New video from Sierra Club!

Follow up: What's Up with Food Justice and Urban Agriculture in Louisville?

At our meeting on Tuesday, March 19,  we heard from three prominent local food activists - Von Barnes, Tay G, and Andrew Kang Bartlett, from the Food in Neighborhoods Community Coalition. They gave us the scoop on current developments as Louisville steps up its food systems game to expand urban food production and develop a Food Vision 2030 and a Greater Louisville Food Council. Check this link to find out how you can support this movement toward a more delicious, equitable, healthy, sustainable, and resilient Louisville.

Can we help you? Ask us at greaterlouisvillesierraclub@gmail.com.

Volunteering with the Greater Louisville Sierra Club: Meet people and do good work!

GLSC is an extension of the national Sierra Club. Our local Group is run 100% by volunteers.  Here are some slots we would love for you to fill!

• We need researchers! We need to keep informed about the issues that are important to us in a timely fashion.  The more of us that are paying attention the more we can do!
• We always need people to staff our exhibition table at fairs and festivals. Let us know if you want to take a shift!
• We are always looking for people to run for a seat the 7-member executive committee (EXCOM) for the Greater Louisville group.

 If you can't restrain yourself from joining us to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, email greaterlouisvillesierraclub@gmail.com, subject: I Volunteer!

Other Stories

How HB 113 - AN ACT That Can Save Us From Ourselves

By Mark Ritter

Hello Sierra Club members. As I write this article my assumption is that Putin has NOT become so frustrated with his diabolical plan to resurrect the failed Soviet state that he launched nuclear weapons. So, I’m suggesting we might focus on the rousing work of the Kentucky 2022 legislative session. I want to tell you about a bill from this session which gives me hope for Explore, Enjoy, and Protect. 

Representative Buddy Wheatley (D) who represents District 65, which is part of Kenton County, introduced HB 113 AN ACT relating to elections. The purpose of the bill is to amend KRS 116.055 to allow registered independents the ability to vote in the primary of one political party. The bill would recognize thousands of registered independent voters in Kentucky who for good reasons refuse to be affiliated with the partisan party politics that is threatening our republic. Afterall, the United States Constitution does not state that political parties determine who has the right to vote. 

Representative Wheatley emphasizes that Kentucky is one of only twelve states that completely ban independent voters from participating in state primary elections. Please understand that very few people vote in primaries anyway and Kentucky is excluding people who are politically astute and want to exercise their precious right. This is so regretful. Just ask any Ukrainian. 

Why is this important to the Sierra Club? If the values of the Sierra Club are to remain meaningful, it will be because moderate, rational candidates are elected to office with the intent of governing instead of simply trying to hold on to power. Open primaries give these candidates the opportunity to fairly compete in our elections. The primaries are now where extreme wings of both the Democratic party and Republican party control which candidates go to the general election. We must open our elections to all voters. 

I read Katherine Gehl’s book, The Politics Industry - How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy which describes our political ailment as a systems problem despite all the drama we continually see in the news. Our political system isn’t broken it is doing precisely what it’s designed to do – to benefit the entrenched duopoly of the Democrat and Republican party. This takes precedence over the public interest or efforts to foster any real policy innovation. Furthermore, the party rules do not demand accountability for failure to do so. The same people continue to get reelected, and issues go unresolved. HB 113 AN ACT relating to elections is a step toward fixing the system problem. 

As you read this the 2022 session is over and my guess is HB 113 never left the desk of Representative David Osborne (R), Chair of the Committee on Committees. His committee performs the administrative function of determining which committee will review a bill to decide if it should be heard on the floor of the Kentucky House. David Osborne represents district 59 for the good citizens of Oldham County. You can still contact Representative Osborne to tell him HB 113 is important to you, and he should move it off his desk and send it to the desk of Representative Kevin D. Bratcher (R), Chair of the House Standing Committee for Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H). This is the committee that reviews bills related to elections. Representative Kevin D. Bratcher represents district 29 which is part of Jefferson County. His duty as Chair of the House Standing Committee for Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H) is to hold public discussions on this bill with his committee members. 

The strategy of Representative Buddy Wheatley is to continually reintroduce this bill until his colleagues develop an understanding of open elections. This is democracy at work and one of the reasons we are so fortunate to live in the United States of America. It is my hope elected officials have the opportunity to explain their position on why we limit voting access in Kentucky. So, please be the heroic citizen and engage these legislators. You can enjoy being a counterinsurgent by telling Representative David Osborne that he is missing a golden opportunity to make Kentucky better by sitting on HB 113. It is also important to tell Representative Buddy Wheatley you support his effort to present HB 113 for consideration by his colleagues.

Political Scientist Suzanne Mettler, PhD, at Cornell University says, “I think that most Americans now see politics through very partisan lenses and are mostly attentive to how their “team” is doing; they are much less likely to be thinking about the health of the basic pillars of democracy, e.g. electoral integrity, the rule of law, the legitimacy of the opposition, and the integrity of rights. Our political system is in crisis, and we should be shouting from the rooftops about it and coming together to save it.” * So, go save it! Write a letter to your legislator. Our work to improve the health of planet Earth will move at a faster pace.

*How to Tell When Your Country Is Past the Point of No Return, Dec. 15, 2021, Thomas B. Edsall; https://www.nytimes.com/by/thomas-b-edsall

Mark Ritter, a lifetime Sierra Club member, is Vice Chair of the Bluegrass Group and Chair of the Bluegrass Political Committee. He is retired from the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection and a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the United States Army Reserve.