Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
17 March 2022
Held in person at Touchmark on West Prospect
Notes taken by: Mary Flanagan
Attendees: Nancy Bodway, Dave Debbink, Marcia Debbink, Mary Flanagan, Paul Freiberg, Walt Hedges, Barbara Kelly, Bill Kelly, Mary Poulson, Jan Smith, Peter Thiel, Bert Wiegand, Donna Weis
Guests: Greta Rogers and Sofia Wilson
BUSINESS MEETING
Paul called the meeting to order at 6:47 PM.
Mary Poulson's guest, Greta Rogers, was able to join us again. Sofia joined the meeting via Zoom along with member, Jan Smith.
We sang happy birthday to Nancy Bodway.
February minutes were approved with no changes.
The treasurer's report from Barb was accepted.
Balance in account as of 2/15/2022 was $2,909.65.
Payments:
Appleton Public Library (Richard Schoenbohm Memorial) - $80.00
Receipts: None
Balance as of 3/12/2022 was $1,949.65.
Barb passed around the books chosen for Richard Schoenbohm's memorial.
Bill reported that Jan will record her presentation for the April meeting since she will be unable to attend.
Paul announced that this year's International Association Torch Clubs convention will be held in Saratoga, NY on June 16-19. He encouraged members to attend. See https://www.torch.org/convention-2022.html for more information.
We are nominating Barb for the IATC Silver award for all her outstanding service to our club and our community.
The business meeting ended at 6:57 PM.
PRESENTATION
Dave Debbink gave a scary and thoughtful presentation called, “CARBON TAX (fee and dividend): A Simple Solution?”
Unless we can stop the rise in greenhouse gases by 2030 we have a bleak future. Even if we do stop the rise, average temperatures will continue to increase for one to two centuries, glaciers will continue to melt, and oceans will rise 12 to 15 inches in the next decade.
In the past sulfur dioxide pollution mostly from coal-fired power plants caused acid rain that killed plants and aquatic life. Then a cap-and-trade approach was written into the 1990 Clean Air Act to reduce these sulfur emissions. As a result the emissions went down faster and at less cost than predicted.
Similar approaches might be used to help reduce greenhouse gas. Dave's presentation handout can be accessed on our website.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45 PM.