Blog Archives - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Save the Date - Alternative Energy Event

9/28/2018

Alternative Energy: Good for our Pocketbook and our Planet - Save the Date

Friday morning, November 9, 2018
QC Botanical Center
2525 4th Avenue, Rock Island IL 61201 (map)

The event will educate citizens, educators, city leaders, and business owners about alternative energy resources in hopes of reducing the cost of energy, increasing sustainability measures, and reducing the carbon footprint of our community. We are inviting alternative energy experts along with a panel presentation of local community leaders from municipalities, schools and businesses. We will conclude the morning with a break out round table discussion for subgroups to explore their specific area of interest.

Shirley Johnson

Please visit (and Like us) on the PACG Environmental Forum Facebook page.

Apply for a Grant Today!

9/26/2018

Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice Applications Are Being Accepted!
Now through October 16th!

The Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice is accepting applications for its annual grant period. Applications will be accepted between September 16th, 2018, and October 16th, 2018.

The Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice was established in 2013 to carry on the life work of Richard E. Fallow who fought for Labor and Economic Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and Democracy and Human Rights. Each year the Endowment will issue a grant in one of these categories.

The endowment is administered by the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend and managed by Progressive Action for the Common Good. Applicants can download materials to apply for the grant here or on the Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FallowFund. You may also send an email to [email protected] to request application materials.

Criteria for grant applicants:

Their work must serve the Quad Cities and immediate surrounding areas.
It must be an organization and not an individual.
It must fit under one of the three categories of serving Labor/Economic Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and Democracy/Human Rights.
With some exceptions, the organization has to be locally chartered and not part of a national organization with access to resources not available to smaller, local organizations.
The grant will not be available to partisan organizations.

Once all grant applications are received, beginning October 26th, 2018, a grant selection committee will evaluate all applications and make their decision no later than November 14th. Recipients of the 2018 award will be announced at the Progressive Action for the Common Good Annual Holiday Party on December 6, 2018.

Past grant recipients include Guardians of the Prairie and Forest; Palomares Social Justice Center of Moline, Illinois; the Safer Foundation of the Quad Cities; and Center for Workers Justice of Eastern Iowa.

For more information:

309-738-3196
[email protected]

Tracy Leone
[email protected]

Our First Online Fund Drive Was a Success!

9/26/2018

Working Together: Make America Progressive Again Online Fund Drive

PACG Message to our membership

Our first Online Fund Drive was a great success! With the matching grants, we raised about $3,800. More importantly, we learned a lot about Facebook and about making videos. Check out our feature videos on the home page of our website, pacgqc.org.

Thanks to all who donated. A special thanks to our Facebook Ambassadors: Allison Ambrose; Cath Bolkcom; Linnea Crowther; Alta Price; Caryn Unsicker; and Caroline Vernon. We are also grateful to our many donors who give in other ways through the year. We couldn't do all we do without all of you!

Alta Price, Board President

Renewable Energy: Greener Earth = Green in Your Pocket - November 9th 9 am - 2 pm

9/17/2018

Renewable Energy: Greener Earth = Green in Your Pocket
November 9th, 9 am - 2 pm
Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Ave, Rock Island, IL (map)

Click here to register.

Come learn about renewable energy options and how you can save money. There are now funds available to offset the initial investment, and people find that the pay-off is faster than ever before. Learn about colleges offering environmental degrees, in solar and wind technology, engineering, and environmental science. Renewable energy is a job creator across the globe. Worldwide, investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than $286 billion in 2015. There are nearly 8 million jobs associated with the renewable energy industry.

This program is funded through the Mark Schwiebert Grant for Environmental Studies along with the Environmental Forum from PACG and the Eagle View Chapter of the Sierra Club. The presentation is free to the public.

The Keynote Speaker will be David Osterberg, emeritus professor of environmental health at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, and founder of the Iowa Policy Project. He will discuss how Iowa energy policy has expanded the use of renewables and increased efficiency to keep the electric rates low and help the state contribute to containing climate change.

