03.11.2013

Director of Education Kristen Poppleton at a St. Paul Schools Science Workshop day with Superintendent Valeria Silva and Project WET Coordinator April Rust.

By |  Donavan Kavish ’13

Riegel ‘14 (Batavia, N.Y.), an environmental studies major, worked for WSF over the fall semester. Steger started the foundation in 2006 in response to the growing effects of global warming he witnessed through his many polar expeditions.

POSTED 02.14.2013
by J. Drake Hamilton

Last fall, Fresh Energy and the Will Steger Foundation hosted eight large public forums across Minnesota focused on clean energy, climate, and health. The forums, hosted by schools and faith-based communities in towns including Brainerd, St. Cloud, and Rochester, emphasized Minnesota’s clean energy path and next steps in cutting dependence on fossil fuels and creating Minnesota jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

February 14, 2013

by nasagcce

CYCLES 2nd follow up workshop was facilitated in partnership with the Will Steger Foundation located in Minneapolis, MN. Ms. Kristen Poppleton, Director of Education presented the workshop to the CYCLES cohort through an environmental education perspective.

In last week's State of the State address, Gov. Mark Dayton articulated a vision for what is "best for Minnesota in the future." His bold statement of support for a clean-energy future, and his challenge to the Legislature to take the next big step forward, firmly secure his position as one of America's leaders on this critical issue.

State Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, recently held a hearing on climate control science with Polar explorer Will Steger and meteorologist Paul Douglas among the people testifying before his Environment and Energy committee. 

Marty, chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, also sat down with Julie Bartkey of Capitol Report (a production of Senate Media Services)  to discuss the issue of climate change and whether the state of Minnesota should push for renewable energy.

Visit the Roseville Patch website to see the article online.

By Doug Grow | 02/07/13

The biggest surprise of the night came when Gov. Mark Dayton even took on the controversial issue of gay marriage.
Gov. Mark Dayton continues to surprise.

On a night when most expected that the governor would deliver a short speech, essentially repeating his budget/tax proposals, Dayton turned his State of the State address into a strong message reflecting his progressive values.



Sure, there was a lot of budget talk. And there was a nod of approval for the big Mayo Clinic project, which could involve $500 million in state funds.
There even was a suggestion that next year, there should be an “Unsession” for the Legislature; a time when that august body would work only on bonding bills and emergency legislation but mostly on getting rid of unnecessary laws and regulations.

December 2012

WAITE PARK – Will Steger has made his living challenging his own limits. Now, he’s challenging Minnesotans to reconsider the way they think about climate change and their own use of fossil fuels.

The world-renown explorer, and Minnesota native, is currently traveling through the with clean energy organization “Fresh Energy,” which made a stop on Monday night at Waite Park’s Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

December 2012

By Jeff Blumenfeld

In March 2013, American John Huston and Norwegian Toby Thorleifsson will take part in the New Land 2013 Ellesmere Island Expedition, a 72-day journey across 630 miles of one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth, the Canadian Arctic.

With sled dogs and on skis, the four-man party will retrace historic expedition routes of Norwegian Otto Sverdrup (1854-1930), who led a team of 17 men between 1898 and 1902 in discovering and mapping more than 150,000 square kilometers of Ellesmere Island, the northernmost landmass of North America.Few people have ventured there since, according to a presentation at the Norwalk (Conn.) Maritime Aquarium on Nov. 29.

December 8th, 2012

By Jason Wheeler

“I think we should be calling hurricanes after oil companies,” Bill McKibben joked during an interview with The UpTake last Friday while on the Minneapolis leg of his nationwide “Do the Math” tour.

“I think instead of naming them after perfectly innocent young women — everybody named Sandy in New York is gonna have to be the butt of bad jokes now for 15 years — it should have been ‘Hurricane Exxon’. And that way, when CNN was covering it, they’d report ‘Exxon is coming ashore on the coast of New Jersey at this hour and dealing death and destruction in its path!

December 4, 2012

by Kristin Tillotson

 Sprawled on a massive sheet of ice that was shifting beneath him, James Balog looked down into a 2,000-foot-deep crevasse and aimed his lens.

“I’d obsessed for four years about getting that shot,” he recalled. “I figured I’d have about two minutes. There was a crack in the ice where my waist was, and a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Where the ropes were anchored, I couldn’t count on them to hold me. But once you’ve taken that initial investment of risk, you say, ‘OK, it hasn’t broken yet,’ and go to work.”

