Climate Recovery Partnership News and Events

Nuclear Plant Nixed in Colorado

In a major win for the Colorado Sierra Club and its coalition allies, the Pueblo County commissioners voted to reject a land use designation that would have locked in county approval of a proposed nuclear power plant.

"This decision should send a signal to nuclear speculators everywhere," says the Club’s Water Sentinel and Sangre de Cristo Group Chair Ross Vincent. "We're not interested. No more will Pueblo be the dumping ground for junk technology that smart communities don't want. We will fight newly-proposed nuclear power plants anywhere in Colorado."

Vincent was among the more than 500 citizens who filled a local venue in Pueblo on March 16 at the No Fools No Nukes Rally to oppose local lawyer Don Banner's plan. "The concerns about the health and environmental impacts of this project are real," Vincent told the Pueblo County commissioners. "This is just an application, not a plan, being backed by a dubious sales pitch."

Fellow Fountain Creek Water Sentinel Michele Bobyn, a forensic biologist, said some of the testimony given by proponents of the nuclear plant glossed over the danger posed by spent fuel rods. She cited long-term studies of animals around the Savannah River plant in Georgia showing that they contain radioactive elements from the power plant. "There will be leakage," she advised the commissioners. "Maybe we should be doing baseline studies now on our exposure if we are going to be exposed to this for the long-term."’

Vincent says the hearing was the largest ever in Pueblo. "The Sierra Club was at the heart of this coalition effort, but it wasn't a traditional coalition by any means. This was a genuine community uprising that crossed every conceivable boundary—farmers and city-dwellers, conservationists and business people. One of the key local leaders was a real estate agent who lives near the proposed site. Now we want to capture this energy and push for a sustainable economic development plan for the Pueblo area."

(Photo: No Fools No Nukes Rally. Courtesy of Lysandro Sandoval Filho from Puebloans for Smart Energy.)

Partnership Removes 20,000 Pounds of Trash from Creek

What does 10 tons of trash look like? Muddy tires, corroded metal pieces, moldy sleeping bags, plastic bags, and shoes without their partner.

That is what Sierra Club volunteers collected in April from Granite Creek in Prescott, Arizona.

Water is scarce in Prescott. For the annual Granite Creek Clean-up, 500 volunteers from the Sierra Club's Yavapai Group Sentinels and partner Prescott Creeks collected an impressive amount of rubbish to improve the precious resource. “The partnership with Sierra Club Water Sentinels on this throughout all the years and many other aspects of watershed protection is invaluable,” said Prescott Creeks Outreach and Communications Director Ann-Marie Benz.

Volunteers were encouraged to save anything they collected that could be re-purposed into art. In fact, three tons of the debris will be upcycled. Later in the year, community members will display their creative talents through an exhibit and auction featuring the art made from creek debris. Citizens will also have the chance to learn more about what trash and treasures lurk under the creek water.

(Photo: Volunteers collect a metal object and sleeping bag at the Granite Creek Clean-up. Photo courtesy of West Howland.)

Linking East Coast Forests Through Diverse Partnerships

Last fall, the Sierra Club’s Vermont Chapter announced the Our Forests Our Future campaign (part of the national Sierra Club's Resilient Habitats campaign) to reconnect forests, initiate local management, and open up the woods to traditional uses such as hiking, fishing, and hunting. The ultimate goal is to create a mosaic of locally controlled forests that will link Vermont's Green Mountains with upstate New York's Adirondacks to the west, New Hampshire's White Mountains and Maine's North Woods to the east, and the mountains of Quebec to the north.

“We're moving forward by reaching out to non-traditional allies," notes chapter chair Zak Griefen. "This diversity gives us strength. We look forward to collaborating with both new and established allies to preserve and expand biological corridors throughout the state."

The campaign recently gained momentum with the backing of the Vermont Workers’ Center, which includes many affiliated labor unions like the 10,000-strong Vermont AFL-CIO. The Chapter and Center both support healthy people and healthy forests.

Additionally, the Chapter has partnerships with the Nulhegan and Elnu Abenaki Tribes. To ensure the voices of the the tribe members and local citizens are heard, the Chapter held regional meetings. Abenaki Tribe members voiced concerns about their right to hunt and fish in the town forests. The Chapter also heard from low-income individuals and the elderly on maintaining their right to harvest sustainable amounts of firewood.  

The more diversified and local input, the stronger the campaign will be in reaching the overarching goal.

(Photo: Landscape shot of the Northeastern Kingdom. Courtesy Don Dickson.)