Activists Mobilize as Big Coal Targets Bryce Canyon National Park

Sierra Club activists hold up their water quality detectors.

Numbers don't lie. That's why activists armed with digital water quality detectors are gathering along the streams of Utah, where Big Coal's top priority is right next door to majestic Bryce Canyon National Park.

With an assist from the Sierra Club's Resilient Habitats program and the Water Sentinels, dozens of new volunteers have been trained to monitor nearby waterways, collect samples, and use the data to expose the coal industry. Data that come in from a Salt Lake City lab will comprise a clickable online map using GIS software.

"The lab tests for a variety of heavy metals -– arsenic, mercury contamination, and other serious toxins," says Tim Wagner, who works for the Resilient Habitats program in Utah. One result has already detected a conductivity reading of 1600+. "Normal range is somewhere around 50 to 100. Obviously something's going on here."

There's been a recent upswing of Big Coal activity in the state, with the current battle taking place on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management near Bryce Canyon and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Collected data will give activists a leg up on coal companies.

"This will give local volunteers the necessary tools they'd need to counter some of the public relations spin that comes from mining proponents," Tim Wagner says.

Water Sentinels Deputy Director Tim Guilfoile was on hand to train and equip Utah volunteers in water quality testing. "It was an amazing weekend," says Utah Chapter Chair Marion Klaus. "The group was dynamic, motivated and interested, and we had excellent participation from folks in the small town of Kanab, Moab, and Salt Lake City. It was an amazing shot in the arm to the local folks to have Tim and the Sierra Club come help them battle Alton Coal."

"The Utah volunteers were among the most motivated and committed I've seen and they came from throughout the state," Guilfoile says. "The intrusion of the coal industry into valleys below Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Staircase Escalante-National Monument represents a deep disregard for the American people and our national treasures. This fight is a Beyond Coal issue, a Resilient Habitats issue, a Water Sentinels issue and a threat to the health and economic well being of the communities in the region. The collaboration of these three Climate Recovery Campaigns with the people of Utah is a model for future activism."

Keeping a Watchful Eye in Hawaii

 

By Anthony Aalto, the Oahu Group of the Hawaii Chapter

One of our success stories is the The Capitol Watch, a team of volunteers who monitor, report, and advocate on statewide environmental legislation. It encourages greater grassroots involvement in the legislative process and helps volunteers develop leadership skills. As a result, we've further cemented the Sierra Club's reputation as the most effective environmental lobbying organization in the state.

Before the start of the most recent legislative session, we organized a "Forces for Good" symposium as a recruiting venue at which experts briefed participants on the top statewide environmental issues and taught the rudiments of lobbying at the Capitol. The Chapter Director then examined every piece of proposed legislation and posted all relevant bills on an online spreadsheet that was available to the public and updated in real time.

Volunteers recruited at the symposium were handed the title of "Captain" and given responsibility for a specific area of expertise, whether it was energy, agriculture, marine, etc. Captains monitored the progress of bills in their area and compiled reports twice a week on the ones they considered top priorities. These reports were then assembled into a bi-weekly newsletter, called The Capitol Watch Insider, and emailed to subscribers.

Connecting Clean-Energy Business with Virginia Policy

J.R. Tolbert, Virginia Chapter, addressing the First Annual Clean Energy Business Lobby Day.

By J.R. Tolbert, Assistant Director of Legislation & Development of the Virginia Chapter

One of the many success stories this year for the Virginia Chapter was the first ever Clean Energy Business Lobby Day, which will be an annual event. The goal of Lobby Day was to elevate the voice of Virginia's renewable energy industry inside the General Assembly building in Richmond. For too long, Virginia's utilities have dominated the debate and direction of the Commonwealth's energy future.

Terry McAuliffe, former DNC Chair, with Sierra Club Field Organizer Trieste Lockwood.

Beginning in October 2010, the Chapter began recruiting representatives from clean-energy businesses to attend a lobby day in January. In total, more than 40 businesses attended and held more than 85 meetings with members of the legislature. We structured the day by developing solar, wind, and biomass platforms for participants to lobby on particular legislation. Additionally, we held a press event in the middle of the day to highlight some of the strongest stories of clean energy in Virginia.