December 3rd, 2012

The image of his expedition team crossing open water near the North Pole is one Will Steger never envisioned when he was young.

Projected onto a large screen behind him, the photograph is one Steger uses to get across his message: The Earth’s climate is getting warmer, and it’s time to do something about it.

“In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be canoeing on the Arctic Ocean,” Steger told about 200 people at a forum Monday night at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud. “But this is how drastic it’s changing.”
The forum was part of a series sponsored by the Will Steger Foundation and Fresh Energy, an environmental advocacy group.

December 07, 201

In a new documentary film National Geographic photographer James Balog documents the impact of climate change by examining polar ice.
The Sundance award-winning "Chasing Ice," is making its Minneapolis premiere Friday.

It provides vivid accounts of climate change on the world's glaciers and polar areas through photography, film and personal accounts. Balog, who had been a skeptic about climate change until about 20 years ago, said presenting evidence of climate change may make a difference to people who are still skeptical.

Balog told NPR's Talk of the Nation: "I am happy to say that in a number of auditoriums where we've presented either my lecture or the film, we've had people come up to us afterwards and say, 'You know, I worked in the oil and gas industry for 40 years,' or, 'You know, I was working for Standard Oil for decades, and I thought this whole climate change story was a lot of rubbish, it was liberal propaganda, it was academic propaganda, whatever, and I didn't realize how true it is.' So that's been immensely gratifying, that the tangible photographic, artistic evidence can move people so dramatically."

Balog joined The Daily Circuit Friday, Dec. 7 to talk about the film. Minnesota's renowned explorer Will Steger also joined the discussion.

December 03, 2012

By Haley Colwell

An environmental conference sparked ideas of social change Saturday as community members and students from across Minnesota discussed fossil fuel divestment.

More than 100 people gathered in the University of Minnesota’s Science Teaching and Student Services building Saturday for the Climate Math that Works conference. They discussed the effects of fossil fuel on the global climate and ways to push the University and other institutions to sell their stocks in fossil fuel companies.

Participants heard from speakers who contributed to past environmental activism efforts. In workshops and small groups, they brainstormed ways to push for change.
Kate Jacobson Faye, coordinator for MN350, the conference’s sponsor organization, said Minnesota’s an interesting place to talk about climate change.

Polar explorer Will Steger presents at Concordia College.

View a video of his presentation online here.

December 13th, 2012

By Suzanne McInroy, Director of Communications

Polar explorer Will Steger addressed a crowd at Bethel.

Bethel University’s student club Creation Restoration held a public forum on December 9 with polar explorer Will Steger.

More than 60 people attended to hear Steger, a world renowned environmentalist, present a firsthand account of climate change documented during his expeditions. Along with Steger, J. Drake Hamilton, science policy director at Fresh Energy, spoke about effective clean energy and clean air solutions that could benefit the economy.

The Star Tribune covers our upcoming event with National Geographic photographer James Balog and the Minneapolis premiere of the new film, Chasing Ice.

Sprawled on a massive sheet of ice that was shifting beneath him, James Balog looked down into a 2,000-foot-deep crevasse and aimed his lens.

Read More...

The seventh annual Zero Emission Conference is to be held November 19-20, 2012 in Clarion Hotel Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The Zero Emission Conference is the largest of its kind in Scandinavia. The two day program spans across a wide range of topics and perspectives, from the visions to the specific solutions.

We have invited speakers from politics, business, public management and research from around the world to try to give answers to how the climate puzzle is to be solved. We invite you to participate in the discussion to be inspired to take climate action in your own life.

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
Oksana Carlier/Winonan

Minnesota has made clean energy a priority in the past and must continue to do so, a presenter said at a forum at Winona State University earlier this month.

J. Drake Hamilton, the science policy director of Fresh Energy, said Minnesota is currently making progress toward cleaner energy.
The state is “fueled by smart policies that maximize our state’s use of energy conservation and set science-based limits on carbon pollution,” he said.

Fresh Energy, partnering with the Will Steger Foundation, led the Clean Energy, Climate and Health Forum at Winona State.

