Climate Recovery Partnership News and Events

Report Proves Mining Facility is Draining Region's Water Supply

The Sierra Club and its partners, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Dine CARE, To’Nizhoni Ani, and the Center for Biological Diversity, released a hydrology study as part of our work to protect America’s waterways and bring justice to communities harmed by the coal industry.

In the study, Dr. Daniel Higgins, Ph.D. (an expert in Arid Lands Resource Sciences at the University of Arizona) details the destructive effects of a coal-mining facility to a vital local water supply. “This report reaffirms the fact that the coal industry continues to materially damage our aquifer with impunity,” said Marshall Johnson of the Navajo grassroots organization, To’ Nizhoni Ani.

Specifically, the study refers to groundwater withdrawals by Peabody Coal’s massive mining facility from the Navajo Aquifer on Black Mesa in Arizona. To date, the Office of Surface Mining has not recognized the degree of harm Peabody is causing to the aquifer, which is used by thousands for drinking water and is the source of a sacred spring.

For more information on the battle we’re waging against Peabody’s mining facility, with support from our allies, click here.

(Photo: Black Mesa Tableland with Peabody crane in background in 1972. The dialogue to move the region beyond coal has an ongoing history. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

Don’t Drink That Coke

In a unique demonstration, Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter joined with the Clean Economy Coalition for a rally at Corpus Christi City Hall in which activists poured pet-coke (charcoal briquettes) into glasses of water and delivered them to the city council in a special gift box . The action drew attention to the city’s negotiations to supply water to the huge Las Brisas power plant planned for a strip of land along Corpus Christi Bay. Over the past two years the Sierra Club has organized an active coalition of local residents, health professionals, and Club members opposed to this project.  If built, this 1,300 megawatt coke-fired plant would pump more than 9 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and use an estimated five to seven billion gallons of water annually--a precious resource in drought-stricken Texas.

In addition to front page coverage in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the event received great treatment from local television: Check out a brief news segment from ABC affiliate KIII TV.

Inflatable Hand Helps Us Reach Out

Over the past week, two Sierra Club rallies helped spread the word about the public health consequences of air pollution and coal-fired power, aided by an inflatable prop.

In Philadelphia, members of the Sierra Club, the Clean Air Council, and other local groups held a rally for clean air on the Independence Mall. The event showcased an 18-foot-tall inflatable hand holding an inhaler, which highlighted the discussion about asthma and poor air quality. Coverage of the rally appeared on local television and radio in Philadelphia, a city that received an “F” in the State of the Air 2011 Report by the American Lung Association.

The inflatable hand also appeared at our rally in Houston, which featured Houston’s Vice Mayor Pro Tem, City Council Member Ed Gonzalez, and various environmental supporters opposing the proposed White Stallion coal-fired power plant near the city. Despite the rainy weather, dozens of White Stallion opponents gathered to release a new Sierra Club study showing the potential risks of increased smog pollution from the proposed power plant. In addition to showing the support of local politicians for our work, the rally received attention in media outlets such as Houston Public Radio and Fox News in Houston.

Families Can Breathe Easier

Thanks to public pressure and a strong campaign by the Sierra Club and a broad national coalition, the EPA’s new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule means 27 states will significantly clean up their air quality by enforcing reductions in soot and smog from power plants.

Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Mary Anne Hitt was recognized by the EPA in a national press release featuring her comments praising the new rule: "If you have a child with asthma or a loved one at risk of a heart attack, you can breathe easier today, because these new protections will decrease the chances they will end up in the emergency room."

Giving the new rule teeth is critical. Our television, radio, and online media coverage across the country is keeping public pressure on the EPA. And locally, organizers like Christine Guhl succeeded in making sure editorials (here and here) run in media outlets like the Newark Star-Ledger, the newspaper with the largest circulation in New Jersey.

Sierra Summer with SunRun and Sungevity

Today, the Sierra Club announced a pilot partnership with two companies to bring rooftop solar power to California Sierra Club members. In Southern California, SunRun has already brought affordable solar to thousands of homes. In Northern California, Sungevity will make rooftop solar affordable to all. These partnerships help families take control of their energy costs while helping the Sierra Club clean up America’s energy mix.   

“To end our dependence on dirty energy, we need as many homes as possible to switch to rooftop solar, and by making solar easy and affordable, SunRun and Sungevity are helping end our reliance on polluting energy like coal,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.  “We are urging all of our California supporters to sign up for solar with SunRun and Sungevity. Every home that goes solar gets us one step closer to our goal of a clean energy economy.”

