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November 15, 2005

A Big Win on the Arctic

Sen. Smith Waffles on Promise to Protect the Arctic Refuge

Oregon activists, including the Alaska Coalition Polar Bear, right, had a simple message for Senator Gordon Smith: Don't waffle on your promises to protect the Arctic Refuge. Senator Smith didn't keep his promise, but enough moderate Republican House members did to get Arctic and coastal drilling removed from the House version of the Budget bill -- for now, at least.

A big thanks to all of you Insider readers who signed our petition to protect the Arctic Refuge, wrote a letter or called your Senators or Representatives, attended a rally, or told your friends to tell their friends.

Unfortunately, drilling proponents won't give up easily. Senators Ted Stevens and Pete Domenici, members of the House-Senate conference committee that will reconcile the House budget bill (without drilling) and the Senate bill (with drilling) have stated they will not agree to any budget that doesn't contain Arctic drilling. As the Sierra Club's Melinda Pierce says, "For them, they win once, and it's all over. For us, we win, and we just live to fight another day."

Need a way to show your friends why the Arctic Refuge must be protected? Our brand new Google Earth maps of the Arctic can help you make a powerful case for preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Prince Charles: "We simply cannot go on as we are."
Sometimes our message comes from unexpected places. Club staffer Carl Zichella reports that Prince Charles, visiting the San Francisco Bay Area last week, delivered a well-informed speech touting sustainable development and smart-growth practices.

"We simply cannot go on as we are," said the Prince. "The environmental crisis we face is another situation in which I believe the United States could use its power and its influence to help create a sense of unity in a common cause among disparate peoples and sectors of society." You can read Prince Charles' entire speech on his website.

(That's Prince Charles above talking to Helge Hellberg, Executive Director of Marin Organic, at the Point Reyes Farmers Market.)

Sierra Club supports Wal-Mart Watch's "Higher Expectations Week"
Wal-Mart Watch, a coalition of more than 400 faith groups, women's rights groups, environmentalists, labor unions, and others, has dedicated this week to highlighting the impact of Wal-Mart on communities. "Big box" stores can threaten our landscape, our communities, and the environment by building on the fringe of town, paving vast areas for stores and parking lots, and undermining the economic health of existing downtown shopping areas. Learn more about "Higher Expectations Week" at WalMartWatch.com.

The centerpiece of "Higher Expectations Week" is the premiere of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, a documentary that "uncovers a retail giant's assault on families and American values." More than 6,000 screenings are already scheduled this week, in churches, living rooms, union halls, and somewhere near you. Visit the film's website for clips that range from poignant to bitingly satirical.

Wal-Mart filmmaker Robert Greenwald is currently producing a new series that will debut in January called Sierra Club Chronicles about the extraordinary environmental efforts of ordinary Americans.

Why Did the Farmers Cross the Road to Go to Detroit?

Lynn Henning, a small family farmer from rural Michigan, and Rhonda Anderson, a single mother from Detroit might not at first appear to have a lot in common. But they're both Sierra Club activists fighting pollution -- Henning from massive animal-feeding operations that have poisoned creeks with untreated animal waste, and Anderson from an oil refinery in an area of Detroit known as "Cancer Alley."

Henning and Anderson recently learned a lot more about each other's worlds when they organized a "Common Justice Tour." They rented a bus and picked up Detroit residents for a tour of a rural south-central Michigan community impacted by polluting animal-feeding operations and then brought the rural residents to get a closer look at industrial pollution in Detroit.

One possible next step, says Anderson, is a joint lobby day in which representatives from both communities talk to public officials together. "It's going to be very powerful when a white farmer is accompanying a black community leader into a meeting with a legislator to say, 'Their issues are our issues too, and we're going to keep coming back here with them until you start listening to the people instead of the polluters,'" said Anderson.

View previous editions of the Sierra Club Insider at the Insider Archives.

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EXPLORE

Who's Washington, DC's Biggest Thanksgiving Turkey?

Surely after advocating the return of commercial whaling and selling off our national parks, the biggest turkey in our nation's capital must be California Congressman Richard Pombo.

But what about disgraced former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who, after receiving an e-mail from a FEMA employee in New Orleans that the situation was "way past critical," responded "Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?"

And what about...?

Actually, there's a whole gallery of potential holiday poultry -- so many we need your help to figure out who to stuff on Thanksgiving. Vote for your favorite turkey now. And pass the cranberry sauce.

ENJOY

What's So Funny About Global Warming?

Sure, global warming is a serious problem, but that doesn't mean an all-star comedy lineup -- including Al Franken, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Maher, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, and many more -- won't be able to squeeze some laughs out of melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels.

Airing this Sunday, November 20, on TBS, Earth to America, is a two-hour comedy extravaganza that aims, as executive producer Laurie David says, "to put the issue of global warming front and center for the American people and to help educate and motivate through comedy and satire."

(What was it Bill Maher said about global warming at the Sierra Summit? "Is the earth hotter than it's been at any time in the past 1,000 years? Yeah, but the weekend's gonna be nice!")

PROTECT

A Goal to Save the Arctic

Over 76,000 of you have signed our petition opposing drilling in the Arctic Refuge and off our coasts. Help us reach our goal of 100,000 signatures so we can send a powerful message to Congress: Americans don't want their natural heritage sold to the highest bidder.

If you haven't signed the petition yet, please sign it today. If you have signed the petition, please tell your friends to join you.