Climate Recovery Partnership News and Events

Foundation Goes Four for Four

 

For the fourth year in a row, the Sierra Club Foundation (TSCF) has earned the highest possible rating—four stars—from Charity Navigator. Not only that, TSCF now ranks fifth among the 226 environmental groups focused on conservation and protection.

This year, the watchdog group revamped its rating system to also assess the accountability and transparency of organizations. As a result, TSCF’s ranking improved even more!

Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator, assesses the financial health of over 5,000 of America’s best charities. To read more about the new rating system on The Chronicle of Philanthropy website, click here.

 

Fighting Smog in the Sunshine State

In August, Sierra Club members held a hugely successful rally in downtown Tampa, increasing public attention to the problem of smog pollution and calling for clean air protections from the EPA.

Smog pollution remains especially problematic in sunny Florida, where toxic gases emitted from coal-fired power plants and cars is a threat to residents. A danger to respiratory health, smog aggravates asthma, inflames and irritates airways, and increases hospitalization rates. Despite the severe health consequences, EPA regulations to limit smog are lacking.

Alongside the Sierra Club’s 18-foot inflatable inhaler, dozens of concerned residents at the rally listened to speakers from partner organizations like Physicians for Social Responsibility Tampa Bay and the Suncoast Pediatric Asthma Coalition. Rally participants also signed onto the Clean Air Promise, pledging to protect the health of children and families from dangerous air pollution.

Our efforts garnered attention from local media, including CBS Channel 10, ABC Action News, WMNF (the NPR affiliate for Tampa), and Creative Loafing.

Thumbs-Up for Clean Air

On Wednesday, the Sierra Club teamed up with University of Pittsburgh students and local environmental activists in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park to rally for strong EPA safeguards against dangerous smog pollution. Our news conference came in response to the EPA’s Tuesday decision to delay adopting stricter anti-smog rules.

Aided by Sierra Club’s 18-foot-tall inflatable hand holding an inhaler, which has been making its rounds in Club events across the country, the news conference provided a valuable chance to educate the public about the dangers of dirty air. In Western Pennsylvania alone, smog sends 10,000 people each summer to the emergency room and harms on a daily basis more than 78,000 adults and 25,000 children living with asthma.

Our efforts to make our voices heard grabbed the attention of local media, garnering coverage in outlets such as Central Public Radio, NewsRadio 1020 KDKA, and this excellent piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Hands Across the Sand Returns

On June 25, one year after the BP oil disaster, Sierra Club organizers from four ecoregions—the Gulf Coast, Adirondacks to Acadia, Pacific Northwest, and Arctic—brought hundreds of participants throughout America together once again for Hands Across the Sand.

Working with several organizations, such as Oceana, Florida Wildlife Federation, and 350.org, we generated great turn-outs in key states, including the 555 people who joined hands in Florida to support a move beyond oil.

We also received great high-profile media coverage, like this TV spot from New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU, that bolstered our successful efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of dirty fuels and offshore drilling nationwide.

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.

Electric Vehicles Charge NYC

The Sierra Club has long championed moving Beyond Oil, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the Big Apple is taking a bite out of its oil consumption by adding 70 hybrid and electric vehicles to its government fleet.

Sierra Club’s Gina Coplon-Newfield praised the mayor’s news and noted, “New York can be a model for other cities on how to green their fleets.”

The city’s newly-purchased 50 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids and 20 other electric vehicles will join 4,980 hybrid taxis already operating in the city’s fleet. The vehicles will save taxpayers hundreds of thousands in gasoline costs and reduce vehicle emissions as well.

More at The New York Times.

Independence (from Oil) Day

During the week of Independence Day, Sierra Club supporters across the country helped spread the word about the importance of moving beyond oil and toward clean energy:

In the Knoxville News Sentinel, Lisa Huff explains that fuel efficiency is the key to energy security for America. At the moment, our oil addiction puts us at the mercy of big companies and countries rocked by political turmoil; increasing fuel efficiency and improving public transit will help us break free from the gas pump.

In the Miami Herald, Linda Bremer writes that fuel efficiency and auto pollution standards will save billions in gas costs, create cleaner air for us all, and provide clean energy jobs for Americans to build a new generation of greener vehicles.

And in a piece published in both the the LaCrosse Tribune in Wisconsin and the Winona Daily News in Minnesota, Erik Pettersen argues that energy independence would give all Americans a reason to celebrate.

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”!

National Spotlight on Smog

As the start of summer nears and millions of children head outdoors to play, today the Sierra Club captured the attention of CNN’s readers with a headlining opinion piece about the dangers smog presents to our respiratory health.

The editorial, penned by Sierra Club's director of conservation Sarah Hodgdon and Physicians for Social Responsibility's director of environment and health, Barbara Gottlieb, provides valuable public education on the causes of smog and how it harms our most vulnerable populations.

Coal-fired power plants and traffic pollution are two major causes of smog, a dangerous air pollutant that attacks our respiratory system—triggering asthma attacks, aggravating bronchitis and emphysema, and causing permanent health damage to children, seniors, and people with chronic respiratory and heart disease.

Clearly, we need stronger EPA protections to protect us and our children from smog and reduce the dangers to both our environment and respiratory health.

Freezing Shell’s Arctic Drilling Plans

The Sierra Club won a massive victory this week when Shell announced the cancellation of its Arctic drilling plans for the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea for the rest of 2011. For the past five years, the Royal Dutch Shell company has tried to begin exploratory drilling in the Alaskan Arctic--and not even last year’s BP Oil Disaster managed to quell its enthusiasm for underwater oil.

The Club and our allies in both conservation and Native Alaskan organizations (such as the Native Village of Point Hope, Defenders of Wildlife, National Audubon Society, and NRDC) have led the way to stop Shell’s efforts in the region by challenging drilling permits and leases. We also have continually reminded the public of one simple truth: as we have seen from Exxon Valdez to BP, oil companies like Shell have never demonstrated that they are capable of cleaning up the own messes:

“It’s irresponsible for Shell to be pursuing dangerous offshore oil development when they know they can’t clean up oil spills in the Arctic’s broken sea ice. Instead of putting our children’s heritage at risk, we should be investing in the clean energy economy, which will create jobs, fight global warming, and leave our last wild places intact,” said Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club Alaska Program Director.

Shell has blamed its delayed drilling pursuits on what what it perceives as unnecessary and burdensome government regulations. With $3.5 billion invested in Arctic exploration programs in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the company intends to resume its efforts in 2012.

We will continue ours as well.

More at The Los Angeles Times