 6, in nearby Jefferson County, WI, had a gasket failure that caused a ‘leak.’ Enbridge claimed it was only two gallons. A month later that was revised to 69,000 gallons!
In January, a group of citizens, including many Third Actors, went to the WI DNR office in Madison. We were requesting that someone give us an explanation for why they approved these construction permits. No one would speak with us. No one would tell us why they wouldn’t.
Phone calls to the DNR provided their explanation. A DNR spokesperson explained they are in litigation over the decision and are therefore ‘not allowed’ to explain themselves.
We learned some of the groups taking them to court include: the Bad River Reservation, 350wisconsin and the Sierra Club. Meanwhile, the dirty crude fossil oil keeps flowing and we need to continue to speak up about it.
Ellen is on the TAWI Line 5 liaison group
Some Messages from March TAWI member meeting
By Seth T. Jensen
(Editors’ Note: On March 12, 2025 the TAWI monthly member meeting heard from Kathy Kuntz, Director of the Dane County (WI) Office of Energy and Climate Change (OECC). Seth Jensen, co-lead of TAWI’s Climate Finance Team reflects on take home messages from Kathy’s presentation.)
“It is more appealing if you can talk with folks about solutions than about how scary things might get.” Kathy Kuntz, March 12, 2025
From heat pump conversions to community solar to EV charging station build-out, energy solutions are cropping up across Wisconsin like sugar maple seedlings. Federal funding has been supercharging much of this new infrastructure, and there is money for more of the same. This was a leading message at the March 12 TAWI public meeting: Bad executive orders can do a lot of damage, but they cannot reverse the flow of dollars that Congress has allocated.
Kathy Kuntz recommends looking into possibilities for funding a project in your community. Homes, farms, libraries, municipal buildings, and other business entities have all received tax breaks, grants, and other incentives for energy efficiency thanks to Congress passing the Inflation Reduction Act. A good starting point would be watching the presentation where Kathy talks about resources that help to smooth out the application process.(The Passcode is 2dQ=@s2X)
Each of those projects is one more step out of climate emergency and into climate recovery. Kathy’s parting message was that if you do get such a project up and running, spread the word! Call it your solar success story (or soil or wind, etc, etc.) Third Act will be telling a lot of those between now and the start of fall, and maybe one of them will be yours!
Calendar of Events (Check Events listing on TAWI webpage for details https://thirdact.org/wisconsin/events/)
Power Up Communities Team meeting
April 21, 10:30 am
Climate Finance Team Meeting
April 21, 7-8:15 pm
Midwest Climate Summit
April 30
Power Up Communities Team Meeting
May 5
Conservation Lobby Day
May 6
TAWI Member Meeting
May 8 7pm