 November 12, 2012
By Josh Moniz - Staff Writer , The Journal

NEW ULM - Climate change and the Christian responsibilities in stewardship of the Earth were the focus of the "Clean Energy, Climate and Health" forum held Sunday night at Our Savior's Lutheran Church.

 Bishop Jon Anderson, of Southwestern Minnesota Synod, ELCA, expressed frustration that scientists and religious leaders working together are treated as an unusual sight. He said they have a natural overlap, particularly when Christians want to tackle their Biblical responsibilities of caring for the Earth.

Ever-Green Energy, District Energy St. Paul, and District Cooling St. Paul convened a joint board meeting to discuss “Climate Adaptation and Community Energy Planning.”  The board members invited guests from the business, government, education, and energy and environmental sectors to launch a conversation about our shared roles and responsibilities for energy planning to enable resiliency in communities that adapting to the changing climate.

October 26, 2012

As energy market forces continue to shift, Minnesota’s largest utility now foresees meeting modestly growing electricity needs primarily with natural gas and hydropower imported from Canada.

Xcel Energy, which serves about 1.4 million customers in Minnesota, has filed major revisions to its latest long-range plan twice since 2010. The picture changed again this week when the utility said it no longer thinks proposed nuclear plant upgrades are beneficial.

October 18, 2012

 The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Conference has always seen a good turnout from the U. This week, the Los Angeles Convention Center was buzzing with green people.

Students and staff members from the University of Minnesota traveled to Los Angeles on Sunday for the 2012 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Conference. Held annually, the conference invites more than 1,500 academics and researchers from across North America to present and discuss a wide range of sustainability topics.

By: MPR News

At an event Monday night at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, explorer Will Steger and Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, discussed teachers coming under fire for teaching global warming and other climate change concepts.

By: Tom Niemisto

Our public K-12 science educators have a duty to teach the best science available, even when pressure mounts from parents and activists who deny findings on evolution and climate change.

'The similarity we see between the pressures that teachers receive about teaching evolution and pressures that teachers feel about teaching climate change ultimately go back to the fact that people hold strong ideologies that influence their willingness to accept information.'

For three decades, the National Center for Science Education(NCSE) has focused most of its efforts on defending the teaching of evolution in the classroom. Increasingly, however, the teachers its executive director, Dr. Eugenie Scott, hears from are under fire for teaching global warming. So much so that in January, the organization formally added a climate initiative to its efforts to support the teaching of science.

By: Julie Kendrick, The Line Media

 Downward dog at sunrise on the Guthrie’s Endless Bridge. Tree pose at Target Field. Savasana at First Avenue, with the DJ playing “Purple Rain” as soundtrack. These are just some of the poses--and places--that the buzz-generating Gorilla Yogis, and the loyal tribe that follows them, have experienced over the past two years. And, along the way, they’ve managed to collect thousands of dollars in donations for small local nonprofits.

By: Kristen Poppleton, Duluth News Tribune 

Congressman Chip Cravaack’s amendment to eliminate funding for the National Science Foundation’s Climate Change Education Program would have a damaging impact on progress being made in climate-change education, and it seems based on an incorrect understanding of how the science foundation program works.

By Tim Harlow
Posted: April 20, 2012 

Hands-on activities are at the heart of a new Science Museum exhibit that looks at how humans are affecting climate change.

Humans move more rock and sediment than all glaciers and rivers combined, and thus have become the dominant architects and engineers of Earth's climate changes.

By Stephanie Spitzer
Posted: April 23, 2012 

The third annual Brooklyn Center EarthFest took place on Saturday, April 14 from noon to 4 p.m. with Will Steger of the Will Steger Foundation as the speaker from noon to 1 p.m. Over seventy exhibits in the auditorium featured how local businesses and organizations were committing themselves to be environmentally friendly.

 By Maggie Koerth-Baker
Posted: April 26, 2012 

"The sound of running water is not something you used to hear on an ice cap." Arctic explorer Will Steger said this last weekend, during a presentation at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Steger was showing video clips from some of his travels, and he had to speak rather loudly. Otherwise, we couldn't have heard him over the sound of running water, flowing over, under, and through an ice cap.

 by Abigail Harrison

 A few weeks back I was fortunate enough to participate in an Earth Day Tweetup held by the Science Museum of Minnesota. I was invited by NASA Earth Ambassador, Liz Heineke also known as The Kitchen Pantry Scientist, whom I appeared with on the Kare 11 Sunrise Edition News last week to discuss the Earth Dayevents. I am very thankful to Liz for thinking of me and including me in this amazing event!

