by Peter Terezakis Leave a Comment
NRDC
Sierra Club
This is a sample mailing by the Sierra Club.
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| Keep Alaska’s Tongass National Forest Roadless |
The Tongass National Forest’s 17 million acres are home to 800-year-old trees, three Alaska Native nations, and an astonishing breadth of wildlife, including brown bears, bald eagles, humpback whales, and sea lions.
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Protect Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
The Tongass National Forest’s 17 million acres are home to 800-year-old trees, three Alaska Native nations, and an astonishing breadth of wildlife, including brown bears, bald eagles, humpback whales, and sea lions. For years, Alaska elected officials and their timber-industry-backed allies have been eager to get their paws—and saws—on the Tongass. Now this threat looms larger than ever as the U.S. Forest Service and the state of Alaska work to craft an Alaska-specific version of the landmark Roadless Rule that would vastly increase logging on our nation’s largest national forest.
Take action to protect the Tongass.
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Keep “Thumper Trucks” out of the Arctic
A little-known company called SAExploration wants to start seismic oil testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this December. The 90,000-pound “thumper trucks” used to conduct seismic exploration, in which powerful seismic waves are sent deep into the earth and allowed to bounce back, would crush everything in their paths—including polar bear dens.
Tell SAExploration to back out of the Arctic.
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Enlist the Ents!
One of the most efficient ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it for decades or even centuries to come is by maintaining healthy, diverse forests that store CO2 in roots, wood, and leaves. Yet forest resources in the United States aren’t generally seen as part of our “toolkit” to combat climate change. The EPA doesn’t factor carbon sequestration in forests into its CO2 models. More shocking, industrial logging in the southeastern U.S. is reducing forest cover four times faster than in the Amazon!
It’s time to start treating our forests as a climate resource.
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The Latest Buzz About Roundup
The most widely sprayed herbicide in the world kills honeybees, according to a new report that’s been generating quite the buzz. Glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup, targets enzymes previously thought to be found only in plants. But it turns out some bacteria also use the enzymes, including a microbiome found in the intestines of most bees. Yet Roundup continues to be advertised as innocuous to wildlife.
Read more about how Roundup is killing bees and conducting a bumbling ad campaign.
Photo courtesy of Alex Wild/University of Texas at Austin
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Donate Your Car Today
Donating your vehicle to the Sierra Club Foundation will not only clear up space in your garage or on your block but also help support the foundation’s work educating and empowering people to safeguard the health of our communities—allowing future generations to breathe fresh air, drink safe water, and experience wild places. Our partners at CARS will pick up your vehicle from any location, no matter its condition, and at no cost to you. CARS accepts trucks, trailers, boats, RVs, motorcycles, and more. Donate by December 31 to be eligible for a 2018 tax deduction.
Call now to schedule a pickup: (855) 337-4377.
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There’s No Time Like the Wintertime
Savor the season of silent beauty on a Sierra Club snow trip. Cross-country ski through frozen landscapes, learn to mush your own team of huskies, or view the northern lights and sample winter activities in Interior Alaska.
See all snow trips and sign up.
Photo by Rebecca Dameron
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Awesome!
Part of the power of awe is that it reminds us of our place in society, our place in the world — even our place in the universe. Some experiences, like space travel or seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, might be almost universal in their ability to evoke feelings of wonder and amazement. But for the most part, awe is highly personal. Findings published earlier this year suggest it can also offer a path to greater humility.
Read about the science and the power of awe.
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Say No to Single-Use Plastics
Our planet is drowning in disposable plastics, many of which are designed to be used only once yet last forever. There could be more plastics than fish (by volume) in our oceans by 2050 if we don’t take action to eliminate these wasteful, nonbiodegradable single-use products. Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, recently committed to discontinuing distribution of single-use plastic products. Kroger’s biggest competitor, Albertsons, should follow its lead.
Tell Albertsons to stop distributing single-use plastic products.
