November 2025 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
November 26, 2025
Hoosiers push back against data centers
Hi Supporter,
Welcome to our November newsletter! I hope you find this edition interesting, informative, and inspiring. If you have thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you!
In this issue:
🎉 Welcome, new Outings Leaders! 📚 Your invite to our virtual Book Club 🤖 Wait, I use AI everyday? I didn't know!! — a new blog series on data centers 💪🏼 How the Fort Wayne community is pushing back on data center growth 🗳️ It's almost time to vote in our Executive Committee elections! Join our winter training cohorts 🗓️ Sierra Club events and outings near you
Plus all our regular features — like photos from you, our readers — and much more!
Happy reading,
Rebecca Dien-Johns Chapter Coordinator
Welcome, new Outings Leaders!
This past month has seen three folks become certified Sierra Club Outings Leaders.
We are so excited to have them on our team — congratulations Lori Peters, Dave Wildemann, and Nicole Chandler!
All three of these new leaders went through the Sierra Club training, which culminates in a qualifying hike at a location of the leader’s choosing.
Lori chose Fort Harrison State Park (known locally as Fort Ben) for her outing. Lori is a Sierra Club member who started joining our hikes last year, and recently became a volunteer with the Hoosier Chapter.
Lori: "Learning from others while on the hike was a highlight. Laurie, Dave, and Marilyn pointed out wildflowers, invasive plants, and unique trees, helping me put a name to things I’ve seen so many times but didn’t know what they were." - Lori
Dave led his hike at Laura Hare Nature Preserve at Downey Hill. Dave joined the Winding Waters Group Executive Committee earlier this year, after discovering the Group through their annual native plant sale.
Dave: "We had a wonderful sunny day and near peak fall colors. I could not have asked for a better day."
Nicole led her hike at Green's Bluff Nature Preserve. Nicole is the Southwest Indiana Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer. She decided to take the lead of fellow Sierra Club staff member Robyn Skuya-Boss (our Chapter Director) who became an Outings Leader last year!
Nicole: "I would encourage anyone who is interested and capable to become an outings leader. We spend less and less time outside, so any opportunity to do so is a positive!"
For our December Book Club meeting we have a readers' choice of two books. One is a collaborative work, Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua. The other option is Climate Optimism: Celebrating Systemic Change Around the World by Zahra Biabani, a Gen Z climate activist, advocate, and social media influencer.
When you hear the term artificial intelligence, or AI, does it cause you excitement or dread?
As an everyday GenXer, AI seems like such a distant concept to me that I feel it is not yet part of my life, but have I already been caught in the AI web? Have you?
As I have learned while writing this blog, the answer is very likely yes. To answer this question, I went on a research journey to better understand AI and the data centers that house it, and how all of this influences me as a Hoosier. Please join me as I dive into the world of AI and data in this 5-part data center industry blog.
Jennifer Ehara Winding Waters Group Executive Committee and Hoosier Chapter Communications Team
Fort Wayne Community Pushes Back on Data Center Growth
While things seem negative right now, there is a little good news seeping in between the cracks.
In Ft. Wayne, we are being bombarded with environmentally bad decisions surrounding the Google data center. From demolishing wetlands to AEP requesting to do it again to build power lines for Google’s site, after one year of having Google as a neighbor, there have been serious concerns about their practices.
The latest has come in the form of diesel. Recently, Google asked the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to add 140 industrial diesel-fired generators to their facility, bringing their total to 174.
Our Executive Committee elections will take place in December. All Hoosiers with active memberships during the election will receive an email or postcard with details on how to make their voice heard for a democratic Sierra Club in Indiana.
When the election is live, voting will take place in MyAccount. This is also where you can control all your email preferences.
Not a member yet? Join by November 30 to be eligible to vote in the elections this year.
We have several ways to get involved with our work this winter!