Water Sentinels Partnership Donates Rods & Reels to Military Families

Thousands of military youth and their families now have a better chance to go fishing and spend time in the great outdoors thanks to a partnership between the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels Program, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation's (RBFF) Take Me Fishing campaign, the National Military Fish & Wildlife Association (NMFWA), and Zebco, the nation's largest manufacturer of fishing rods and reels.

Above, kids fishing at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina. Below, girls from the Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force base fish near Anchorage, Alaska.

On August 22, the groups announced their collaboration on the 2nd Annual Rods & Reels Initiative to distribute thousands of rods and reels to military families across the country. The Water Sentinels and NMFWA began working together in 2009, but the initiative took off in 2010 when the RBFF provided its full support and connected the Sentinels with Zebco's refurbished rod and reel program.

Since the program's launch, nearly 90,000 youth have benefitted from the program, with almost 1,900 rod & reel sets distributed to 60 military bases in 21 states. The most recent donation of 700 Zebco rods and reels will be shipped this month to the Water Sentinels, who will distribute the gear to members of the NMFWA for use by families on military installations.

"This national partnership is truly a labor of love," says Water Sentinels Director Scott Dye, above at right with refurbished Zebco rods & reels. "It's great to give back to our military families who have given so much to us."

Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation studies show that fishing leads to a lifelong interest in conservation and environmental protection. "That's what our organization is all about," says Water Sentinels Deputy Director Tim Guilfoile, below. "Our goal with this program is to get kids outdoors by giving them the tools they need to go fishing. We're creating the next generation of Huck Finns."

Pollution Is Personal: NAACP’s Clean Air Conference in D.C.

This guest column is by Karen Monahan (pictured), a Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer and Vice Chair, Minneapolis NAACP.

Every day, the Sierra Club's environmental justice program in Minnesota talks to people whose lives are impacted by air pollution. Whether it be 50-year old Hosie and his recent hospitalization because of an asthma attack or the Get Your Green! students from the High School for Recording Arts rapping about how asthma affects youth, it's clear: pollution is personal. So personal in fact, that it can be overwhelming to see how obvious it is that clean air can literally save lives. That's why it was refreshing to hear from EPA staff and national leaders in DC last month at the NAACP’s Clean Air conference that strong clean air standards that protect our health are on the horizon.

Ten different organizations -- including American Lung Association, Consumers Union, League of Women Voters, Interfaith Power and Light and the NAACP -- rallied together in DC on July 18th for a conference on clean air. One of the speakers, Gina McCarthy from the EPA, reported that one out of 20 deaths is linked to air pollution. She recognized that "pollution is personal" and went on to note that "there is a cost and benefit to every thing in life and the cost of human health has to be a part of the equation." With over $100 million in health costs alone related to air pollution from coal plants, these remarks ring so true in North Minneapolis where Sierra Club joined forces with the Environmental Justice Advocates and others to clean up the Riverside coal plant because of asthma concerns in the community. The conversion of Riverside was completed in 2009.

Social Ridesharing Service Gathering Momentum

Three years ago we reported on two young eco-entrepreneurs and their year-old company, Zimride, an online social networking/rideshare system that used Facebook to hook riders up with drivers going to the same desination.

Flash-forward to 2011: Zimride co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer, above, former student environmental activists who met when they were fresh out of college, now run the largest online ride-sharing service in North America. With 300,000 users and more than 100 clients in 30 states, Zimride has now booked more than a million miles worth of trips.

Initially the San Francisco-based company focused on selected college campuses, then private companies, requiring a campus or corporate login. But on August 17, Zimride branched out and opened up to the general public by offering services to anyone seeking rides or riders between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

"We wanted to create a new form of transportation for everyone that's built on this community of sharing rides," Zimmer told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Check out Zimride at http://public.zimride.com.

 

Activists Get to Work amid an Uncertain Energy Future in Illinois

Taking water samples in Montgomery County, Illinois.

There's a quiet battle simmering in President Obama's old stomping grounds as Big Coal executives from Appalachia look due west for friendly places to expand. Coal barons armed with loads of cash and political connections have yearned to transform the Illinois Basin into their own playground. That's why, with at least 11 permit applications for new coal mines or expansions on the docket, the state's energy future is facing a crucial fork in the road.

