Newsletter- June 2021 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
June 22, 2021
Happy Pride Month!
Happy Pride, Hoosiers! We hope you’re having a great June so far and enjoying the warm weather. This month, we have our usual updates, news, and recommendations from the team. We also wanted to share some great LGBTQI+ organizations working here in our communities, and resources and articles from Sierra Club and beyond.
As this Sierra Club article says, “...we're working toward a just, equitable, and sustainable future built on a foundation of racial, economic, and gender equity -- where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet.” (Martín Witchger, Climate Justice Must Include Justice for LGBTQI+ People).
Here in Indiana, we have lots of great organizations who are led by, affirming, and lifting up LGBTQI+ people. Here are a few to check out and support. We hope you find these resources useful!
GenderNexus is bringing transgender and nonbinary communities together across Indiana to foster a community that is healthy, informed, and empowered.
Queering Indy began in 2016 when two local queers came together with a shared dream: to create radically inclusive queer spaces that could change our community forever.
Indiana Youth Group creates safer spaces to foster community and provides programming that empowers LGBTQ+ youth and magnifies their voices.
We love this quote from Indiana's own nature-loving drag queen, Mossy Stone, on Instagram: "My friends, the coexistence found in nature is our example to follow. The freedom found in nature is our freedom to embrace." If you want to feel teary in a good way, we recommend reading the whole post.
Join the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library on June 29!
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter is excited to partner with the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library for this virtual event, part of their Vonnegut and the Environment season.
Come to Last Tuesdays at 7 on June 29th to discuss Muir’s book, My First Summer in the Sierra. John Muir is known for his incredible environmental efforts which helped to catalyze preservation and conservation. But how do we discuss Muir’s environmental legacy in the wake of social justice movements?
Hosted by Drew DeSimone, Chair of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library’s Good Earth: Vonnegut and the Environment Program, and Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter's Rebecca Dien-Johns.
Speakers at this event include (in the photo, clockwise from top left):
Mat Davis - an Indianapolis native. He is an artist, neighborhood organizer, and co-chair of the Indiana Racial Justice Alliance.
Amanda Shepherd - Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter director.
Mike Wurtz - Assistant Professor and Head of the University of the Pacific Library’s Holt-Atherton Special Collections and Archives - who oversees the largest collection of John Muir material in the world.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19th, 1865 when Union Army Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and delivered the news that the slaves were now free. Even though it had been more than two years since the Emancipation Proclamation was decreed, not every place in the country had put it into practice.
Here in Columbus, Indiana, like many other cities, this day has been celebrated annually as the official day of freedom from slavery. This year on June 17th, President Joe Biden added his signature to certify Juneteenth as a federal holiday. This proclamation only added to the excitement of this year’s already anticipated celebration... read the full article here.
- Michelle Carr
Michelle is Chair of the Communications Committee for Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and the Winding Waters Group, and the Vice Chair of the Hoosier Chapter Executive Committee.
Beyond Coal delivers more than 600 petitions to Duke Energy President
Duke Energy Indiana (DEI) customers who volunteer with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign met with DEI President Stan Pinegar and other executives on June 17 to deliver 618 petitions from Duke customers and talk about their hopes for the outcome of Duke’s 20-year energy planning process, currently underway. Of those who signed the petition, 243 Duke customers felt passionate enough to include personal comments. The petition reads:
As you develop Duke’s 20-year energy plan, we, your customers, urge you to take action on the climate crisis.
- Move beyond coal before 2030 - Eliminate fracked gas plants from your plans - Transition to 100% affordable, renewable energy before 2030
Fossil fuel pollution harms our environment and climate. Low-income communities and communities of color suffer disproportionate damage that is especially visible during this unprecedented time of global hardship. Utilities across the state and country are moving quickly to provide customers with inexpensive, clean, renewable energy, while protecting impacted communities and workers in the process.
On the video call with Pinegar, Indiana Beyond Coal volunteer leaders from Greater Lafayette and Carmel, including students, public officials and grandparents, shared their personal stories explaining why it is important that Duke retire their coal plants and replace them with clean energy and energy efficiency by 2030.
Duke customers who would like to sign the petition should go to: sc.org/getmovingduke.
Additionally, 21 public officials have signed on to a letter in support of our goals in the DEI 20-year energy planning process:
Mayor James Brainard, Carmel Mayor John Dennis, West Lafayette State Senator Ron Alting State Representative Sheila Klinker State Representative Chris Campbell State Representative Matt Pierce State Representative Shelli Yoder Carmel City Councilor Miles Nelson Carmel City Councilor Tim Hannon West Lafayette City Council President Peter Bunder West Lafayette City Council Vice-President Gerald W. Thomas West Lafayette City Councilor Shannon Kang West Lafayette Councilor Kathy Parker Bloomington City Councilor Matt Flaherty Bloomington City Councilor Isabel Piedmont-Smith Bloomington City Councilor Sue Sgambelluri Monroe County Commissioner Penny Githens Monroe County Councilor Cheryl Munson Monroe County Councilor Kate Wiltz Tippecanoe County Councilor Lisa Dullum Westfield City Councilor Cindy Spoljaric
What have you been reading, listening to, or watching lately? We'd love to hear from you! Use the button below or email rebecca.dien-johns@sierraclub.org
Finally, have you heard about the R/Evolution Fund, a bill-pay support system for local BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) artists? You can read about it on the NUVO website. You may recognize Irvington Vinyl and Books from the article as being the folks who published our chapbook in 2019. If you would like to support the initiative, you can donate to the R/Evolution Fund via the Central Indiana Community Foundation.
That's all for this month, folks! Thank you for reading and thank you, as ever, for your support of our work. We apprecaite you!