By: University of St. Thomas News Service
Posted: April 10, 2012 

Will Steger, one of the nation’s best-known explorers and a University of St. Thomas graduate, will share what he has learned as an “Eyewitness to Global Warming” at 8 p.m. Monday, April 16, in Woulfe Alumni Hall in the Anderson Student Center on the university’s St. Paul campus.
The lecture, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the University Lectures Committee and is part of St. Thomas’ Earth Week events that will run April 14 to 22.

By National Geographic Society
Posted: March 28, 2012 

The editors of National Geographic present the greatest adventure stories ever told! This app features amazing stories of explorers at the moment of discovery, and their adventures on journeys around the world — enhanced with video, stunning photography, and interactive graphics. 
Immerse yourself in the world of adventure, and share the experiences through Facebook, Twitter, and email!


Environment Minnesota warns of worsening weather

MINNEAPOLIS - A recent weather study shows that 80 percent of Minnesotans live in counties that suffered federally declared weather-related disasters since 2006.

 By Mark Frauenfelder
Posted: March 28, 2012 

This app features amazing stories of explorers at the moment of discovery, and their adventures on journeys around the world — enhanced with video, stunning photography, and interactive graphics.

By Lynn Underwood
Posted: March 9, 2012 

The former TV anchor now spreads the news about sustainability and his super-efficient new "farmhouse," featured on this year's tour.

By KC Powers
Posted: Friday, February 28, 2012 

Will Steger-Minnesota native, internationally famous polar explorer, arctic environmentalist and educator spoke on Tuesday February 22 about his life, travels and great accomplishments.

By Patrick Anderson, La Crosse
Posted: Friday, February 22, 2012 

 Legendary Polar explorer and Minnesota native Will Steger attends a book signing event Tuesday at UW-La Crosse before speaking on campus. Steger led the first confirmed dogsled expedition to the North Pole in 1986 and is a leading spokesperson for arctic preservation.

By Larry Sleznikow, La Crosse
Posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 

Will Steger, an internationally famous explorer and environmentalist, spoke Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
During his excellent presentation, he described his experiences participating in and leading a number of challenging Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
 

Jon Turk
Erik Boomer, pictured, and Jon Turk circumnavigated Ellesmere Island, a 1,500-mile trek in which they dealt with a curious Arctic wolf, polar bears and ever-changing elements under a midnight sun.

To stave off a breaching 3,000-pound walrus from the cockpit of a small sea kayak, Erik Boomer recommends using the paddle.

The state of Minnesota has required several power companies, including Minnesota Power, to study plans for replacing some of the state’s oldest coal plants with cheaper alternatives.
By: J. Drake Hamilton

Minnesota lawmakers have started using Legacy dollars in ways they aren’t supposed to, and if it continues, that money will no longer be available for purposes that voters intended — extra spending on clean water, the outdoors, conservation, trails and the arts and culture.

By: Nathan Bowe, DL-Online

Jan 26, 2012

 The Center for Energy and Environment is excited to announce a new partnership with the Will Steger Foundation to support the Youth Environmental Activists of Minnesota (YEA! MN).  

YEA! MN connects youth and environmental clubs across the Twin Cities Metro area to "facilitate shared skills and strategies and take coordinated action on environmental sustainability." 

CAMEL is a free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, online resource for educators to enable them to effectively teach about climate change. 

PowerPoint: Cap and Auction 101 - Will Steger Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Even though I am most known as a polar explorer, my career and lifelong passion has been as an educator. As soon as I graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 1967, I taught middle-school science.

Read the full article…

December 9, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Arctic explorer Will Steger is parking his dogsled to speak out across the country about the threat of climate change - and he says there's no mistaking what he's seen on his many journeys:

"In the polar regions the ice is starting to melt, and we're seeing the ice shelves in Antarctica and the higher arctic disappearing. At the same time, we're starting to see weather extremes all around, not only the United States, but all around the rest of the world right now.