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Ain’t It Just Like a Friend of Mine…
The aftermath of Hurricane Florence has been elbowed from the headlines by the Kavanaugh confirmation and President Trump’s appalling, tone deaf behavior, but residents of the Carolinas continue to struggle with flooding and other widespread damage from the storm, including toxic coal ash pollution. Adding insult to injury is the denial and dishonesty coming from Duke Energy, the company responsible for that pollution, which cites as “a common misconception” the notion that coal ash is even toxic.
Photo by Cape Fear Riverkeeper at the L.V. Sutton Power Station outside Wilmington, N.C.
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10 Wedding Gifts for Eco-Conscious Newlyweds
Choosing a thoughtful wedding gift can be like running through a maze of ice cream makers and decorative napkin rings. Should your present be whimsical or practical? Will it be used once, or will it last? Whether you’re sticking to a registry or thinking outside the box, a personal gift demonstrates that you put thought into the couple and the world they want to build together. Choosing an ecologically conscious gift, then, is the perfect way to help a sustainably minded pair lighten their footprint.
Here are 10 gift ideas that tree-hugging newlyweds will embrace.
Photo courtesy of Modern Sprout
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Keep the Blues at Bay With a Daily Ray
Tired of waking up to a Kavalcade of bad news? We’ve got just the remedy! Subscribe to the Daily Ray of Hope, and every morning we’ll send you a beautiful photograph from the natural world along with some reassuring words of wisdom and encouragement.
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Sponsored Content: Carleton Watkins: Making the West American
“Watkins emerges as a pivotal artist, a key player in the preservation of what is now Yosemite National Park, and a creator of the American environmental imagination.” —T. J. Stiles, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
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Yearning to be Green?
Got a question on any environmental topic? Well then, ask Sierra magazine’s attitudinal advice columnist, Mr. Green. No subject is too challenging, wonky, lame, or otherwise unwelcome. Whether your inquiry is about environmental philosophy and literature or how to build a deck without destroying a forest, Mr. Green wants to hear from you.
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Get Charged Up With Our 2018 Electric Vehicle Guide
Consumers today have loads of good electric vehicle choices that are much cleaner than conventional vehicles, even factoring in emissions from the electricity used to charge them. Both range and performance are improving as prices come down.
Check out these six noteworthy 2018 models, both full-battery electric and plug-in hybrid.
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Plug In, Turn On, Roll Out
Record numbers celebrated National Drive Electric Week last month, with more than 180,000 people participating in some 321 events in three nations and all 50 U.S. states. The huge popularity of this year’s Drive Electric Week demonstrates once again that people from all corners of the country are excited about zero-emission transportation,” says Mary Lunetta, campaign representative with the Sierra Club’s Electric Vehicles Initiative. “Electric-vehicle adoption is also a great way to resist the Trump administration’s rollback of our nation’s major climate protections, including clean car standards.”
Read more about National Drive Electric Week 2018.
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New Sierra Club Calendars and Holiday Cards Are Here
The latest edition of the most popular nature calendars ever published is hot off the presses. The 2019 Sierra Club calendars, filled with breathtaking images of wild places across North America, are available in both weekly engagement-book and monthly wall-hanging formats. And be sure to check out the Sierra Club’s holiday cards; the most popular ones sell out quickly, so don’t delay.
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Create Your Own Fundraiser to Protect the Planet
Learn how you can help protect the planet by creating a fundraiser that is completely personal to you! Whether you want to run a half marathon in Zion National Park, dedicate your birthday to a Sierra Club cause, or fundraise in a new and creative way, Team Sierra will help you do it. Create your fundraiser and then inspire your family and friends to donate on your behalf.