"We're at this critical time in Illinois," says Cindy Skrukrud, the Illinois Chapter's Clean Water Advocate. "We've appealed permits for two mines –- a long wall mine and a strip mine. We're dealing with new mines, others trying to expand, and others that aren't keeping with their permit restrictions."

With assistance from the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels program, activists and volunteers are battling these developments on multiple fronts –- through the court system, public hearings, and on the ground. Last month, seven local activists traveled to Pittsburgh for a training put on by Citizens Coal Council on the ins and outs of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, the federal mining standards law routinely ignored by Illinois coal companies.

"It's a struggle to get the mines to follow regulations. But even more so, we have to battle our own state agencies," says the Chapter's Conservation Committee Chair Joyce Blumenshine, who attended the training. "There are many ways the law isn't being followed."

About 60 activists and attorneys attended the training to talk about how the 25-year-old legislation could leverage the fight against coal. The Chapter has partnered with Prairie Rivers Network, Citizens Against Longwall Mining, and Heartland Coalfield Alliance, and has had immense help from the Water Sentinels.

Miami Sierrans Get Kids Involved with Creative Recycling Project

 

By Debbie Matthews, Miami Group Chair

[That's Matthews, pictured above at left.]

As a member of the Florida Sierra Club's Waste Minimization Committee, I wanted to see if the Miami Group could come up with a way to raise awareness in our community about the importance of recycling, and to not use plastic bags. The Miami Group Executive Committee came up with an idea for a general meeting with a "Make & Take" hands-on reusable bag decorating activity. We invited the general public as well as all our members. The idea was to get the community involved in reducing the amount of plastic bags that are used in Miami, and to make the public aware of the harmful effects that plastic bags have on the environment.

We had free bags, decorating materials and guidance provided for kids and adults of all ages. We spoke about how plastic bags can be harmful to animals and to the environment. We also had a PowerPoint presentation running for the entire meeting, providing facts about plastic bags and highlighting the hazards of their use. A great time was had by all and many bags were decorated proudly and taken home.

Club Rallies Against Controversial Petroleum Coke Plant in Texas

 

Texas Sierra Club organizer Flavia de la Fuente, above, helped organize a recent rally in Corpus Christi with local partner The Clean Economy Coalition to protest a proposed petroleum coke-fired power plant near the city's heavily-populated downtown.

"We poured 'pet-coke' (charcoal briquettes) into drinking glasses and presented them to the City Council and City Manager Ron Olson to protest a pending water contract for the Las Brisas Energy Center," says de la Fuente, who works with the Club's Texas Beyond Coal campaign.

"Between 40 and 50 people turned out for the rally," says de la Fuente. "We got a live feed from several news stations, front-page coverage in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and a letter-to-the-editor by a member of our team." The rally coincided with the release of the new Harry Potter film, so there were lots of Potter-themed signs, like the one below at right.

North Dakota Sierrans Help Fight Proposed Coal Complex Near National Park

The Dacotah Chapter's organizing efforts to build local alliances and galvanize the public to speak out against a proposed new coal complex in South Heart, North Dakota, just outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park, paid dividends this summer.

"Our effort to turn out volunteers for a recent informal hearing in Dickinson for the South Heart coal mine and coal gasification plant was a rousing success," says North Dakota Sierra Club organizer Wayde Schafer. "Our goal was to get 65 of our supporters to attend. We had 81 show up, and 25 of them testified against the project. Of the roughly 100 attendees at the hearing, 76 were wearing the South Heart Coalition's yellow t-shirts—a pretty impressive sight."

The Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign logo was prominently emblazoned on many of the t-shirts. "A majority [of those in attendance] were sporting yellow t-shirts, signifying opposition," reported The Dickinson Press.

Turnout actually would likely have been even higher, Schafer says, if not for unusually wet weather which had delayed the planting season, causing many local farmer supporters to have to choose between getting their crop in and taking time off to attend the hearing.

The Dacotah Chapter has done mailings, phone banks, online action alerts, and helped turn people out for public meetings as part of its work with the South Heart Coalition, which includes the Dakota Resource Council, Neighbors United, National Parks Conservation Association, and Plains Justice.

"We have successfully kept this a local grassroots campaign," says Schafer. "We've worked very closely with Neighbors United, a local landowner group which came together around this issue, supporting their efforts and encouraging them to lead the opposition to the South Heart coal project."