Newsletter- April 2021 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
April 26, 2021
Happy Earth Day from Sierra Club
Last Friday, Indianapolis woke to news of a mass shooting at FedEx that took eight people’s lives. Our thoughts are with those injured, the families of those who were lost, and those traumatized by the ceaseless and needless violence that permeates our society. As an organization that works to protect both the natural and human environment, we call for our elected leaders to implement sensible gun control policies to protect the lives of all. We can, and must, create a safer world - Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.
We have lots of news to share with you in this email. Reading on, you will meet our new Chapter Director as we say a fond farewell to our outgoing director, and we also welcome a new Legislative Coordinator to our team.
Also in this newsletter- actions you can take today to help Indiana’s environment, an update from our Indiana Beyond Coal team, and our regular features of recommendations and reader photos.
The spring brings in changes at the Hoosier Chapter- saying goodbye and welcoming new staff!
Our Chapter Director, Bowden Quinn, retires at the end of April.
Bowden has been with the Hoosier Chapter since 2007, and has been director since March 2015.
Julie Lowe, Hoosier Chapter chair: “As a volunteer with the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter, I have worked with our current Director, Bowden Quinn closely since 2018 when I joined the executive committee. Before that, I would see Bowden at environmental events around the state... It was not until I began working more closely with Bowden that I realized how important he is to the Hoosier Chapter.” Read more.
We welcome Amanda Shepherd as our new Chapter Director!
Julie- “I know that I speak for the Executive Committee leaders in welcoming Amanda wholeheartedly and with great enthusiasm. We look forward to the work ahead with renewed energy.”
Amanda- “I am so excited to work with the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter to address the growing environmental crises facing our world in multi-faceted ways. I have been particularly inspired by the Sierra Club’s recent focus on working toward a more just and equitable future as evidenced by their public stances on both social and environmental justice, which are so often linked, and am thrilled to be able to help in forging ahead in this new intersectional landscape, while maintaining the necessary work of protecting our natural resources here in Indiana and beyond.”
We are also welcoming Cory Ray, our new Legislative Coordinator.
Cory says, “As a Legislative Coordinator for Sierra Club, I will primarily focus on tracking, lobbying, and organizing around targeted legislation in the Indiana Statehouse. In the off-season, my time will be spent building teams, developing organizational structures, and preparing our chapter for future legislative efforts in the upcoming session. I look forward to building something that creates lasting change in Indiana and gives our chapter a cutting-edge advantage in affecting legislation.” Read more about Cory here.
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter outgoing Chapter Director, Bowden Quinn
Amanda Shepherd, Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter incoming Chapter Director
Cory Ray, the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter's new Legislative Coordinator.
Take action- tell Duke to move beyond coal to clean energy!
The next few years are critical when it comes to retiring coal and moving to renewable energy in order to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. And still, Duke has not made a commitment to phase out coal by 2030, and remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels. In fact, Duke’s last 20-Year Energy Plan released three years ago included plans to build virtually no renewable energy, and two large fracked gas plants, while retiring a small portion of their coal plants.
Duke’s Gibson Super Polluter coal plant remains one of the top polluters in the nation -- ranking in the top 22 worst polluters when it comes to both toxic and greenhouse gas pollution in the nation.
We are actively organizing Duke Energy Indiana customers to call on Duke President in Indiana Stan Pinegar to lay out a plan for moving beyond coal to clean energy by 2030. Will you join us by signing our petition at sc.org/getmovingduke?
Questions about the Beyond Coal Campaign? Contact matt.skuya.boss@sierraclub.org.
Image courtesy of Confront the Climate Crisis, a coalition of high school students fighting for climate and environmental justice in Indiana.
Celebrating A(nother) Socially Distant Earth Day
Earth Day is upon us once again and we find ourselves still in the midst of a pandemic that has taken too many lives and is the result of policies that do not center the environment or public health. We are committed to doing everything in our power to forge a better road ahead - in terms of preservation, equity, and justice.
Earth Day is the perfect time for us to renew our promise to you to continue our work for a livable planet for all. If you would like to return the commitment, please consider supporting our work in the way that you are most moved: by donating, becoming a Sierra Club member, or through volunteering your time . Together we can walk a path of progress and service to the planet and to our communities.
Win for Sierra Club as Federal Judge Holds BP Liable for Years of Air Pollution Violations at Refinery on Lake Michigan
A federal judge ruled that the more than century-old BP Whiting Refinery on Lake Michigan, one of the nation’s largest refineries, repeatedly violated legal limits on deadly soot-like particulate air pollution.
The decision by Judge Philip P. Simon of the U.S. District Court in Northern Indiana was a major victory for the Sierra Club, represented by attorneys with the Environmental Integrity Project. The groups had sued BP over air pollution violations at the Whiting Plant, which sprawls over 1,400 acres in Whiting, East Chicago, and Hammond.
The court will now decide a penalty and whether to require pollution control equipment or other remedies to fix the violations.
Senate Bill 389 has officially cleared both the House and Senate as of April 14th. This Anti-Wetlands legislation in its final form allows for the removal of protections for class 1 wetlands, reduces protections for class 2 wetlands, eliminates protections for ephemeral streams, shortens the time IDEM has to write wetland permits, and more. As of now, this bill will become law as soon as it is signed by Governor Holcomb. Sierra Club has signed on to a letter joining Indiana Forrest Alliance and other coalition partners asking Governor Holcomb to veto this bill. We will have more updates to share within the next two weeks.
Though we ultimately fell short in our goal of defeating this disastrous legislation, our Chapter and supporters should be proud of the work we did. We helped mobilize hundreds of calls and emails to members of the House Environmental Affairs Committee and other state representatives to make it clear that we will not stand by quietly. Our efforts showed how much we care and that memory will remain with the representatives we lobbied. Though Senate Bill 389 will likely soon be signed into law, the efforts of our members and allied organization does not stop here. We will build on our recent efforts made and continue to better fight disastrous legislation as it comes.
- Cory Ray
Legislative Coordinator, Cory Ray, and Julie Lowe, Chair of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and Winding Waters Group, at a recent event to call legislators opposing SB389.
The Young Progressives of Columbus organized this event, which was supported by Bartholomew County Dems. Sierra Club supported and co-sponsored the event, which took place outside and physically-distanced at Mill Race Park, Columbus IN.
In our last email newsletter, we shared a photo from our volunteer leader, Michelle Carr, and invited you to send in some of your own nature photos from around Indiana.
It's perhaps fitting that this springtime, when it could rain, snow, or be 80 degrees outside, all in the same week, that the photos we are sharing show such contrasting weather!
Hopefully, what they have in common is that they will make you want to get outside and experience nature.
James Kendall sent in this tranquil photo of a past summer day on Yellowwood Lake.
Skip Barnett says of his photos, "I took the first photo here in Goshen, IN, on our lovely Pumpkinvine Nature Trail a couple weeks ago [February 2021] while I was out cross-country skiing. I took the second photo about the same time while skiing on the millrace path that runs through Goshen."
Thank you, James and Skip, for your contributions! We love seeing and celebrating the beauty of our state.
Inspired to hit the trails?
Find out more about the places in these photographs:
Lastly, have you been considering going solar, but not sure where to start? Join Solar Untied Neighbors for a Solar 101 webinar to learn more about the basics of installing solar panels and how their Solar Co-ops help to make it easy for you to go solar. You can RSVP for two upcoming webinars on Wednesday, April 28 at 6 pm ET or Thursday, May 13 at 6:30 pm ET.
Thank you for reading, and for all that you do for our environment in Indiana.