Community Lobbyist Training
Join our Community Lobbyist Winter 2025 Training Cohort and learn how our Community Lobbyist roles work together and build our capacity to influence public policy conversations at the Indiana Legislature. Through this training program you will understand the basics of how to plan and run effective legislative meetings, identify allies in your community who can help educate legislators on the issues we care about, and make new friends across the state of Indiana!
Join our outings program as a certified outings leader for Sierra Club's Hoosier Chapter. As a part of our Winter 2025 Outings Leadership Training Cohort you will learn how we work together to prioritize the well being of outings and hike participants, be eligible to participate in first aid training (if not already certified) as a group prior to planning a qualifying hike, understand how to utilize Sierra Club resources to promote and recruit participants for your outings, and make new friends across the state of Indiana!
Become a leader with Sierra Club's Hoosier Chapter! Learn more about how our Groups, Networks, and Committees support and guide our work in Indiana and how you can cultivate your leadership skills to strengthen our Sierra Club community.
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders are passionate about getting out there and spreading the word about issues that matter to Hoosiers!
Laurie Elliott, Rosa-Lynn Householder and Marilyn Bauchat enjoyed the energy of the Bloomington NO KINGS rally. Photo by Greg Grant.
An estimated 2000 people or more showed up to share their voices at the No Kings rally in Bloomington, IN. Laurie Elliot, Rosa Lyn Householder and Marilyn Bauchat shared the many opportunities that Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter has to offer.
Megan Anderson speaking at a press conference for Protect Martindale-Brightwood Neighborhood Coalition opposing the proposed MetroBloks data center. Photo: Colleen Curtin.
Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Senior Organizer, Megan Anderson, spoke alongside coalition partners Elizabeth Gore, Chairperson of the Martindale-Brightwood Environmental Justice Collaborative, Immanuel Ivey, One Voice board member, Cierra Johnson, vice president of One Voice Martindale Brightwood, and Carrie Harris at a press conference for Protect Martindale-Brightwood Neighborhood Coalition opposing the proposed MetroBloks data center.
Bowden Quinn and Dan Vallenkey on the White River. Photo: Jesse Kirkham.
Bowden Quinn and Jesse Kirkham on the White River. Photo: Dan Vallenkey.
This month, we're going back to March 2020. These photos show Bowden Quinn (our Chapter Director at the time), Heartlands Group Chair, Jesse Kirkham, and Heartlands Group member Dan Vallenkey on a White River outing in Indianapolis.
Join us outdoors! Be it on land or water, we'd love to see you at one of our outings. Look out for spring programming soon!
Readers' Photos
Thank you so much Ruth Ann Bauert for sending this beautiful photo from Mishawaka, IN. She says, "the butterflies liked the Joe Pye brush (showed in the photo) better than they liked the butterfly bush!"
Do you have a photograph of Indiana nature — past or present, micro or macro — that you would like to share?
We'd love to see it and perhaps feature it in a future newsletter.
Mon, Dec 1, 2025; 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM (Eastern) Documentary Film Screening of Reinventing Power: America's Renewable Energy Boom: Dubois Co. Jasper, IN
Tue, Dec 2, 2025; 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Eastern) Hoosier Chapter Book Club: It's Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua OR Climate Optimism by Zahra Biabani (Virtual)
Wed, Dec 3, 2025; 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Eastern) The Hoosier Hikers Council: Building Trails Across Indiana Columbus, IN
Thu, Dec 4, 2025; 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Central) Evansville Solar Advocates Training with Sierra Club and Solar United Neighbors Evansville, IN
Thu, Dec 11, 2025; 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Eastern) Winter 2025 Community Lobbyist Training Program Orientation (Virtual)
Tue, Dec 16, 2025; 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Eastern) Winter 2025 Hoosier Chapter Outings Leadership Training Cohort (Virtual)
Wed, Dec 17, 2025; 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Eastern) Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Leadership and Committee Volunteer Orientation (Virtual)
