Heartland Sierran – October 2015
Wilderness First Aid Training
By Gretchen Waddell Barwick, MO Chapter Staff
Imagine: you are on a hike with your friends. During the hike, someone falls and breaks their leg-- what do you do? Thanks to our Eileen McManus, the Thomas Hart Benton Group Outings Chair and Tom Burroughs of Ozark Safety and Rescue Educators-- our Outings Leaders know exactly how to handle that situation! Read more...
Oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership
By Jim Turner
President Obama will soon submit the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multi-nation trade agreement, to Congress for approval. The TPP would erase limits on exports of natural gas for Pacific nations’ demand, locking us into the costs and dangers of more fracking, more pipelines, and more export terminals – leaving less capital for expanding the solar and wind energy industries. Read more...
Special Election on November 3rd
By Winston Apple
The THB Political Committee is planning a very active role in the special election that has been called for November 3rd. Turnout is expected to be light, which will amplify the effects of our efforts to in uence the outcome of the races.
There are three seats in the Missouri House of Representatives involved. Two of them are in the Kansas City area –
the 29th District, which covers south Independence and parts of Kansas City south of Highway 40 along Noland Road, and the 36th District in south Kansas City. The third open seat is for the 89th District in St. Louis. Read more...
Chair’s Column
By Anne McGregor
What an exciting time to come into the position of Chair of the Thomas Hart Benton group of the Sierra Club. Hi, Anne McGregor here, for those of you who don’t know me. I’ve been
an environmentalist all my life. Having grown up on a farm in Southern Missouri, it is easy to see the nexus between a healthy planet and life itself.
I became active in the Sierra Club in the winter of 2007-2008 when I started collecting signatures for Prop C – the renewable energy standard. That important initiative petition eventually garnered 67% of the vote when Missouri voters had the opportunity to weigh in. Read more...
Kansas City Moves Forward on Energy Benchmarking
By Claus Wawrzinek
Commercial and residential buildings in Kansas City contributed about 30% and 20% of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) respectively city-wide in the year 2005. A large percentage of those emissions stem from heating and cooling buildings.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a “Benchmarking tool” available that other cities have used to successfully reduce GHG. This tool is called the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The tool allows building owners to track and assess the energy and water use of properties relative to similar other properties. The ordinance is also called “Energy Empowerment Ordinance”. Read more...
Kansas City Green Candidates Win
In the recent City Council election in Kansas City, MO Sierra Club members helped some of the candidates win the election. Particularly, Katheryn Shields, a candidate with a great environmental track record, needed our help. She won against the incumbent Jim Glover in a narrow race with an initial lead of 110 votes—and after a recount, a lead of 132 votes—out of a total of 32,956 votes.