The North Star Journal is the printed newsletter of the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. Paper copies are mailed to all of our members twice a year. To request a paper copy, please email north.star.chapter@sierraclub.org
Archive
Back issues of the journal are available as PDF documents. You can read them using Adobe’s Acrobat Reader. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download it for free from Adobe.
Winter 2023
This year with your support... Volunteers Wanted: Join a Volunteer Team... Net Zero, Really... Real vs. Fake... Art & Activism... Winter Poems - 853... Explore: A Pocket Guide to Wildlife Management Areas... Protect: Stop Polluter Capture of State Agencies... Veterans Connect Outdoors... The Secrets to Writing a Letter to the Editor... Living Within Limits... 2023 Minnesota Delegation to Honduras... Protect Water, Stop Sulfide Mining... The Future of Transportation in Minnesota... Legalize Land Value Tax... Environmental Etiquette: How to Be Green But Not Mean... Executive Committee Candidate Statements... Election Ballot for North Star Executive Committee 2024
Summer 2023
Passing Crucial Legislation... Connecting and Learning Outdoors... Battling Pollution Across the State... Testimony from the 2023 Legislative Session... Thank You to Our Advocates... Sierra Club Legislative Priorities and Results... The 5 R's of a Sustainable Lifestyle... Meet Your New Rochester Organizer... Have the Metals We Need Already Been Extracted?... A Field Guide to Two Popular Minnesota Birds... Tips for Nature Watching this Summer... Summer Outings... Portraits of the Plots - The Biodiversity Experiment... Reduce Your Carbon Footprint and Save Money... Minnesota Sentences... Donate to Sierra Club North Star Chapter... Now Is the Time to Shut Down Hennepin County's Trash Burner... Environmental Etiquette
Winter 2022
Co-chairs’ Column... Climate Action Marches on in Rochester... Sierra Club Helps Elect Climate Champions... Plastic Pollution: There Is a Solution... Bike Tour Returns... Regulators Fail to Protect Our Water... Outings Bring More People Outdoors... Water Is Life. Extraction Isn’t the Answer to a Just and Sustainable Future... Winter Adaptations... The Sierra Club Stands With the East Phillips Community as They Fight for Environmental Justice... Community Organizing for Environmental Justice on Saint Paul’s West Side... 100% Clean Energy for the Northland... You Make Minnesota Sustainable... Please Vote for Your Chapter Leaders... Volunteers Wanted!
Summer 2022
Co-Chairs' and Director's Column... Great Lakes Solidarity: Water & Oil Still Don't Mix... Minnesota Legislature Biennium Review... Working for Climate Justice in Saint Paul... Paul Bunyan Goes Wakesurfing... Fighting Fossil Fuels Across Minnesota... Another End of the World Is Possible... Learning with the Clean Energy Team... True Corporate Responsibility, An Answer to the Plastics Crisis... The Connection Between Zero Waste & The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC)... Keep Out: Sulfide Mining Brings Too Much Risk, Too Little Gain... Electric Trucks & Buses Could Clean Up 30% of MN Greenhouse Gas Pollution... Twin Cities Boulevard... Win for Equitable Clean Transportation... Fighting Pipelines with Boots on the Ground... A Geology Tour of Minneapolis Parks... How to Get Great Local Emails... Volunteers Wanted!
Fall/Winter 2021
From the Director and Chair... Join the call: Tell Gov. Walz to Move On from PolyMet... Biden Acts to Complete Study of Sulfide Mining's Impacts to Boundary Waters... River Resilience... The Fight for Environmental Justice at the Capitol Continues... Clean Cars Minnesota: It's Official!... Don't Give Winter the Cold Shoulder... We Need 100% Clean Energy, Not Fossil Gas... Rights of Manoomin... Looking Back on this Summer's Movement to Stop Line 3... Volunteering through the Pandemic... Please Vote for your Chapter Leaders.
Summer 2021
From the Director and Chair... Holding Leaders Accountable: State Legislature Update... Minnesota Needs 'Prove It First' Laws to Protect Water - And Life... Building Relationships and Power... A Zero Waste Lifestyle Wants You - And So Does the Planet... From Extraction to Regeneration... 5 Tips for Camping with a Baby... Climate Justice and Just Transition Defined and in Practice... MN Renewable Now: Creating Environmental Justice through Solar Ownership... Community SOlar Offers Everyone an Opportunity to Save the Planet... Beyond Coal & Fossil Gas to 100% Clean Energy... Ospreys Return to the Ballfield... Racist Impacts of Highways - Can We Fix Them?... Equity and ICO: Working Toward Outdoor Adventures for All... Line 3 'Art Storm'... Donations Matter... Passion for the Outdoors & Values Inspire Donation.
