It's time to celebrate: The Okefenokee Swamp is officially a UNESCO World Heritage site!
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially designated the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) a World Heritage site last month, adding the Swamp to a distinguished list of cultural and natural sites of significant importance such as the Grand Canyon, Galapagos Islands, the Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal.
The Committee’s decision marks the end of a multi-decade effort by supporters of the Okefenokee to earn this recognition. The Okefenokee NWR is the first UNESCO World Heritage site in Georgia.
Here's what Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director Adrien Webber had to say about it:
Congratulations to everyone who took the time to send in a comment letter, call their lawmakers, and led trips through the Okefenokee to help protect it. Like Adrien said, today we'll celebrate, but keep on the lookout for more ways we'll be working to protect this international treasure.
Clean Energy
While we continue to work on transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward a state powered by clean energy, addressing energy efficiency in your home is a great way to reduce electricity use.
Georgia’s home energy rebates program is available to low and moderate income households with incentives to qualifying households/tenants to make electrification and efficiency improvements to their home. Here are some resources about the program:
- More information about the program can be found at the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) website.
- GEFA is hosting a webinar about heat pumps coming up on August 5 at noon. Register for the webinar at this link.
- More resources about the program, including recordings of past webinars, can be found at this link.
- A new dashboard gives a snapshot of the program results thus far.
Thank you to the Sierra Club staff and volunteers for their efforts! We need your voice and your actions to continue to make progress on our clean energy transition! While continuing to seek changes on the federal level, we will work at the state and local levels to advance the energy transition. Time to step up for maintaining the livability of our world. Join us Contact Scott Presson at spress51@gmail.com to volunteer or to learn more about our Chapter’s clean energy work!
Data Centers
We invite you to join us for our upcoming five part Data Centers and Health Webinar Series!
Across the U.S., you have seen the news. Communities are rising up and taking action to protect their communities from the harmful and unchecked data center growth. We're bringing in the experts to dive deeper into the impacts these massive developments can have on the health of our communities, neighbors, and environment.
Each webinar will touch on a different health impact from data centers: noise, water, air, light, and heat. Presentations will be one hour, followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. This webinar series is open to the public, elected officials, and press.
We hope to see for our first session on August 25th at noon to hear from Les Blomburg on the impacts of noise pollution from data centers.
Les Blomberg, MA, is the founder and executive director of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, which serves a vital role in archiving important publications about noise and its effects on health and society and making these available to researchers and activists. He has also conducted research into noise and its effects, written extensively about noise for magazines, journals, and websites, and advised hundreds of communities, mayors, council members, zoning boards, and police chiefs about understanding and enforcing noise regulations.
Don’t miss out! RSVP for all five upcoming webinars now!
We hope you'll join us for these upcoming educational webinars! They are 100% online so you can join from wherever you are.
Transportation
The Sierra Club Georgia Chapter helped host the a "Let’s Talk Transit" social event alongside partner organizations Beltline Rail Now and MARTA Army at Woods Chapel BBQ on July 30th, marking the 2nd anniversary of the transit and clean transportation related social events (see photo above!).
Senior officials from the Atlanta Mayor’s staff joined representatives from MARTA in speaking about efforts to maintain mobility throughout the city during major World Cup events, with both groups praising each other’s work to encourage transit and non-car travel.
Keep an eye on the Chapter calendar for future events!
Public Comment for ATL to Savannah Rail. The Georgia Department of Transportation is seeking public input for a study of potential passenger rail service between Atlanta and Savannah. Read more about the proposal in this WABE news article.
The survey ends on Aug. 6, so take a moment and send in your feedback today! The survey can be found at this link.
Call for Creators! Creative Sierrans, we need your help! We’re looking for digital artists, graphic designers, landscape / architecture drafters, professional photographers, and similar creators who are willing to volunteer their work to help build out a collection of materials for the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter!
Works would be used in future fact sheets, promotional materials, posters, banners, web pages, and other materials to support the ongoing environmental campaigns that the Chapter is engaged with.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in donating, volunteering, or otherwise offering reduced-cost services, please contact us at georgia.chapter@sierraclub.org!
