Dear %%[ if not empty(FirstName) then ]%%%%FirstName%%%%[ else ]%%Friend%%[ endif ]%%,
|
YOU Can Make a Difference! Read More in this eNewsletter.
► Learn about nature-based adaptation to sea level rise by watching the recordings of our recent webinar.
► How has your Loma Prieta Chapter supported local environmental protection? See the Loma Prieta 2020 Chapter Summary!
► San José: tell your City Council to avoid unhealthy light pollution in Arena Green.
► Milpitas: call for progressive climate action by taking the city's climate action survey.
► Los Altos: call for progressive climate action by taking the city's climate action survey.
|
Announcing the 2021 Guardians of Nature Benefit
We are excited to announce the 2021 Guardians of Nature Benefit for the Loma Prieta Chapter, this year honoring former Sierra Club California Director Kathryn Phillips for her four decades of environmental leadership. Read more about our honoree here.
Our 2021 celebration will take place on Friday, October 15th, from 7 to 8 p.m. As we anticipate times when we can again gather in person, we continue to prioritize the health of our community, therefore our 2021 event will be online exclusively. As always, we aim to inspire you and provide you with a sense of community spirit. |
Webinar Videos Now Available!
Learn from the Experts: How You Can Protect Your Community from Sea Level Rise
Thank you to everyone who attended the Sierra Club Webinar on Sea Level Rise: Why We Need Nature-Based Adaptation
May 13th, 20th, 27th
Interested in watching? Click here to see the video recordings and PowerPoint slides.
Decision-makers, their staff and the public need more information about why nature-based adaptation to sea level rise is critical for cities around the Bay. Presented by leading experts in the field, this webinar provides a comprehensive discussion of nature-based solutions.
|
Youth Activists Lead a Climate Win in Morgan Hill
For more than a year, the Morgan Hill Youth Climate Action Team (MHYCAT) has pressured the City Council to initiate a Climate Action Plan (CAP). Without the greenhouse gas reduction targets contained in such a plan, Morgan Hill could get left behind by other cities who are already working towards aggressive targets.
MHYCAT collaborated with your Loma Prieta Chapter's Climate Action Leadership Team to write a climate emergency declaration which would jumpstart the creation of a climate action plan.
The Morgan Hill Team leads Diya and Jared met with councilmembers, delivered public comments and presentations to the City Council, and organized young people to show up and speak. Thanks to their actions, the Morgan Hill City Council adopted the climate emergency declaration on May 27th. The City also gave funding and direction to staff to begin working on a Climate Action Plan this year!
Congratulations to the Morgan Hill Youth Climate Action Team and thank you to all of the community members and environmental organizations who turned out in support! A special thank you to Councilmember Yvonne Martínez Beltrán who added the declaration to the City agenda, and to the rest of the City Council who supported the declaration. |
Above: logos of the organizations as depicted on the cover of the joint letter.
Sierra Club in Joint Letter Calls for SF Bay Wetlands to be Listed as a Critical Priority for California's 30 by 30 Initiative.
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Redwood Chapter and SF Bay Chapter joined 25 organizations who called on the California Natural Resources Agency to recognize, protect and restore the San Francisco Bay Estuary as part of the 30 by 30 Initiative, which pledges to conserve 30 percent of land and coastal water by 2030.
The San Francisco Bay wetlands are a source of great resilience and biodiversity. They are home to over one thousand species of animals and are a routine stop for millions of annual migratory shorebirds.
You can read the joint letter by clicking here.
Find out more about your Loma Prieta Chapter's efforts to protect the Bay on our Bay2030 website.
|
Photo by Dara Hazeghi, Vice Chair of Loma Prieta Chapter's Day Hiking Section and 20s - 30s outing section.
Become A Conservation Leader
Use your passion for the outdoors to ask for the conservation of land and creeks in your city. You can provide the knowledge of where our advocacy would help. We can help you to become a leader to conserve biodiversity in your neighborhood and city. Both the state and the federal government are advancing conservation of 30% of California by 2030, promising habitat and corridors for endangered species.
Contact Gladwyn d’Souza at godsouza@mac.com
Click here for more info from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
|
Photo by Dion Noravian. "The Reef" in Los Angeles is a warning of light pollution that could come to San José.
San José Has Voted to Advance the Light Tower Project, but the Fight is Far from Over!
On May 4th, San José City Council voted to advance an electric light structure in an environmentally sensitive river corridor. The 200 foot tall structure will be illuminated at night by light and visible across the City. Recent Sierra Club Policy highlights the unmitigable harm caused by artificial light at night to all organisms and ecosystems, including human health. This project is wrong for San Jose's precious Guadalupe river, wrong for the City's 21st Century environmental leadership, and definitely wrong for the health of the City's residents.
However, the fight is far from over! The City will soon host public stakeholder meetings and will have to complete an Environmental Impact Report analyzing the project. We will keep you updated on opportunities for you to voice your opinion.
In less than 5 minutes, you can email the San José Council and tell them not to approve this destructive and wasteful monument.
Why San José Should Reconsider Urban Confluence Project, by Katja Irvin
Thanks, but no thanks to the 'gift' of light pollution, by Ada Márquez |
YOU Can Make a Difference in Local Policy!
