OCTOBER UPDATE

4th ANNUAL CLIMATE CRISIS ART EXHIBIT:  Ongoing

We are very pleased to announce that we made the deadline and the art exhibit did open on October 1st. The venue is stunning, presenting as a 3-dimensional art gallery or museum, with a record 85 entries.. And I believe the quality has increased each year of the show. Gallery A consists of adult pieces, from amateurs to some of Waco's best known professionals. Gallery B consists of student pieces, from pre-K to Baylor University. In addition to Baylor, we have art this year from Tennyson Middle School and Vanguard College Preparatory School. In addition to the art, we have several pages: Vote & Comment, Waco Friends of the Climate info, What Can I Do?, Song for the Bees, and Awards. If you have not visited the gallery, please do so as we need everyone's support. 

Here is the link to the exhibit: climatecrisisartexhibit.org. (When you reach the Home page, please follow the instructions carefully. Although the site does perform beautifully, there are some computer compatibility and navigation issues to be aware of).

In building this exhibit, I had the invaluable photographic and computer assistance of my son Adrian.
I could not have done it without his help. And now I need the help of every Friend of the Climate member.

Please do all you can to help this exhibit thrive:

• View both exhibits A and B, and select your single favorite piece for the Peoples' Choice competition. Note the number after the artist's name. Go to "Vote and Comment" section and complete the voting form. Be certain to only vote once.

• Help the show get maximum exposure by spreading the word. We already have over 500 unique visitors, from all over the world, but we should be able to reach 5000 visitors. So spread awareness in any way you can. You can tell everyone in your circle about the show. The websites are: climatecrisisartexhibit.org or friendsofpeace.org and find a link to the climate show near the top. Please like and SHARE on Facebook and other social media. Let's ensure everyone is aware of this event. And if you would rather use printed materials, email me for our beautiful flyer. If you are a student at MCC, Baylor, or another institution, please be certain to spread the word at your school.. This is vital.

• Volunteer for judging. This will be very comfortable and practical this year, but the decisions are challenging. If you are able to judge please email me ASAP: anorthc@aol.com.

• Refer a professional artist for judging. Our artist judge from 2019 can not join us this year. So if you know an artist who is interested in judging, that would be a tremendous help.

Thank you for helping the 4th Annual Climate Crisis Art Exhibit reach its full potential for educating and creating awareness.

STYROFOAM RECYCLING PROJECT UPDATE

This project continues, with our most recent collection date September 13. The Styrofoam volume increases with each event, most recently 1.5 UHaul trucks full. Our next collection will be December 12, 9am until 1pm at the same location. Please save up your Styrofoam and inform others of this event. But there seems to be good news, as we have been in discussion with the City of Waco. The City is working on a contract with Dart in Waxahachie, in which the City would receive Styrofoam, grind it in a cold process, and Dart would pick it up from Cobbs. Although we started this Styrofoam recycling, if the City can take it over obviously a much larger volume can be recycled and that's the ultimate goal. .In the meantime, it appears we will have 2 more of our collection events. (Many thanks to Travis and Harrison for their incredible work on this project).

GO RENEWABLE WACO

We continue to apply pressure to the Waco City Council, doing written or phone comments on appropriate agenda items each time the Council meets. On Oct. 6, the Council announced some plans which we have recommended to them for 3 years: purchase of 3 EVs, requiring new hotels to have EV charging stations, building one City charger, and considering more rooftop solar. I commented in support of these, but with 2030 rapidly approaching, these steps are woefully inadequate, I observed. But there is NO doubt the GRW campaign has created real policy results. We will continue the pressure.

SOLAR TOUR WACO 2020

The solar open houses were all virtual in 2020. Although not as powerful as live discussions about rooftop solar, virtual was the next best thing. We had 6 join us this year and we thank them deeply: Harrison Ward, Josh King, Ann Sims, David Morrow, Bill Matta, and myself. We hope to see everyone back in 2021, with others, for a live solar tour Waco.

EV PROMOTION

The HOT Electric Auto Association is doing a good job holding EV gatherings to promote this key climate solution. So please buy an EV as soon as possible, and join EV events when you can. Congratulations to Travis Hipp for joining the EV drivers, with purchase of an awesome Kia Soul.

VOTE CLIMATE VOTE CLIMATE VOTE CLIMATE

Studies have shown that those who consider the environment their number one issue have a poor voting percentage. Although I don't envision that with our group, this is a reminder of how critical voting is this year. Climate scientist Michael Mann, in fact, has said that if Trump should be reelected it is game over for the climate. In other words, our hopes of keeping global temperature shift under 1.5C will be totally dashed, given Trump's destructive environmental policies. II don't have to tell anyone that Biden is the candidate for our climate.