March 2024 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
March 20, 2024
Join us on the trail!
In this issue, read about the recent ratepayer rebellion in Evansville, the NAACP action day, and the Winding Water Group pollinator plant sale! Plus we have updates on our work, upcoming events, plus all our regular features - like photos from you, our readers - and much more!
Rebecca Dien-Johns
Chapter Coordinator.
P.S. In case you missed our email earlier this month - you're invited to our virtual Indiana Legislative Session Wrap-Up TONIGHT (March 20) to hear all about what happened this session, and the impacts for Hoosiers and our environment. Register here!
Ratepayer Rebellion in Evansville
A huge turnout at the IURC last month. Photo - Robyn Skuya-Boss.
It was a stunning turnout at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) hearing on February 29. In a show of complete unity, rare as spotting an Indiana endangered alligator snapping turtle on the Ohio River, citizens, cities, and counties in southwest Indiana stood together and made their voices count in our democracy. At the heart of a marathon public hearing were the powerful stories of Hoosiers confronted with the possibility of yet another rate increase that would add over $47 per month to an average CenterPoint customer energy bill.
Sierra Club at NAACP Action Day: L-R, Jocelyn Travis (Central Region Organizing Manager), Megan Anderson (Field Organizer), Robyn Skuya-Boss (Chapter Director), and Joab Schultheis (Chapter Chair).
Our Hoosier Sierra Club Team consisting of Megan Anderson, Julia Lowe, Joab Schultheis, Robyn Skuya-Boss and Jocelyn Travis participated in the Indiana NAACP Legislative Day. This annual event was held in the atrium of the Indiana State House on February 26. The theme was “Striving Together” and the focus was on issues of Racial Justice, Environmental Climate Justice, Education, Healthcare and Stopping the Violence.
Welcome to this occasional feature, where we look back and share a photo from our past!
This month, we travel back to June 2017 with Energy Committee volunteer leader Mike Mullett, at the first statewide training event of Solarize Indiana.
Here he is "presenting the Solarize model for diffusing innovation and confronting climate change through rooftop solar installed by everyday people".
If you have any questions, please email Julie Lowe at j_lowe66@yahoo.com
Spotted!
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders are passionate about getting out there and spreading the word about issues that matter to Hoosiers!
(L) Amy Henn, hiker from Bloomington (photo- Julie Lowe) on an Uplands Network outing.
(Middle) Amanda Wanlass, Executive Director of Indiana Phenology at the Heartlands Group meeting (photo- Jesse Kirkham).
(R) Cutleaf toothwort ephemeral spring flower spotted on an Uplands Network outing (photo- Julie Lowe).
The Heartlands Group held their group meeting this month with Amanda Wanlass of Indiana Phenology as a guest speaker. Jesse Kirkham (Heartlands Group Chair): "We had a really good meeting and forged a partnership that will be mutually beneficial in helping us with the Sierra Club mission of drawing closer connections with the nature that surrounds us."
Uplands Network Outings Leader, Laurie Elliott took a few volunteer leaders on a scouting hike in the Morgan Monroe State Forest. Julie Lowe (Conservation Chair): "We unexpectedly saw several species of ephemeral flowers while snow flurried lightly around us in the forest!"
Our new Chapter Director, Robyn Skuya-Boss had a busy first month in the role!
(L) Chapter Director Robyn Skuya-Boss, Indiana Policy Coordinator, Faith In Place Christine Glaser, and Beyond Coal Volunteers Peg Hausman and Rosa Lyn Householder at the Duke Energy 20 Year Planning meeting on February 22.
(R) Chapter Director Robyn Skuya-Boss, Conservation Committee Chair Julie Lowe, and McKinney Philanthropic Fellow Ashlyn Devine outside the hearing room after Chairman Niemeyer tabled HB 1399 on PFAS February 26.
Thank you so much to reader Jane E Cloud for sending in these beautiful photos of just a few of the visitors to her busy backyard in Indianapolis.
As well as the raccoon, white-tailed deer, and bald cardinal pictured here, Jane has also photographed coyotes, squirrels, ducks, and many other birds. Thank you Jane for making your yard a haven for wildlife in the city!
Do you have a photograph of Indiana nature that you would like to share? We'd love to see it and perhaps feature it in a future newsletter!
Use the button below or email
rebecca.dien-johns@sierraclub.org
Join award winning author Diana Ensign for a reading & signing of her new book, “Faith, Hope, Action: Ushering in a New Earth Era, Together.” Hosted by Sierra Club & Center for Interfaith Cooperation (light snacks & music 5:30 pm). Program at 6 pm. Conversation, info tables, & celebration!
