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Coalition Pushes for Affordable Housing
 Wisconsin—The John Muir Chapter has been working with the labor, faith,
and environmental justice communities in Milwaukee to develop affordable housing
and community gardens on the site of a demolished freeway. Among the groups
partnering with the Club are the Milwaukee County Labor Council, the 9 to 5
Association of Working Women, the Metro Fair Housing Council, the Milwaukee
Intercity Congregations Allied for Hope, at right, the AFL-CIO, the Union of
Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Workers, the Institute for Wisconsin’s
Future. Club activists participated in a December Human Rights Day rally with
these groups at Milwaukee city hall. "The fight for environmental, human,
and worker rights will continue and the Sierra Club will be a part of that
fight.," local Club leader Rosemary Wehnes told the crowd.
The Club is also considering legal action against Cintas Corp., the largest
public uniform supplier in North America, for consistently discharging excessive
amounts of oil and grease into sewers in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin,
where they operate an industrial laundry facility. All of the other major industrial
cleaners in the area have made investments in equipment that prevents excess
grease and oil from being discharged into sewers. The Club is also working
with UNITE to protect communities from pollution from industrial laundries
and to urge the Bush administration not to exempt industrial laundries from
federal hazardous waste requirements for shop towels contaminated with toxic
chemicals.
Preserving Delta Wetlands
Mississippi—The Sierra Club is partnering with farmers and landowners
in the Mississippi Delta to oppose two environmentally destructive Army Corps
of Engineers projects, the Yazoo Pumps and Big Sunflower Dredge Projects. "Working
with farmers, landowners, hunters and anglers will be key in defeating these
antiquated and senseless projects," says Honey Ussery, a Mississippi
Club organizer. Other allies in the fight are environmental justice groups
such
as the Mississippi Workers for Human Rights and the Concerned Parents of
Leland (one of the Delta’s larger towns). "Citizens are getting
involved in this campaign because these projects will harm public health
and waste taxpayer
money," says Usery.
Blue/Green Alliance For Clean Water
 Ohio—The Sierra Club has been collaborating for several years with Steelworkers
from AK Steel, which has major plants in four states. Ohio Club organizer
Susan Knight, below, and numerous Club volunteers have worked jointly with
Steelworkers
to end a three-year worker lockout and compel AK management to negotiate
with the Sierra Club about ongoing environmental problems. Last year Club Water
Sentinels visited locked-out workers in Mansfield, Ohio, to train them in
water
monitoring, and developed environmental “rap sheets” for all
AK Steel facilities in coordination with the Steelworkers. “The Steelworkers
union researched several AK facilities and their environmental violations
in 2003,” says Knight, “and we have been exploring other joint
ventures. The company is currently showing good faith in negotiations.”
“
We’ve collaborated with the Sierra Club on a lot of levels,” says
Steelworkers’ representative Adam Lee. “Personally I’ve been
involved in our joint struggles to convince companies that it’s in their
best interest to respect workers and the environment. These joint efforts have
been very effective, showing how powerful blue/green alliances can be.”
Finding Common Ground
Florida—On Earth Day, April 22, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope
addressed a large interfaith ecumenical gathering in Jacksonville, Florida,
where representatives from Christianity, Islam, Hunduism, Buddhism, Judaism,
and Native American religions read from their sacred scripture. "Environmental
concerns, like religion, call for long-range vision," Pope told the congregants. "They
consider issues of the common good, and deal with the world as a gift, not
just an exploitable resource. Like environmentalism, religion is a language
that takes us beyond mere economic discourse."
100-Mile Wilderness Gains Ground
Maine—Environmentalists and the hunter/ angler community often see eye-to-eye
when it comes to clean water and wildlands. So the Maine Chapter has been
working with hunters and anglers to promote the 100-Mile Wilderness, the longest
stretch
of the Appalachian Trail not crossed by a paved road. In some places, though,
the industrial forest comes within 500 feet of the trail, and designated
wilderness is sorely needed to enlarge and protect the wilderness corridor,
which includes
world-class indigenous brook trout fisheries. The Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited
have joined the state-sponsored 100-Mile Wilderness Working Group to promote
conservation in the 100-mile region. Club organizer Maureen Davin has also
been working with the Izaak Walton League and Trout Unlimited in opposing
Bush administration efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act.
sierraclub.org/planet/200307/maine.asp
Getting the Lead Out
New York—The Club’s New York City Group is working with a coalition
of medical doctors, labor leaders, tenants associations, community and religious
organizations, parents of lead-poisoned children, and environmental groups
to educate the public and decision-makers about childhood lead poisoning.
The coalition is trying to pressure landlords to clean up lead paint hazards
that
cause permanent brain damage in young children. Co-chaired by volunteers
Chris Rembold and Laura Hepler, the coalition has participated in press conferences,
rallies, and educational events. “We’re working hard to convince
Mayor Michael Bloomberg to come on board,” says local Club staffer
Suzanne Mattei.
Explore, Disfrute y Proteja
Puerto Rico—Local activists Samarys Seguinot, Francisco Perez, Patricia
Burke and Myrna Fernandez are currently working to protect the Northeast
ecological corridor from over-development. The corridor is the only surviving
example
of pre-Columbian coastline left on the island, and one of only two places
in the U.S. where the leatherback turtle nests. The Marriott and Four Seasons
hotel chains have each proposed a mega-resort complex along this stretch
of
coast. Local activists are also starting an outings program on the island,
and recently held a training for 25 new outings leaders.
For more information:
Contact Tad Williams, Sierra Club Environmental Partnerships
Program, 408 C St., NE, Washington, DC 20002; (202) 547-1141; tad.williams@sierraclub.org.
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