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Thank the 48 Senators Who Did the Right Thing
New Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh holds extreme views that are out of step with a clear majority of Americans. Now the highest court in the land will fall closer into lockstep with right-wing interests that favor corporate polluters over public health and seek to repeal Roe v. Wade, slash healthcare, and strip individuals of equal rights. Hundreds of thousands of Sierra Club members and supporters (that means you!) have rallied, commented, and testified over the years in favor of so many of our landmark environmental laws. You did so again in opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and 48 senators heard our voices.
Please join us in thanking them for doing the right thing.
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Basta ¡Sal y vota!
The Sierra Club has released a Spanish-language video urging Latinos to get out and vote on November 6. Voters can call a bilingual hotline 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682) to find out where to vote and what voting options are available — in person, by absentee ballot, or early voting. “An anti-Latino, anti-immigrant wave has swept our country,” says Ramón Cruz of the Sierra Club’s National Board of Directors. “On November 6 we Latinos will have the opportunity to speak our minds. It’s our chance to say ‘enough!’ and vote for the health and safety of our communities across the country.”
Be a Champion for the Environment—Donate Today: Your contribution directly supports our conservation efforts and will be applied where most urgently needed. Donate today and get your choice of Sierra Club Binoculars, Favorite Fleece Blanket, or Exploration Day Pack as your free gift!
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Kavanaugh
In one moment in particular during his testimony on Sept. 5, Kavanaugh said he had upheld environmental regulations in several cases, including what he described as “the Natural Resources Defense Council case versus EPA, a ruling for environmentalist groups.”
When senior NRDC attorney John Walke, who argued the case in question before Kavanaugh, heard his testimony, he was stunned.
“My immediate reaction was, I thought I had misheard him,” Walke told The Intercept. “But as he kept talking, I realized he was talking about my clean air case before him. And then, I honestly could not believe that a federal judge and Supreme Court nominee was misrepresenting my case to U.S. senators in order to bolster his environmental credentials.”
Meat.org
I shot this video on my way to class on October 3, and thought the poster, literature, and JBL-on-a-stick was effective in getting a message out.
Technology is a force/message multiplier:
• photography
• typography
• printed materials (including take-away materials)
• recorded sound
• video
Hoax?
Power of One: Lynzy Lab
Lynzy Lab, October 7, 2018:
Lynzy Lab on Kimmel, October 11:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN-3F8T4t5w
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Here’s my latest, which I’m sharing because it’s one of those rare stories about environmental horrors that’s somewhat uplifting.
Well, I hope it is anyway.
It’s about a small group of Oregonians who banned aerial spraying of pesticides in their county. I first learned about their effort when I was out in Lincoln County visiting Carol Van Strum last year. Carol told me the county had recently voted to stop the practice and I remember being surprised to hear that airplanes and helicopters were still showering down these chemicals. Carol had helped ban aerial spraying in National Forests in the 1980s, but apparently, the practice continues on some private timberland.
I didn’t think much more about the Oregon county ordinance until I came across it in some CropLife America documents a few months ago and realized just how upset the chemical industry was by this tiny group of activists. The national pesticide industry trade group talked about its fight against the handful of local volunteers as one of its five major accomplishments of 2017.
My favorite part of reporting this (besides going to coastal Oregon – so nice!) was telling Dan Meek, the attorney representing the community rights groups in Oregon, about the industry campaign against them and hearing him break into hysterical laughter. I was reading to him over the phone from an internal list detailing the industry’s efforts to fight these activists. “…brainstorming sessions, meetings with key players, sentiment research, direct mailers, social media research on voters; creating a “secret Facebook page,” auditing the strategies of small environmental groups,” I was saying. There was more on the list but I couldn’t keep going because Meek was laughing too hard to hear me. And I saw his point: a trade group representing billion-dollar companies was doing all this to fight a small group of pissed-off volunteers. It was truly ridiculous.
Anyway, writing this reminded me of how much a committed group of activists can do and how important it is to keep a sense of humor even — especially? — when dealing with awful stuff.
— Sharon Lerner
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September 15, 2018