As part of the partnerships, each company will give $50 to the Sierra Club for every Club supporter who signs up for a free solar evaluation, and will donate $1,000 for every Club member who goes solar with SunRun or Sungevity.

Learn more at sierraclub.org/solar.

See also: Michael Brune’s blog post on why “Every Rooftop Matters”!

Texas Coal Plant Closure Opens Door to Clean Energy

On June 20, San Antonio Mayor Joaquin Castro announced that not only will the city shut down its 900-megawatt Deely coal-fired power plant by 2018, but it plans to replace the power with a combination of renewable energy—including solar—and energy efficiency.

Roughly 1,000 new jobs will be created by this move.

"This is a victory for clean energy and community health, as well as an example of some amazing long-term grassroots work by local residents," says Mary Anne Hitt, the Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign National Director. CPS Energy, the municipal utility, has already invested in a 14-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant that opened last year, and made a commitment to 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.

"This was a huge effort driven largely by the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club and other key partners like the SEED Coalition and Public Citizen," says Eva Hernandez also of the Beyond Coal Campaign.

The Deely plant will be the first coal-fired power plant in Texas to close, and marks a shift in philosophy - from supplying energy at the lowest cost to providing competitively priced energy with environmental considerations.

Read more about it on Forbes.com.

Court Cuts Down Logging Efforts

In support of the legal actions by Sierra Club and our allies, California’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against multiple timber projects poised to log pristine Sierra backcountry areas, and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.

In 2005, the State of California and our coalition of conservation organizations filed back-to-back legal actions against the U.S. Forest Service, stating the agency violated the law when revising the 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework, a broadly supported management plan for 11 national forests in California. The revised plan quadrupled logging across the Sierra range, and shifted fire prevention resources away from communities.

In 2004, under the Bush administration, the Forest Service announced revisions to increase the amount of logging and limit protections for forests, water, and wildlife throughout the Sierra. The Forest Service had approved the original Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment in January 2001, to direct the management of 11.5 million acres of California’s national forest lands. But the original plan was never implemented

Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program Director Pat Gallagher endorsed the court’s action, saying, “The threat of climate change makes it doubly imperative that we protect wildlife like the Pacific fisher and many types of birds from destructive logging in the Sierra Nevada forests. We will continue to advocate for the fullest protection of the Sierra Nevada and its imperiled wildlife.”

Conservation groups listed on the challenge include: Sierra Forest Legacy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Biological Diversity, and The Wilderness Society. The Sierra Club is represented by its Environmental Law Program and Earthjustice, a non-profit, public interest environmental law firm.

For more information and to see the Ninth Circuit Decision, go to: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/05/26/09-17796.pdf

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.)

Sierra Club Pushes For and Receives Improved Energy-Saving Building Codes in New Mexico

In February 2011, new building codes in New Mexico that will reduce energy consumption for residents and businesses by at least 20 percent were published. The codes allow for an average net savings of nearly $14 per month ($167 per year) for each homeowner, which adds up to $66 million dollars saved over a ten-year period throughout the state. The new codes will also improve property values for homeowners and lower barriers to homeownership for low-income New Mexicans.

If Governor Susana Martinez had her way, these codes would have never been published.

The codes were initiated in 2009 by the state of New Mexico after a meeting with Shrayas Jatkar, Sierra Club’s clean energy organizer in New Mexico, and the Southwest Energy Effiency Project. The Club’s grassroots army called and emailed hundreds of local citizens, ensuring the New Mexico Construction Industries Commission adopted the new, energy-saving building codes in 2010.

The Governor delayed this.

Upon hearing about the Governor’s executive order, the Club’s legal team mounted a quick response. The Sierra Club and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed separate petitions stating that: 1) the New Mexico Governor does not have authority to overturn or delay implementation of a decision made by a state Board or Commission and; 2) the State Records Center Administrator has a duty to publish any rule that has been filed. The Supreme Court agreed, and ruled that the Governor had overstepped her legal authority when she stopped the publication of the building codes duly adopted last year. As a result, the Sierra Club dropped its lawsuit and the state published the cost-saving building codes.

“These codes will save New Mexicans money, slow climate change, and conserve the state’s celebrated natural resources,” said Jatkar. “This is a victory for us all.”