YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Attend "The Earth on Your Plate" and learn about the impacts of growing enough food to feed everyone on the planet.
► Read about our calls to complete the community engagement process for the Redwood Life Project.
► Attend our next Environmental Stewardship Program and learn about sustainable land use.
► Learn about the need to change the forest thinning narrative.
► Read about our recommendations to Palo Alto's turf study.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through mid-May.
San Jose State University Earth Day Celebration
How to invest in the future: find young folks and inspire them. We had over 100 people visit our booth at SJSU's Earth Day Celebration, get photographed with our John Muir cutout, and express interest in all of the great work that our Chapter is doing, from the Bay Alive Campaign, to forestry protection, to reducing plastic pollution, protecting Coyote Valley, and also all of the work we do in Outings. Many expressed a strong interest in getting outdoors and becoming members.
Foster City Earth Day Celebration
What a turnout! We tabled at Foster City's Earth Day Celebration earlier this month and had a lot of great conversations with folks about our Environmental Stewardship Program, environmental conservation, and the Bay Alive Campaign!
The Earth on Your Plate: How Diet Change is Essential to Saving our Planet
Have you ever wondered about the impacts of growing enough food to feed eight billion people three meals a day?
The global consequences of humanity's food choices are enormous. In this presentation, we will explore the surprising connections between our daily food choices and climate change, deforestation, species extinction, water scarcity, air and water pollution, world hunger, human health, animal welfare, and many other serious environmental and social issues. You’ll learn how simple dietary changes, adopted on a large scale, are essential to solving some of humanity's greatest challenges, and critical to preserving the planet for future generations.Learn more and register.
The Loma Prieta Chapter is dedicated to living gently on the land, so our annual Guardians of Nature Benefit is vegetarian, with vegan and gluten-free options.
16 Kids’ Books That Make Science and Nature Sizzle
"During Earth Week, or any week, these titles help counter the current anti-truth climate," from Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club. "In poring over a slew of beautiful, recently released books that aim to engage youngsters with the natural world, we were most drawn to those reads that managed to distill global heating and other eco hot-button topics into simple, impactful prose while also providing laughs and visual delights." Read the full article.
If you'd like to directly connect local youth or science and nature facts, consider being a leader with our Family Explorers outing section.
COMMENT LETTER: CEQA Review for the Redwood Life Project
"Given the constraints of the site and its location alongside the sensitive habitat of the Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve, our strong preference remains to avoid large scale construction impacts and retain the original Westport Specific Plan. Nonetheless, we supported the City Council’s prior direction to develop a “Community Alternative” through a robust, city-led community engagement process prior to the possible repeal of the existing Westport Specific Plan. Unfortunately, that inclusive process came to a premature end. In the rush to initiate the CEQA review process, community discussion was cut short after Alternative 2 was revealed and inclusive participation was abandoned, calling into question the credibility of private data used to suggest support for Alternative 2 at the Joint Session on March 4, 2025. This artificial curtailment of the process to create a community-developed alternative is deeply troubling. We strongly urge you to complete the community process to arrive at an alternative that is more aligned with community concerns and responsive to the impacts identified in the City’s Sensitivity Analysis before advancing into an EIR."
"Gita Dev, sustainable land use chair and conservation committee chair of the Sierra Club, said the development would threaten wildlife habitats along the Belmont Slough, a designated refuge for birds and other species."...
"Dev, however, argued that the proposed alternative 2 fails to address environmental risks, including flooding and sea-level rise. According to her, the project poses a sea-level rise risk because it is located on a low-lying former landfill site with no bottom liner. As sea levels and groundwater rise, there is a danger that toxins from the landfill could be pushed up and released into surrounding areas, including the adjacent Belmont Slough. “It’s just the same as having no alternative,” she said."
Join our Bay Alive Campaign Watchdog Network!
Now that the Bay Area has approved region-wide guidelines for shoreline community sea level rise plans, it's up to all of us, at the grassroots, to make sure that all of the local plans are the strongest they can be and developed as quickly as possible. Join our Bay Alive Campaign Watchdog network!
Watch our sea level rise videos to learn the threats that come with sea level rise, what's at risk, and solutions we can use to adapt and protect the Bay.
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
Learn how nature can help us fight sea level rise with cost-effective and sustainable solutions. Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Environmental Stewardship Program
Green cities increase our human health and urban biodiversity by providing a variety of habitats for plants, animals, and other species. Water provides essential habitats for many plant and animal species, helps regulate the urban climate by mitigating heat islands, and plays a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems within the city. Biodiverse ecosystems are critical to regulating water cycles – purifying water, preventing flood damage and reducing the impacts of drought. Green streets, an intact tree canopy, and healthy urban waterways result in significant health benefits and an improved quality of life of all inhabitants through a focus on the outdoor environment. Learn more and register.
We Need to Change the Forest Thinning Narrative
As featured in prior newsletters, an opinion piece written by the chair of our Forest Protection Committee, Karen Maki, was published in the San Mateo Daily Journal this past month. Entitled “What ‘The Three Little Pigs’ teach us about wildfire preparedness”, the piece addresses the need to prioritize home hardening as the most vital strategy to protect people and their property during wildfires. A follow-up letter to the editorby committee member Jennifer Normoyle was published a week later. What does it mean when we talk about home hardening? In the coming months, we will explore this issue in this newsletter, stay tuned. Learn more.
"The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter applauds the City of Palo Alto’s dedication to ensuring that public health and the environment are not endangered by plastic grass fields. At this point, knowing that Palo Alto has plans to hire Lloyd Consulting to do much of the research comparing natural grass and synthetic turf fields, we have a few recommendations to share."
"The Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance and the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter are organizations united by our shared commitment to the protection of the environment, nature, and open space. We strongly support the adoption of the Environmental Commission Draft Lighting Performance Standards and the adoption of the Draft Bird-Safe Design Ordinance."
"We have supported Palo Alto in its efforts to create a Dark Sky ordinance by sharing research and model ordinance language with City staff, the Architectural Review Board and the Planning & Transportation Commission. The Planning and Transportation Commissioners (PTC), in their October 30th motion, made an effort to recommend strong ordinance language that reflects the Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting, but the April 7th proposed ordinance has not incorporated some of the most critical PTC recommendations. Our recommendations for Dark Sky applicability, lighting curfews, and light trespass thresholds are based on adopted Dark Sky policies in California, including ordinances from Cupertino, Malibu, and Brisbane. The draft ordinance to be heard by Los Altos City Council on April 8th 2025 also includes language consistent with these recommendations. Our recommendations are reflected in the October 30th PTC motion."
"The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, and the San José Youth Climate Action Team are opposed to the development of the 159 acres of open space south of the Regional Wastewater Facility and North of Highway 237. San José should instead explore the conversion and repurposing of existing development if it chooses to incentivize the construction of data centers in this area. We are also concerned with the potential for data centers to use gas-powered fuel cells, which generate a disproportionately large amount of greenhouse gas emissions compared with other energy sources."
Palo Alto and Los Altos Make Progress Towards a Dark Sky
Earlier this month, in response to our suggestions and public comments made by community members, Palo Alto City Council unanimously voted to direct staff to improve their draft Dark Sky Ordinance and return to the Council with a stronger ordinance. These improvements are needed to retain the protections that Palo Alto residents already have.
On Tuesday, the Los Altos City Council moved forward with their Dark Sky Ordinance. This ordinance applies primarily to new lighting. We supported a more stringent ordinance, but we are pleased to see local jurisdictions take action to protect residents and wildlife from the negative impacts of artificial light at night. We were greatly disappointed to see that Los Altos opted not to approve their draft Bird Safe Design ordinance, despite hard work by their Environmental Commission to draft the ordinance, and the continued decline in bird populations in our country.
BioBlitz (April 27th), City Nature Challenge ID Party (April 29th), Cleanup (May 4th), and Restoration (May 11th) from our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
One of the best ways to safeguard a thriving and just future is by ensuring that your Loma Prieta Chapter remains a champion for the environment of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito Counties. Naming us as a beneficiary in your bequest will provide meaningful and enduring resources that will allow continued local and powerful environmental activism.
Please contact our Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman for the specific language for your estate planning and/or read more here. For additional information about planning a bequest please contact Julia Curtis, (800) 932-4270.
Your connection: As if we haven’t been alarmed enough, researchers at Boston University have learned that not only do microplastics move freely through air and water, carrying drug-resistant bacteria to new places, microplastics themselves can promote antimicrobial resistance. In other words tiny bits of plastic act not only as tiny mobile chemical petri-dishes, they assist in creating bad results. Join the SCLP Plastic Pollution Prevention Committee as we explore how to educate others on the growing list of harms inflicted on the environment and public health.
Photographers, see the great images in our Chapter Annual Summaries and help protect local nature with your images! Share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, to inspire local residents to support Loma Prieta Chapter work. Please contact Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman.
In the year Loma Prieta Chapter was founded, 1933: April, Civilian Conservation Corps established April 26, birth of Carol Burnett, actress, singer and comedian April 30, birth of Willie Nelson, country singer-songwriter _________________________________________________________________________________
"The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly, and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped." Hubert Humphrey
2025.04.12 Máyyan 'Ooyákma - Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve: Chapter Director joined a hike led by Lisa Barboza, Chapter Outings Chair and Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Docent.