Innovative Arctic Symposium Fosters Discussion in the American Midwest

While the snowy Arctic may seem to be a long way from the American Midwest, the "North Star" state of Minnesota has a rich tradition of polar exploration, as well as Arctic scientific and educational work. The Arctic is a region in which Canadians and Americans frequently collaborate, and the engaging discussions at a recent symposium brought the topic home for the many Minnesotans in attendance. The symposium, entitled “The Changing Arctic: International Cooperation and Development", offered the chance for experts to weigh in on the future of the Arctic as it pertains to economic development, climate change, and culture.

January 5, 2012
DULUTH - A polar explorer making a stop in the Twin Ports Wednesday night.
Will Steger stopped at Teatro Zuccone Theater to discuss how his foundation is combating climate change along with taking questions.

January 5, 2012
Loll hosted a presentation with Polar Explorer, Will Steger, last night. Over 80 people came to hear about Will's adventures along with how his foundation is combating and creating awareness about global climate change. Loll Designs proudly donates 1% of their gross sales to help aid his campaign.

December 7, 2011
PRINCETON, Minn. – The state’s own eyewitness to the impacts of climate change is making a trek to northern Minnesota this week to share his stories.

Arctic explorer Will Steger is to speak tonight in Princeton and Thursday in Grand Rapids, and says there's o mistaking what he's seen on his many journeys:

National Geographic Grantmaking Reaches 10,000 Mark

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Excavation of the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu by archaeologist Hiram Bingham. Jane Goodall's groundbreaking study of wild chimpanzees. The pioneering exploration of the deep sea by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. All the legacy of National Geographic grants.

December 07, 2011

Coca Cola is partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to conserve the ice the bears live on, which is melting at a dramatic rate. To raise awareness, the company is bringing out limited-edition Coke cans.

by Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio
November 28, 2011

St. Paul, Minn. — Tree growers have long touted their product as the environmentally friendly way to enjoy the Christmas tradition.
Because new trees are planted every year, the whole "you're killing a tree" accusation lobbed in the direction of real tree buyers just doesn't have the same sting.

CHRIST-LIKE ENVIRONMENTALISM - Arctic explorer Will Steger provided a presentation on his observations of global warming at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church Thursday evening. Steger was joined by J. Drake Hamilton, Science Policy Director for Fresh Energy and ELCA North East Synod Bishop Tom Aitkin.

December 07, 2011

 Aside from wanting to tell the real story of Jim Morrison, write a book about her family connection to Al Capone, solve every backstory street rumor you've ever heard . . . and hide from photojournalists, Christine Cassano and her stunt doubles want to take over the 36th Street diner, Our Kitchen, for one night. Her store, Amelia Flower and Garden Shoppe is housed in a building owned by Danny and Julie Zeigler, who also own Our Kitchen.

Climate Literacy Workshop
By Kristen Iverson Poppleton, Education Program Manager

On October 12 representatives from the Climate Literacy Network came together to provide an all day workshop at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference.  The workshop, Climate Change Education:  Science, Solutions, Inspiration, and Empowerment, gave participants an introduction to climate science, common climate change misconceptions, educational materials educators can use to integrate climate education into curriculum & professional development programs, and the importance of integrating climate solutions into climate change education.

Repealing the Cross State Air Pollution Rule would put Americans at risk.
By Christy Newell, Policy Intern

 In yesterday’s letter to the editor, “More Mercury Regulations,” Joseph Cronick expressed concern about the impact of mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants on his health and our environment. He is not alone.

Dream Trip: Traverse the High Arctic, Canada - by Will Steger

Twenty of the world's top athletes and explorers share their wildest dream trips—a dazzling list of never attempted feats daunting to even these world-class competitors. For the rest of us, consider their must-do adventures—and start planning.

Some scientists worry the warming could melt substances called methane hydrates trapped in the frozen floor.

Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja Open South Pole Exploration Exhibit at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport ~Explorers Liv Arneson, Ann Bancroft and Will Steger also on hand for exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s polar expedition

Polar Explorer and Environmentalist Will Steger stopped by the Loll HQ in September on his way through Duluth. Via 1% for the Planet, Loll has teamed up with Will’s foundation to aid in the global goal of positive climate change solutions. Will believes many of these changes are doable and at the same time will improve our economy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create jobs all at the same time.

by Cycling
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A group of 125 bicycle riders left Fortuna bound for San Francisco on Sunday as part of Climate Ride California, a 320-mile ride that is a benefit for environmental organizations.
That was the only sunny and pleasant day, said Sandra Lupien, outreach director for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and a ride participant.

By Will Steger
Ely
10/16/2011

Americans, at our core, traditionally have aspired to be the best at what we do. First in flight. First on the moon. Leading in innovation and medical discovery. We strive to lead. And that definitely resonates here in Minnesota.

By Shawna Hedlund
Minneapolis
Updated: 09/15/2011

Broken promises
I have unconditionally supported our president since his candidacy, but as the mother of a child with asthma, I feel deeply disappointed in the choice he recently made to delay critical air-quality standards for smog pollution. Given the opportunity to follow the laws set forth in the Clean Air Act and set a protective smog standard, Obama chose to follow the legacy of George Bush. Minnesotans should be appalled at the Obama administration's failure to protect families from air pollution.

CAMEL is a free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, online resource for educators to enable them to effectively teach about climate change. 

Prominent Minnesotans, including former WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby, polar explorer Will Steger and Science Policy Director for Fresh Energy, J. Drake Hamilton, will share their connection to Minnesota, how climate change is impacting their sense of place and daily lives, and what people can do about the issue at a free public forum moderated by MPR’s Kerri Miller, sponsored by the Will Steger Foundation.

Letter of the Day (Aug. 21): Moose

Aug. 21, 2011

Have you picked up a seed packet at a garden store lately? If so, look at the zone map on the back, and you'll see that Minnesota's coldest, most northern temperature zone for growing has shrunk from anything north of Brainerd to a tiny area near the Boundary Waters.

The front-page Aug. 17 story, "A drastic strategy to rescue an icon," described the loss of our beloved moose across the northern stretches of our state, but never connects the true cause, which is the same warmer temps shown on the seed pack.

Article by: Jeremy Herb

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s position on climate change has now shifted from “one of the most important issues of our time" to “most of it, maybe all of it, is because of natural causes.”

In a wide-ranging interview with the Miami Herald, Pawlenty questioned whether humans have had any effect on climate change.

“The weight of the evidence is that most of it, maybe all of it, is because of natural causes,” Pawlenty said. “But to the extent there is some element of human behavior causing some of it — that’s what the scientific debate is about.”

The public event will be held Wednesday, Aug. 10, at Edina Public Works.

The EPA is working to strengthen the Clean Air Act, some in Congress are acting against it, and this evening the public is invited to learn more about it.

Along with Mayor Jim Hovland, scientist J. Drake Hamilton, Minnesota Conservation Federation executive director Gary Botzek, and the Edina Energy and Environment Commission’s Air Quality Working Group Chair Julie Risser, celebrated explorer and environmentalist Will Steger will speak as part of a panel event at the Edina Public Works Facility at 7 p.m. tonight, Aug. 10.

The event is co-sponsored by the Will Steger Foundation.

"It is extremely important to take this seriously," Steger said.

Why? Because air quality impacts "the health of our planet, our own health and, ironically, the health of our economy."

By Will Steger
Ely
07/16/2011

Currently, industry and some members of Congress are working to weaken the Clean Air Act, arguing that new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules are bad for the economy. In reality, efforts to stop the EPA from doing its job would stifle job creation.

By Yusra Mohamud
Eden Prairie High School
Updated: 07/12/2011 12:04:12 PM CDT

For 33 years at WCCO Television, Don Shelby was the journalist - always trying to be objective and looking for all sides of the story. As a reporter, he made sure he stayed neutral on controversial issues and avoided special interests.

Now retired, the 64-year-old is not doing that anymore when it comes to climate change. After doing a "fair amount" of research and reading dozens of books, he believes the science is clear: The global climate is warming and the consequences, if nothing is done, will affect us all.

WASHINGTON -- After escaping violence and persecution in their native countries, 10 former refugees met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to advocate for better aid for men and women who, like they did, come to the United States as refugees.

Author Jeff Blumenfeld will be speaking at Suffield's library on Wednesday about his experiences matching explorers with corporate sponsors in a field known as adventure marketing.

Article by: DAVID GUSTAFSON , Eden Prairie High School

Five thousand dollars. That's all it took Will Steger to build his modest home in Ely, Minn., 43 years ago. It certainly qualified as environmentally friendly: heated with a wood stove, lighted with a kerosene lamp and accompanied by an outhouse. Steger began building it when he was 19, long before his fame as a polar explorer and outspoken environmentalist.