Our Environmental Legislative Action Team and Climate Action Leadership Team will show you how.
Your Loma Prieta Chapter is organizing a network of advocacy teams at the city level—these are city-focused teams with the twin goals of spearheading actions to combat climate change and to conserve and restore natural habitats.
You will be working with city council members, key city staff, county officials, and other environmental activists. We welcome and educate those who are new to climate policy.
For more information, contact Dashiell.Leeds@SierraClub.org
Residents in Milpitas and Los Altos can influence their City's upcoming Climate Action Plan (CAP) by taking these surveys:
Milpitas
Los Altos
You can tell your city to rapidly reduce fossil fuels and set aggressive CAP targets! |
Coyote Valley. Photo credit: Derek Neumann
Help Us Tell Our Story by Donating Your Photos
Photos can speak louder than words. Help us powerfully tell our story by donating your photos. We will use them in our publications like The Annual Summary, on invitations, and our Chapter note cards.
If you’d like to share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, please contact our Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman, Justyna.guterman@sierraclub.org |
Photo: 2001.04.03, Joseph Grant County Park, Chapter Director's hike.
Enjoy the Beauty of Spring, and of Spring Cleaning!
Donate a Vehicle to Support the Critical Local Environmental Work of Your Chapter.
It’s easy to give and the pick-up is free; just call 844-6-SIERRA or 844-674-3772 or give online at https://careasy.org/nonprofit/Sierra-Club-Foundation-Loma-Prieta-Chapter.
If you would like to donate a Mazda Miata, please contact your Chapter Director personally. |
This Month in History
1933, June 11th, birth of Gene Wilder, comic film actor (died 2016)
1933, June 18th, founding of Loma Prieta Chapter, the second chapter established within the Sierra Club.
1934, June 15th, Great Smoky Mountains National Park dedicated
June 12th, 1944, Big Bend National Park dedicated |
| 2021.05.29 Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve. Your Chapter Director was absolutely delighted to add to his "Life List" of identified species, this gorgeous California Kingsnake. Thanks to Loma Prieta Executive Committee Member Nabeel Al-Shama for leading the hike and providing the photo. |
Social Media Channels for the Loma Prieta Chapter
facebook: Chapter, 20s – 30s, Sierra Singles
Loma Prieta Chapter's YouTube; Twitter; Instagram; Spotify
MeetUp: Chapter conservation and education meetings (>2700 members),
Hiking events (>5000 members), Singleaires outing section (>1800 members),
Day Hiking section (>1700 members), Guadalupe Regional Group (>500 members),
Peak Climbing (>500 members), Gay & Lesbian Sierrans (>400 members),
Black Mountain Hiking section (>400 members), 20s - 30s (>150 members),
Family Explorers (>100 members) |
Got Mail? Too much Sierra Club mail? You can take control; it's easy!
If you feel overwhelmed you can easily manage what you receive. See the simple tutorial |
In Case You Missed It
Click Here to see the previous volumes of our Chapter eNewsletter.
The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (OSA) has been critical in protecting local wild lands and wildlife. Learn about OSA's history and influence.
Supporting Conservation, One Otter Sighting at a Time
Is fare and equal access for all rate payers important to you? Learn about SB612 and PCIA rates.
What did YOU did to support local environmental protection! See the 2020 Annual Summary! |
PARENTS' CORNER
Aire Libre Para Todos: Acceso a la Naturaleza es un Derecho Humano
Con formas radicalmente nuevas de comprender las interconexiones con todo lo que este mundo comparte, industrias como la atención médica y la influencia política están comprendiendo lo importante que es tener oportunidades para que todos disfruten al aire libre limpio y seguro. Todas las generaciones que están vivas y que vienen tienen derecho a apreciar a la Madre Tierra y ayudarla a prosperar. Países como Bolivia, Ecuador y Nueva Zelanda han sido pioneros en establecer los derechos inalienables de la naturaleza para prosperar con nosotros. Lea el artículo para comprender más en profundidad las formas nuevas y revolucionarias de ver este mundo y a todos los demás.
Outdoors for All: Access to Nature is a Human Right
Through radical new approaches in the health industries and political spheres of influence, a movement is growing in recognizing the interconnectedness of all life on earth, and how integral to our well being it is to create equitable access to outdoor natural spaces that are clean and safe. All generations alive and still to come have a right to enjoy Mother Earth and help her thrive. Countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador and New Zealand have been pioneers in establishing the inalienable rights of Nature to thrive alongside us. Read the Article for an indepth look into these revolutionary new ways of understanding our world and each other.
Thanks to Parents' Corner contributer Sandra Corzantes.
|
"We hear political 'leaders' commenting constantly that
'the fundamentals of the economy are strong.'
But we here know that the fundamentals of the economy are
in fact the soil and waters and plants and animals."
Curt Meine, Aldo Leopold biographer
|
Health and safety to y'all,
and Happy Trails to all, |
James Eggers, Director
Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter |
|
|
|
Thank you to our 2020 Guardians of Nature Benefit Sponsors
|
| The COVID-19 crisis has not passed and continues to disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people and other communities of color. The pandemic has revealed how the communities hardest hit are often the same communities that suffer from high levels of pollution and poor access to healthcare. The fight for environmental justice cannot be separated from the fight for racial justice. |
|
|