Call for Volunteers! There are a number of upcoming tabling opportunities in September that we are seeking volunteers for:
- Emory Sustainable Transportation Fair
- Tuesday, Sept. 15th from 11 AM to 1:30 PM
- Parking Day at Georgia Tech
- Friday, Sept. 18th usually from about 10 AM to about 4 PM
- Atlanta Streets Alive
- Sunday, Sept. 27th from 1 PM to 6 PM
Tasks for volunteers may include helping transport material to / from event area, helping with setup, interacting with interested passers-by & distributing material, answering general questions about the club and its activities, and helping with teardown. A member of the chapter leadership will be present to during these events to guide activities. If you are interested in volunteering for any of these events, please contact us at georgia.chapter@sierraclub.org!
Wildlands & Wildlife
This summer is all about the Roadless Rule, a landmark conservation policy that prohibits road construction in 58.5M acres of National Forest across the U.S. Any day now, the U.S. Forest Service will solicit comments on the proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule, which could leave these wild forests vulnerable to roads and extractive industry.
But we've been preparing! In June, we brought 10 folks to a Cohutta Wilderness roadless area to see firsthand what's at stake if Chattahoochee National Forest proposes to construct new roads post-rescission.
At our July "Roadless Rule & Brews" event at Sweetwater Brewery, co-hosted with SELC and More Than Just Parks, 30 folks wrote over 100 postcards for the U.S. Forest Service and to U.S. Senate offices urging protections for the Roadless Rule (see photo above!).
Don't stop the momentum! On August 13 at 6:30 PM, l will join a stellar crew of experts in the Rally for the Roadless Rule national webinar to discuss grassroots efforts to engage folks on Roadless advocacy. Register for the webinar today!
If you live near the Chattahoochee NF and want to volunteer for the next Roadless Rule & Brews event in the roadless area heartland, please get in touch with Wildlands & Wildlife Chair Dani Purvis.
In other news, last month the Department of the Interior began a sweeping “review” of the policies that help ensure our wild public lands are safeguarded for future generations. This review could open the door for industrial development, resource extraction, unsustainable motorized vehicle use, privatization, and other activities that threaten the wild character of these landscapes.
Nearly 200 million acres of public lands within National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and places overseen by the Bureau of Land Management are at stake — and more than 120 million of these acres are not yet part of our National Wilderness Preservation System. We have until August 14 to submit comments. Sierra Club's comment portal is at this link.
Join us in keeping our beautiful country wild!
Centennial Group
The Centennial Group, representing the Northwest Atlanta suburbs, meets the first Thursday of each month. Meetings can be attended in person at Life University in Marietta or virtually via Zoom.
After August break, the Group's next meeting will be September 3rd when they welcome Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Wildlands & Wildlife Committee Chair Dani Purvis. Dani will be making a presentation about current issues her committee is working on, including protecting Cumberland Island National Seashore and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Keep an eye on the Georgia Chapter's online calendar for a link to RSVP.
The Centennial Group's recent outings included hikes on the Gold Branch Trails along the Chattahoochee River, through the highlands of North Carolina (see photo above!).
We are looking for a Treasurer to volunteer to handle our financials. Only a few minutes of time needed per month for the job. Please contact Lynn Walston if you are interested.
Greater Gwinnett Group
The Greater Gwinnett Group meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 6:30 for social times and 7:00 for the meeting. The group meets at the Wynne Russell House, located at 4684 Wynne Russell Dr NW, Lilburn. Its meetings have both in-person and virtual attendance options.
The Group's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 13, will feature speakers from Georgia Conservation Voters and Poder Latinx. They will be discussing their work locally on environmental issues and ways they plan to be involved in the upcoming election (along with ways you can get more involved). Please register here at this link.
On August 20, our Monthly Greater Gwinnett Group Executive Committee Meeting will be held August 20 at 7 PM at Hacienda Taqueria & Cantina (252 W. Pike Street, Lawrenceville, near the Square). This is where we plan our upcoming activities. All are welcome there as well to help us plan for a Greener Gwinnett.
We attended a Gwinnett County Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) hearing on June 23 to hear about the purpose, scope, schedule, and statutory requirements of the project to update the Plan. We also attended a Gwinnett County Sustainability Commission presentation on this topic on July 30, where we, along with other environmental organizations, gave comments. We plan to address broader opportunities to position Gwinnett for the future through a more comprehensive Sustainable Materials Management strategy. This could include topics such as: Waste prevention and reduction, Reuse and repair, Composting and food waste recovery, Circular economy strategies, and Permanent community assets such as CHaRM (Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials) facilities.