Other speakers will include representatives from the Iowa and Illinois Renewable Energy Associations, and the Illinois Citizen Utility Board. These speakers will discuss policy and funding options available in each state, as well as tax incentives. Participants will learn about The Future Energy Jobs Act. Local panel presenters will provide information about how they developed their projects, and both the pros and cons of their ventures. Vendor tables will be available during the forum so attendees can discuss renewable options for their specific projects.

A flyer can be downloaded below. Pass it out to your friends and post it on social media and in public spaces. Thanks for helping us spread the word about this important event!

renewable_energy_flyer.pdf
File Size:	324 kb
File Type:	pdf

PACG Annual Picnic and Pie Auction!!

9/16/2018

Our 6th Annual PACG Picnic & Pie Auction is today, Sunday, September 16th, from noon to 3pm at Fejervary Park Shelter 1 (just west of the Putnam on the bluff) in Davenport. Join us for juicy pulled pork, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and both vegetarian and meat lasagna and watermelon all catered by Fresh Deli. If you have a favorite dessert, you can bring it to share (optional).

There will be music by Chris Dunn and all kinds of fun things to do, too. Buy tickets to win our 50/50 raffle, and win prizes in our ice breaker game. You can buy PACG t-shirts and compete for the delicious donated pies in our Annual Pie Auction. Don’t forget that pie bakers attend for free!

Finally, just come and have fun with other like-minded progressives. There’s a playground right by us, so bring your kids and grandkids, too.

Tickets are $10 per person or $25 for families (Kids under age ten are free) and you can click right here to register now. If you don’t want to use a credit card online, just put “pending” where it asks for payment and pay at the door.

We very much look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

The PACG Picnic Committee (click to email us about the Picnic):
Allison Ambrose, Ann McCluskey, Susan Meenan, Margie Mejia-Caraballo and Caryn Unsicker

Accepting Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice 2018 Grant Applications!

9/14/2018

PACG is accepting applications for the 2018 Dick Fallow Endowment. Application forms are available here. And of course we always welcome donations in Dick's honor.

Monarch Release and Immigration Celebration - Sunday, September 23, 2018

9/14/2018

Monarch Release and Immigration Celebration - Organized by Quad Cities Interfaith

What You Can Do Now - Help Stop the Rollback of Clean Air Standards

9/10/2018

What You Can Do Now - Help Stop the Rollback of Clean Air Standards

The Environmental Forum urges everyone to contact the EPA and NHTSA administrators to stop the rollback of clean air standards.

Once again, the Trump administration is putting industry ahead of taxpayers. At the request of automaker lobbyists and their trade groups, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) proposed to completely scrap the rules on clean car standards after 2020, and to end states' authority to use more stringent standards to address local air pollution.

These clean car standards are currently reducing oil consumption, leading to significant benefits for public health, cutting global warming pollution, creating jobs, and saving consumers billions at the pump! And now, they may completely disappear unless we do something.

Contact Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi King, and tell them that these standards were implemented by their agencies with agreement from the automakers. Currently, the manufacturers are meeting or exceeding the standards, and technology exists to meet the standards through 2025. As government agencies, it’s their job to protect us. As consumers, we demand fuel efficient vehicles because they emit less air pollutants and benefit public health. Their proposals fail to protect the citizens of the United States!

Contact Information:

Andrew Wheeler
Acting EPA Administrator
ESEPA Headquarters
William Jefferson Clinton Building
1200 Pennsylvania Av NW
Mail Code 1101A
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-564-4700
[email protected]

Heidi King
NHTSA Deputy Administrator
US Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Av SE
Washington, DC 20509
Phone: 202-366-4000
[email protected]

Susan Leuthauser
[email protected]

National Voter Registration Day - September 25, 2018

9/3/2018

National Voter Registration Day for the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities

national_voter_registration_day.pdf
File Size:	68 kb
File Type:	pdf

PACG encourages its supporters to attend this local National Voter Registration Day event (click on the link to learn more about this worthy organization). Use the downloadable flyer above to invite your friends and neighbors.

National Voter Registration Day is a national holiday celebrating our democracy. It was first observed in 2012 and has been growing in popularity every year since. Held on the fourth Tuesday of September, National Voter Registration Day will be observed on Tuesday, September 25th this year. The holiday has been endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). It is further supported by the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED).