YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Remembering Queen Elizabeth II's 1983 visit to the Loma Prieta Chapter
► Light pollution affects us all! What can we do about it? Learn in our upcoming webinar.
► See what your support of Loma Prieta Chapter made possible in 2021 (and previously)!
► Volunteer to take photos for the San Francisco Estuary Institute to help protect the Bay
► Watch: Protect Juristac, a sacred indigenous site and critical wildlife habitat, by learning how to comment on an Environmental Impact Report (Deadline EXTENDED to November 7th)
► Take a hike! Here's what's available with your chapter. |
Light Pollution: A Glowing Hazard
Webinar: November 16th, Wednesday, 1 - 4 pm
Presented by the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and your Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
The use of LED technology and energy saving lighting fixtures are bringing with them an unintended, yet pervasive and harmful effect: the over-lighting of our nights. The symposium will focus on the biological and physical effects of lighting up the night and provide strategies that guard our health and environment while providing safe and practical lighting solutions.
The speakers are global experts on artificial light at night, light pollution and its impact on migratory birds, and solutions to reducing bird collisions.
Click here to learn more and register for free. |
Palo Alto Plans for Carbon Neutrality by 2030 and to Transition Away from Gas Appliances
On October 3rd the Palo Alto City Council took a number of important climate actions.
- Council adopted a goal of Carbon Neutrality by 2030, one of the strongest climate goals in the nation!
- The City approved a pilot program to replace 1,000 gas water heaters with electric heat pumps. This will improve indoor air quality and help reduce the constant emissions that come from leaking gas pipelines.
- Council voted to approved the goals and key actions of Palo Alto's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, which guides the City's action to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
Click here to read more |
Would You Like to Improve Climate Policy in Your City? Where to Begin? Start Here!
Educational workshop: October 26th at noon
Residents can have an extraordinary impact in their community. No prior experience is necessary. All that’s needed is curiosity and enthusiasm.
You’ll learn how governments and public meetings function, the best ways to influence your city, and how to grow your skills as an environmental advocate.
This workshop will be delivered by Dashiell Leeds, Conservation Organizer for your Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter. Click here to register |
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The Loma Prieta Chapter is working to protect water and Tribal cultural resources from two huge and damaging projects in Santa Clara County: the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project and the Sargent Ranch Quarry Project. You can help by joining the Chapter Conservation Committee or Water Committee and supporting our efforts to stop these projects. See contact information below.
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Use your Voice to Protect a Local Sacred Indigenous Site and Critical Wildlife Area: Deadline for Letters Extended to November 7th
Help protect this critical wildlife corridor, and sacred site of the Amah Mutsun people, from a proposed open pit sand mine. An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been released for the project so now you have the opportunity to say that you want the area saved for indigenous peoples and wildlife.
If you have questions, contact Conservation Committee Chair Gladwyn D'Souza at godsouza@mac.com or Water Committee Chair Katja Irvin at katja.irvin@sbcglobal.net
Click here to watch the EIR letter-writing workshop and learn how to submit you own comments.
To get started, use this template letter from Protect Juristac. |
The Restoring Nature Book Group will be discussing “The Rights Of Nature: A legal revolution that could save the world” by David R. Boyd on 10/27 at 1:30 PM.
Please visit Enlight21 for discussion questions and contact godsouza@mac.com for more information about the group. |
Is Bio-Tech Safe like “Clean-Tech” was Clean?
Silicon Valley is one of the most polluted places in the US as a result of the “clean-tech” silicon industry boom polluting its soil, ground water and leaving a legacy of toxics. Now Bio-Tech is being embraced as safe-tech and is being ushered into downtowns and nestling next door to homes and sensitive Bay habitat.
Dude, do you know what’s cooking in that lab next door?
Is Bio-Tech safe? Bio-tech agents range widely, from relatively benign agents to lethal and deadly pathogens that transmit easily through air, water and accidents that cause exposure.
Click here to learn more and help make sure your city doesn’t embrace more than it bargained for. |
Biotech Speculators Target Redwood Shores’ Sensitive Bayfront
Investment group Longfellow Real Estate Partners plans to demolish an existing 984,000ft² office park and triple it to towering, 7-story biotech/R&D lab, with undisclosed Biosafety Levels, next to sensitive habitat and existing homes.
Bay Alive volunteers are leading the charge to challenge the plan
Why? Between the environmentally sensitive Belmont Slough immediately north, and surrounding residential neighborhoods, this flood-prone, 84-acre site also contains a closed, unlined landfill whose problematic history of contaminants and complex geotechnical issues is increasingly vulnerable to rising sea and groundwater levels.
To learn more and get involved in this project contact Nina Goodale at Nina.goodale111@gmail.com |
"Dawn At Mineral King Valley" tells the story of the Sierra Club’s role in determining the direction of modern environmental law in California.
If you want to become involved in similarly impactful work at the local level then contact our Chapter Conservation Chair, godsouza@mac.com. |
Op-Ed: We Need to Build on the Federal Climate Bill
"State and local representatives have good policy levers to tackle emissions from buildings that come from burning fossil gas, mostly for space and water heating. The IRA provides incentives to install electric appliances and there are local incentives too."
Click here to read the full Op-Ed in the San Mateo Daily Journal by Chris Frank, Kristel Wickham, and Lauren Weston |
Looking to Electrify but Don't Know Where to Start? Begin Here!
The Switch is On provides the resources you'll need to electrify your home, click here!. Explore the benefits of an all-electric home and learn about how you can swap from gas to electric!
Incentives are available! Click here to learn more. This tool allows you to find the right incentives that apply to you. |
Bat Fest!
October 22d
Join our friends at Saved By Nature for an evening festival celebrating local animals of the night, with live bats, owls, and other creatures. It's a fun time under the stars! With a special guest speaker, food trucks, live music, festival games, arts and crafts, mini-pumpkin patch, REI lounge and community partner organization booths. Be sure to bring your own blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy popcorn, cotton candy and your favorite drink while watching the movie The Addams Family (1991) under the night sky.
Learn more about Saved By Nature's Bat Fest. |
YOU Can Make a Difference for Local Environmental Protection!
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 Loma Prieta Chapter's Conservation Organizer dashiell.leeds@sierraclub.org. |
Securities and Exchange Commission Climate Rules
Financial regulators are hoping to force big companies and investment managers to disclose climate information. If you'd like to join local grassroots effective work to make these changes happen, please contact Sue Chow, sue2042@gmail.com
Loma Prieta Chapter, Chair of Environmental Legislative Action Committee |
Sea level rise poses a dual contamination threat ...
from both surface flooding and groundwater rise below the surface that could reach as far as three miles inland from the edge of the Bay, pushing up and spreading toxins along the way. More than 900 hazardous sites across the state could be impacted by the end of the century. In California, communities of color are five times more likely than the general population to live within a half mile of a toxic site that could flood by 2050.
See a map of hazardous sites and communities at risk from rising seas. |
Water Board takes aim at shoreline landfills at risk from sea level rise
California's Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a tentative order imposing heightened sea level rise planning requirements on 16 additional shoreline landfills, ten of which are in our Chapter region! (17 sites are already subject to that heightened scrutiny.) Under the new order, the identified landfills would have to do a vulnerability assessment and submit a Long-term Flood Protection plan addressing severe storm events, SLR, shallow groundwater rise and land subsidence. Bay Alive is supporting our friends in the SF Shoreline Contamination Cleanup Coalition as they lead the charge to support, clarify and strengthen this important oversight of a major contamination threat in our shoreline communities. |
Remembering Queen Elizabeth II's 1983 visit to the Loma Prieta Chapter
Thanks to former Loma Prieta Chapter Chair Les Kishler for explaining to me that in 1983 Queen Elizabeth visited not only Yosemite National Park but also our chapter! |
Take a hike! Here's what's available with your Loma Prieta chapter.
Note: regardless of the name/origin of the outing section, all are welcome!
Wed 10/12/22 10:00 AM. Hike Presidio and Baker Beach
Thu 10/13/22 10:00 AM. Hike Half Moon Bay North
Fri 10/14/22 9:30 AM. POLE Walking for Balance & Maintaining Mobility, Finley Senior Ctr, Santa Rosa
Mon 10/17/22 9:00 AM. POLE Hiking Training, Mori Point, Pacifica
Wed 10/19/22 10:20 AM. Hike San Francisco Cross Town 1 & 2
Sat 10/22/22 8:00 AM. Saratoga Gap Trail to Achistaca Trail Loop (Back Country)
Register and see more information on our chapter calendar.
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Do You Need Space to Spread Your Wings?
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.
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Top Posts recently on Loma Prieta facebook page
Follow us on facebook and you'll see most stories before the eNewsletter, and other stories and action alerts that don't make it into the eNewsletter.
#3. Gas appliances cause more smog than cars in some California cities
#2. How Do We Know Anything About Migrating Birds?
#1. Got Leaf-Blower Blues? |
Social Media Channels for the Loma Prieta Chapter
Facebook: Chapter, 20s – 30s, GLS, Sierra Singles
Loma Prieta Chapter's YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify |
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In Case You Missed It
Previous volumes of our Chapter eNewsletter can be found here.
HISTORIC DATES
Your Loma Prieta Chapter was founded in 1933; what else happened that year?
1933, October 12 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz is acquired by the United States Department of Justice, which plans to incorporate the island into its Federal Bureau of Prisons as a federal penitentiary.
1933, October 17 – Albert Einstein arrives in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
IN THE NEWS
The Dirty Truth about Utility Climate Pledges
Cutting-Edge All-Electric Buildings Sought For Annual Awards
The Death of the Gas Station
Join the campaign to protect 30% of California Lands and Waters by 2030
California plans to phase out new gas heaters by 2030
Pedro Cruz, defensor de las comunidades/Pedro Cruz, Defender Of Our Communities
Earthjustice and Sierra Club Release Comprehensive Guide to Environmental Impacts of Cryptomining
Photographers, 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
Too much Sierra Club email? You have control! See this simple tutorial.