Our August stream monitoring outing will be held on Sunday, August 16, at 10 AM (weather permitting) at Martin Farm Road on the Suwanee Greenway. Please contact Michael Hallen for more information on either event and to suggest events we should table at otherwise be involved in here in Gwinnett and the surrounding counties.
Check out the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter calendar or our own Greater Gwinnett Group Facebook page to stay up to date with other future meetings and other activities we will be planning.
Metro Atlanta Group
Have you been wondering why we're under so much pressure here in Georgia to let data centers be built? Come to our next meeting on Tuesday, August 11, to find out why. We'll also discuss ways we can take action to organize to protect our communities and environment against the threats they pose. Find details and RSVP at this link. Hope to see you there!
On that note, we'd like to share some opportunities to take action that may be of interest:
Atlanta City Council may be holding votes soon on whether to allow a data center to be built near the West End MARTA station.
- Per Southwest Atlanta Residents Mobilize (SWARM): "In 2024, hundreds of Southwest Atlanta residents worked with the Atlanta City Council to ban data centers within a half-mile of major transportation hubs (MARTA stations). Now, a data center developer, Digital Realty, is lobbying for an exception to build a hyperscale data center next to the West End MARTA Station, at 713 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. The Atlanta Zoning Ordinance already forbids data centers on this land, but Digital Realty is pushing City Council for an exception."
- In mid-July, Atlanta City Council's Zoning Review Board (ZRB), which is a group of volunteers (not elected officials), already voted against making an exception for this data center.
- Now the exception is scheduled to be voted on by the Atlanta City Council's zoning committee (a subset of councilmembers) on Monday, Aug. 10 at their 11 AM meeting. Then, the exception legislation would go to a vote at the full council's meeting on Monday, Aug. 17, at 1 PM. The location for both meetings will be Atlanta City Hall (55 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303).
- You may sign up to make a public comment at both meetings. Sign-up is open for the hour before the start of the meeting. SWARM's flyer about these meetings has more info.
- Can't make it to the meetings? City of Atlanta residents may email Atlanta city councilmembers ahead of time with your perspective on data centers, the existing zoning legislation that prevents data centers from being built close to transit hubs, what kinds of projects could truly benefit your community, etc.
- More info and ways to get involved, plus a petition for Atlanta city residents, are on SWARM's website.
Please check back on the Georgia Chapter calendar for this meeting and future outings, or sign up for email updates through the Chapter website with your metro-area zip code and email address.
P.S. We had a great time at our picnic on June 13 (see photo above!). Thanks to all who celebrated summer with us!
Middle Chattahoochee Group
The Middle Chattahoochee Group's meetings are generally held at 7 PM on 3rd Tuesday of each month. The group offers a virtual option for meetings on Zoom, but folks can show up early around 6:30 PM and enjoy a social gathering with refreshments!
Our September 15th general meeting featuring a wetland mitigation topic is being planned for Oxbow Meadows in Columbus with a watch party in LaGrange.
Coming up next month is a West Point Lake sunset cruise on September 26th on the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s floating classroom, the Miss Sally. Learn more and RSVP at this link.
To get involved with the Middle Chattahoochee Group, contact them at midchattsierraclub@gmail.com. You can also keep up with their work on their Facebook page, on their website and find out about upcoming events on their MeetUp page.
Savannah River Group
Happy summer everyone! The Savannah River Group is on hiatus for July and August but will restart with meetings and outings in September.
Meanwhile, participants in our Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) program have stayed busy. Besides doing their monthly testing of nine stream sites in Richmond and Columbia Counties, they also did a field hands on demonstration for 22 students and three professors from Augusta University Environmental Biology class at Raes Creek. The students learned how to test for dissolved oxygen, pH, phosphate, conductivity, and air and water temperature. They discussed what the readings meant for water quality and the factors that can negatively affect water quality.
The AAS group meets every month on the first Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday of the month. Citizen scientists are urgently needed. If you are interested in participating in AAS, please email Stephen Heyl.
It’s Make a Will Month, and we’re trying to get the word out! Did you know 60% of American adults don’t have an estate plan? The chapter is doing our part to make sure Sierra Club supporters have the chance to do this important planning.
If you’re interested in making a big impact on our work without any effect on your budget now, Giving Docs is a simple, secure way to create your will and other important estate planning documents online. It’s free for Sierra Club supporters, and it only takes a few minutes to get started. Giving Docs also makes it easy to include a gift to the Georgia Chapter in your estate plan. A gift of even 1% makes a big impact.