Fall/Winter 2020
A Crossroads: The Ties Between Environmental Protection and Racism... Electing Climate & Water Champions in Minnesota... The Nees to Promote Outdoors for All Has Never Been Greater... A Field Trip that CHanged My Life... Energy Dreams to Reality... Minnesota Power, 100% Clean, Equitable Energy is Right for the Northland... Rural Minnesota, Building a Clean Energy Future... Xcel Energy's 15-Year Plan Isn't Doing Enough... Rochester Powers through the Pandemic... Reconnecting, Revitalizing and Making Restitution... Stop Line 3 Team Joins in Carrying Sacred Water... Wild Rice Tries to Rebound as Polymet Vies for Sulfide Ore Metals... How Your Plastic Is Ending Up in Kenya's Waters... Speaking Up for Wolves... Poetry & Art... Executive Committee Candidates... Volunteers Wanted.
Summer 2020
Fighting for Our Values… Your Sierra Club in Action... No Progress at Legislature: Blame the Kochs, Not the Virus... Elections Matter... Poetry & Art... The Energy Movement Across MN... On the Road, Track, and Trail to Equity... The Threat Continues as Sulfide Ore Mining Companies Refuse to Relent... A Broken System Making Big Decisions... Tips for a Lower Waste Lifestyle During COVID-19... Protecting Forests: It's About More Than Trees... Yearning for Awe and Adventure in a Time of Uncertainty... Heroes, Not Martyrs... Changing to Win... Call for Nominations... Volunteers Wanted.
Fall/Winter 2019
Chair & Director's Column… 50 Words for 50 Years... Your Sierra Club in Action... One Minnesota - Across the Arrowhead & For Our Waters... Continuing Advocacy for Clean Water Solutions... Buses & Frogs: How a Suburban Pond Turned Me into a Transit Advocate... Line 3: What You Need to Know Now... 100% Campaign: Building an Equitable, Clean Energy Economy for All Minnesotans... Tech Dump: What to Do with Old Electronics... The Power of Friendship Advocacy: Organizing for a Sustainable Future... Turning a Love of Nature into Outdoor Leadership... Stewards Team Update: Protecting Butterflies, Moose, Me and You... Minnetonka Can't Wait: How They Organized for 100% Clean Energy... Rochester Legacy: City Commits to 100% Clean Energy... Executive Committee Candidates... Volunteers Wanted.
Summer 2019
Chair & Director's Column… Meet Your New Chair... Celebrating 50 Years of Protecting Minnesota... Chuck Dayton - Founding Activist... 2019 MN Legislative Session Update... Report on Our Top Legislative Priorities... Sierra Club & Justice: We're All in This Together... Movie Screening Brings Light to Local Racial Justice Issue... Transit is a Climate & Community Solution... Line 3 Delayed for Now, the Fight Continues... Three Steps on a Zero Waste Journey... A Major Threat to Clean Water... Clean Energy across Minnesota... Rochester at a Crossroads... Outdoor Programs Inspire and Educate... A New Volunteer in Year 50... Selected Quotes from Our 50th Anniversary Story Sharing Collection... Call for Nominations... Volunteers Wanted.
Fall/Winter 2018
Chair & Director's Column… Your Sierra Club in Action... Sierra Club Endorsements... Outdoor Programs Inspire and Educate... Duluth Pushes for Clean Energy... Rochester Works for Renewables and Justice... Enbridge Line 3: Our Fight Continues... Defending the Sacred from Line 3... One Step Forward & Two Steps Back... Clean Transportation for All... Advocating for a More Equitable Future... Reclaim Your Power... The Zero Waste Task Force Says: Skip the Straw... Executive Committee Candidates... Volunteer and Outing Information.
Summer 2018
On Being Better Allies… Planning for 50... Change in the Air... 2018 Legislative Update... High Stakes Election Year... Our Minnesota Future... Powered by Volunteers... Sierra Club in the City... Enbridge Line 3 Update... Minnesota's Watershed Moment... Exploring with a Passion... Rochester... Central Minnesota & Duluth.
Winter 2017-2018
Caucus on February 6… Clean Energy Progress in Rochester... From Our Leadership... PolyMet Permitting: Countdown to Disaster... New Initiatives for St. Cloud Sierrans... On the Home Stretch to Stop Line 3... Riding the Future Rails: 22nd Annual Bike Tour Features Bottineau Light Rail Transit... The Ford Site Is a Go... Shared Waters, Impaired Waters... Duluth Update... School Trust Land Exchange Could Lead to Toxic Waters... Embracing Equity and Racial Justice as Core to Our Work... Legislation Threatens Protections for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness... Community Solar Gardens... What are Carbon Offsets?... Sierra Student Coalition Organizing on University of Minnesota - Rochester Campus... Let's Save the Food... Local Outings... Executive Committee Candidates... Join Us! Monthly Volunteer Meetings.
Summer 2017
Ready for 100% Clean Energy… Legislative Session Report... From Our Leadership... Stopping Pipelines Through Partnerships... Protecting the Boundary Waters: Strong Voices at Hearing and Rally in Duluth... Go Green with an Electric Vehicle... Sierra Club Joins Lawsuit to Halt Polymet Land Exchange... Why Transit?... Scenes from the St. Paul Science March... Minnesotans Across the State March for Climate, Jobs and Justice... Forest Monitors Seeking Volunteers... Get Outdoors... Natural Gas Is a Bridge to Nowhere... Monthly Committee Meetings.