As a governor, Tim Pawlenty pushed through tough laws to reduce greenhouse gases and slow climate change. Then he ran for president.

Tim Pawlenty has been apologizing to anyone who will listen for his so-called flirtation with cap-and-trade climate policy, recently dismissing his efforts to “look at it” as misguided and slamming carbon limits as “burdensome on the economy.” The former Minnesota governor has even renounced his previous conviction about the validity of climate science and now asserts that the research is “faulty” and can’t be trusted.

“I looked at [cap-and-trade], like most of the other leading candidates did, some years ago—flirted with it, for sure,” he said in an interview last month on CNBC. “But I’ve just admitted my mistake and said I was wrong.… It would be harmful to the economy. It’s based on flawed science, and we should throw it out the window.”

For the first time in 25 years, the eight-person Steger North Pole Expedition team reunited in St. Paul for a two-day reunion slash love fest attended by hundreds of Minnesota fans.

Held at the Minnesota History Center, the May 17 event included displays of the famed Polar Capsule, on loan from The Explorers Club; an original sled and clothing; and vintage copies of the September 1986 National Geographic magazine that featured what is recognized as history's first confirmed and unsupported dog sled expedition to the North Pole.

ELY, Minn. — Twenty five years ago this month, an expedition team reached the North Pole after enduring 56 days and 1,000 miles across fractured, shifting sea ice in temperatures that dipped below -70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The epic ski and dogsled trek with its eight-member, 49-dog crew was a deliberate throwback to the days of the early explorers. This accomplishment, the first confirmed trek to reach the Pole without resupply, was deemed by National Geographic "a landmark in polar exploration."

The organization spoke about climate change in the arctic at the May meeting of the Morningside Women's Club Earth's climate is changing.

There are many factors contributing to global warming, but few scientists would dispute that human behaviors like burning fossil fuels and deforestation contribute to the problem.

Has it really been that long? On May 1, 1986, the Steger International Polar Expedition went down in history for making the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole, without being re-supplied along the way.

By JUDY SHERARD
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Being the only entries in the youth division of the Edible Books Festival at the Hays Public Library Saturday didn't dampen the Roosevelt Elementary School students' enthusiasm.

The three edible projects were the culmination of literary luncheons where the fifth-grade students met once a week to discuss books after reading an assigned number of pages, said Traci Henning, Roosevelt librarian.

Will Steger Foundation
Summer Institute for Climate Change Education: Climate Change and the Mississippi River
August 11-12, 2011
Grades 6-8

What: a teacher training institute on climate change in Minnesota and its connection with the Mississippi River and watershed, including the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. (This is a Mississippi River cohort group within a larger statewide institute coordinated by the Will Steger Foundation.)

Presented by: the National Park Service, Will Steger Foundation, and the Mississippi River Fund

What would you do if drastic climate change drove you from your homeland, forcing you to leave behind your culture and your very way of life for foreign lands, strange customs, and unfamiliar environs?

Several American University students asked themselves that question as part of the Royal Norwegian Embassy’s third annual essay contest. This year, AU students were invited to write either (1) the imagined journal of an indigenous person displaced by climate change or (2) a policy brief addressing the legal, ethical, and political issues that will arise when climate refugees flock to nearby countries.

Despite appeals from youth, health and environmental groups, House and Senate panels voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to lift restrictions on new coal-fired power in Minnesota.

The Republican-led push sent the legislation to the floors of the respective bodies, where the Senate could take action as early as next week.

MONTEVIDEO — There’s still time and all the incentives in the world to do something about climate change before Minnesotans, as one wag put it, add ‘possum stew’ to the favorite recipes of hunters in the state.

Developing the state’s clean energy opportunities could create new jobs and economic opportunities while reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, Reed Aronow told a gathering at the Clean Up our River Environment office in Montevideo on Wednesday.

Students take the lead in first annual Green Schools National Youth Summit!

On Monday, October 25, over one hundred high school students gathered for the first annual Green Schools National Youth Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota to join forces and help make schools more sustainable.