How can local cities and residents use nature-based adaptations to sea level rise? Watch recordings of our recent webinar series with SF Bay experts and share with your local elected officials!
Calling Citizen Scientists Around the Bay
Click here to learn how you can take photos to protect the environment
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Thanks to our friends at the Children & Nature Network for the following articles.
Today’s children and youth are experiencing a mental health crisis as a result of the multi-year pandemic, ecological grief due to climate change, and, of course, the ongoing effects of nature-deficit disorder.
While our kids are facing a mental health crisis, Nature can help.
This piece, co-authored by Children & Nature Network Senior Vice President Monica Lopez Magee, examines the mental health crisis afflicting today's youth, and the power that nature can have in helping young people heal. One avenue to helping young people connect with nature is the Every Kid Outdoors program, which grants free entry to national parks and other public lands for fourth graders and their families. Read more in Outdoors Alliance for Kids.
Nature can affect human well-being in more ways than you think
A recent literature review analyzed hundreds of relevant scientific studies, using the concept of "cultural ecosystem services" to explore the nonmaterial benefits of human interactions with nature. The authors identified 227 unique pathways through which nature can affect people's well-being. The paper's findings can both serve to emphasize the importance of nature connection for human well-being, as well as provide a road map to help decision-makers maximize their positive impacts. Published in the Washington Post.
The mental health benefits of an inclusive outdoor escape
Read on for a deeper dive into the "nature equity gap," as well as the ways that nature connection and time in the outdoors can be healing for communities of color. Amidst violence and unrest, people of color are turning to nature and ecotherapy to reconnect, de-stress and heal. Published in the New York Times.
Eco-anxiety is on the rise among youth
Check out this piece to learn more about the epidemic of eco-anxiety, or ecological grief, as termed in this week's feature story. As climate change worsens and environmental disasters increase, it's taking a toll on mental health, with an acute effect on young people. This piece emphasizes the role that adults can play in helping youth and children navigate the complicated emotions of eco-anxiety. Published by the National Recreation Foundation.
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From our friends at San Jose Clean Energy
1. Net Metering Customers eNewsletter sign-up here
2. Solar Customers, it is Time to True-Up! What's "True-Up"? |
From our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, join Bioblitz and Creek Cleanup.
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The 2022 Guardians of Nature Benefit for the Loma Prieta Chapter was a huge success (photos on our facebook page), in no small part thanks to our Honoree Walter Moore (center, tan jacket) and Audrey Rust (female on far left), but also to the Loma Prieta Chapter's Volunteer Executive Committee shown in this photo, with Chapter staff.
"When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed."
~ Maya Angelou |
| 2022.10.02, Chapter Director's Hike in Joseph Grant (Santa Clara) County Park, 17 miles, 3000 ft elevation gain, including exploration of a few new trials recently opened, apparently into Blue Oak Preserve. Your Chapter Director hikes nearly every weekend, usually with Chapter outing sections (see Chapter Calendar), and welcomes Chapter members to join us and me. |
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There is something special and precious about meditating outside and
rediscovering our deep connection with the natural world.
When we do, it becomes more evident to us that the world is not a collection of separate things but a confluence of natural processes that include us.
~ David Loy, How a Growing Buddhist Movement Is Responding to the Ecological Crisis
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Liberty and Justice for All,
James Eggers, Director
Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter |
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Thank you to our 2022 Guardians on Nature Benefit Sponsors
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Sierra Nevada Sentinels
Mary Buxton and Ron Hess
Anonymous
Yosemite Heroes
Alan and Irene Adler
Lisa Barboza and Brian Roach
Anonymous
Sequoia Champions
Patricia Borga Suvari
Sue Chow
Nancy and David Crabbe
Gladwyn D'Souza
Joe Simitian, Santa Clara County Supervisor
and 2018 Guardians of Nature Honoree,
and Mary Hughes
Richard Simpson and Ann Reisenauer
Sid and Linda Liebes
Larry L. Lundberg |
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Baylands Stewards
Lisa and Shawn Britton
Brian Carr
Peter and Melanie Cross
Ruth MacDonald-Degener and
Martin Degener
Rick and Karen DeGolia
Susan DesJardin
Katie Dunlap
Susan Dunn
Rebecca Eisenberg
Susan Ellenberg, Santa Clara County
Supervisor
Mary Gill
Jerry Hearn and Rebecca Reynolds
Wayne and Judith Hooper
Caroline Horn
Sergio Jimenez, Councilmember, San Jose
Kristine Karnos
Arthur Keller
Ginny Laibl
Ruth Stoner Muzzin
Kevin Mullin, Assemblymember
Enid Pearson, 2019 Guardians of Nature
Honoree
Lucas Ramirez, Mayor, Mountain View
Emily Renzel, 2019 Guardians of Nature
Honoree
Bruce Rienzo
Lennie Roberts, 2016 Guardians of Nature
Honoree
Charles and Jaime Schafer
Johanna Schmid and Ed Reed
Tara Sreekrishnan, Santa Clara County
Board of Education Trustee |
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| 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. |
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