The conference was geared at preparing participants to become effective leaders in their schools and communities as well as inspiring each individual to become an agent of change. Through the 'GenerationWaking Up' experience, each person was Awakened, Empowered, and Connected with all the other students to help instill a sense of self-empowerment to create a more sustainable world. This presentation, incorporating music, film and spoken word stressed the importance of this generation’s need for strong action and support if the shift in our track towards climate degradation is to change. Through learning how to approach this seemingly daunting issue with hope, every individual at the conference learned that climate change isn’t larger than life but a realistic problem that can be handled if the world – especially the youth – can unite to constructively tackle this problem.

Memories of state's musicians, immigrants, more to be preserved, thanks to the Legacy Amendment

In the giant pie of hundreds of millions of Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment tax dollars, a few crumbs — thousands of dollars — are being used to record the memories of cartoonists, bluegrass musicians, psychiatrists, women police and Liberian immigrants.

The bulk of Legacy Amendment money, raised by a three-eighths of 1 percent sales tax increase, will be spent on the outdoors. Another slice of the money, more than $90 million over 2010 and 2011, supports arts and culture.

Will Steger was in close contact with students on the Skagerrak Primary School in City Gravel Road.

It's not every day an experienced polar explorer pops up in a classroom in Sandefjord.

But the event has students excited in Skagerrak Primary School in City Road.

Polar adventurer and global warming expert Will Steger speaks at the Wayzata Country Club.

Minnesota is going to see more drought and more floods—that’s what legendary Arctic explorer, Will Steger, told Wayzata Chamber of Commerce members, Rotary members and guests at the Wayzata Country Club, on Wednesday.

During his speech, Steger also emphasized the importance of Minnesota jobs in renewable energy. At the event, Steger gave locals a first-hand account of his adventures through the North and South Poles, and Greenland. He also shared videos and photos of what he called, receding glaciers and melting polar ice caps.

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) reminded high schools this week that the deadline for registering for the first annual Climate Generation Program is February 1, 2011. (CARB press release)

The Climate Generation Program, started by the British Council (the United Kingdom's international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations) which is partnering with ARB and the Will Steger Foundation, is a competition challenging students to connect environmental studies with their daily lives. High schools in California and Minnesota are eligible to participate in the program.

“Global warming is going to dominate the future lives of our young people and we have a responsibility to prepare them for this by teaching them what it is and where the solutions lie.”

Many chuckle about the topic global warming when they look outside and see the huge mounds of snow that have accumulated in many backyards in Minnesota.

Even so, world acclaimed polar explorer Will Steger of Minnesota continues to bring his message forward about the effects of global warming.

National Geographic BlogWILD with Will Steger

Contributor: WIll Steger

Two decades after leading a multi-national team on the first complete dogsled traverse of Antarctica, polar adventurer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence emeritus Will Steger reflects on the expedition--and what climate change means for our planet.

On March 3, 1990, a team of six men from six different countries and their 42 sled dogs completed the first-ever dogsled crossing of the Antarctic continent. The 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition, led by Will Steger, travelled 3,741 miles in seven months, enduring temperatures as low as -54 degrees Fahrenheit and winds as high as 100 miles per hour.
The landmark expedition could not be replicated today: not only have dogs been banned from Antarctica, but the Larsen A and B Ice Shelves, on which the team travelled for a month, no longer exist.
Later this week, the team will gather in Minnesota for the first time in 20 years to reflect on the journey--and on the dramatic changes taking place across the world's most frigid continent.

The 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition team will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their trek Friday-Saturday in the Twin Cities.

By Richard Chin  | 12/10/2010

This time around, there won't be 60-day blizzards, cyclones or getting lost in snowdrifts — just sharing memories in the sauna and reflecting on what it meant to be the first people to walk across a continent at the bottom of the world.

For the first time in 20 years, all six members of the International Trans-Antarctica Expedition — the dog-sled trek across Antarctica led by Minnesota adventurer Will Steger — have joined together for a 20th-anniversary reunion of the record-setting 1990 feat.

From Polar expeditions to kite skiing to building cabins from reclaimed materials, life with the McNair-Landrys is nothing if not action-packed.

In this Arctic weather that we're having there are surely no two people more appropriate to speak to than Eric and Sarah McNair-Landry. These two young adventurers are Polar guides par excellence having grown up on Baffin Island, in the icy Canadian North, learning snow skills from their professional Polar guide parents from an early age. Their mother Matty McNair is considered to be the top woman polar guide in the world and in 1997 led the first women's expedition to the North Pole.