Winter 2016-2017
Pipelines Update: Beyond Oil and Tar Sands… Victory: Clean Energy Plan for Sherco Approved... From Our Leadership... Sierra Club Office Adds Solar, Increases Energy Savings... Justin Fay Receives Willard Munger Award for Environmental Stewardship... Policy Discussions for Autonomous Vehicles Should Happen Now... Why the Fuss Over Methane Pollution? Natural Gas "Clean?" Really?... Tar Sands Pipeline Tour... Breaking News: Obama Administration to Review Dakota Access Pipeline Route... From the Freemans: Crossing an Imaginary Line... Monthly VOlunteer Meetings... Polymet: The Path to Destruction and Perpetual Pollution... Rochester: Working for Sustainable, Equitable Growth Powered by Clean Energy... Tom Goldtooth Receives Top Sierra Club Award... After the TPP, Here's a Progressive Vision for Trade... National Day of Protest Against Dakota Access Pipeline a Huge Success... Obama Signs New Toxic Substance Chemicals Act... Bluegreen Alliance Marks 10th Anniversary... Check Out Local North Star Chapter Outings... Executive Committee Candidates... Please Vote for Your Chapter Leaders.
Summer 2016
Legislative Session Report… Transportation Equity and the Environment... From the Chapter Chair... Monthly Committee Meetings... Clean Power Plan Day of Action: Minnesota's Clean Energy Evolution... Earth Day Concert Spotlights Justice... Rochester Events Celebrate Clean Energy... Beyond Oil and Tar Sands... Volunteer Profile: Abbie Plouff... Calling All Forest Lovers... 21st Annual Sierra Club Bike Tour Saturday September 17... The Injustice of Polymet's Pollution... Get Outdoors With Us... Local Outings... Inspiring Connections Outdoors... Older, Wiser, Livelier Sierrans (OWLS)... Meet New Executive Committee Members Kirsten Johnson and Regina Mustafa... Beyond Coal: Xcel Energy and Central Minnesota... Protecting the Boundary Waters: Twin Metals Update... Chapter Executive Committee - Call for Nominations.
Fall/Winter 2016
Environmental Justice in the Clean Power Plan… St. Louis River: New Threat from Polymet… From the Chapter Director... Monthly Volunteer Meetings… Plastic Bags: What a Waste... Solstice Party: Volunteer Celebration and Awards Ceremony... Our Yearlong Adventure in the Wild Begins... Big Victory in Minnesota Will Retire Coal, Ramp Up Wind and Solar... Youth Interns Go Green, Get Involved... Rochester Mayor Pledges 100% Renewable Energy... Luther Dale Recognized for Outstanding Leadership, Dedication and Service... Check Out Local North Star Chapter Outings... Tar Sands Opposition Gaining Ground - Don't Let It Slip!... Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Want to Learn More?... Inspiring Connections Outdoors Volunteer Leaders: Meet Jeff Cepek and Kris Koch... Clean Energy for Northeastern Minnesota... Executive Committee Candidates.
Summer 2015
Connecting the Dots: Transportation & Climate… North Star Chapter Commits to Anti-Racism… Monthly Volunteer Meetings… Tell Xcel: Sherco is Bad for our Health and our Climate… Chapter Executive Committee - Call for Nominations… A Canoe, Three Bikes, and One Million Acres… It’s Everybody’s Business: White Privilege and Our Collective Role in Advancing Racial Equity… Boundary Waters Land Swap: The Great Give-Away… Sustainability and Community: Minnesota Delegation to Bangladesh… 20th Annual Sierra Club Bike Tour… Sierrans Organize for Clean Energy Around the State… Rochester Earthfest Ecofair… 2015 Legislative Session Report… Unfinished Business: 2015 Energy Policies Passed in Minnesota… Summer 2015 Outings – Get Outdoors!... Minnesotans Visit D.C. to Stop Polluter Payoffs, Protect Public Health… Tar Sands Resistance March… A “Fast Track” to the Bottom.
Fall/Winter 2015
The Perils of Mt. Polley and PolyMet… Major Risks to Minnesota Wetlands Lie Ahead… Post-Election, Looking Forward… Monthly Volunteer Meetings… EPA Clean Power Plan: Continuing the Transition to Clean Energy… Inspiring Connections Outdoors: New Name, New Beginning… Solstice Party – Volunteer Celebration and Awards Ceremony… Rochester Members Working for Healthy Energy… A Cleaner, Greener Way to Go… Paddle to D.C. Raises Awareness about Sulfide Mining Threat… 19th Annual Sierra Club Bike Tour Highlights Minneapolis… Climate Change and Public Health… Impressions of the People’s Climate March… Upcoming Outings – Get Outdoors!... Enbridge Illegal Scheme to Double Tar Sands, Bypassing Review… Executive Committee Candidate Statements… Please Vote for your Chapter Leaders!
Spring/Summer 2014
Threat of Tar Sands in Minnesota… What’s Next on the Horizon for Clean Energy in Minnesota?... Director’s note… St. Croix Interstate Valley Group - Notice of Chapter Intent to Dissolve… Sulfide Mining Update: Who will save Minnesota’s Arrowhead?... At the Capitol: Legislative Update… Clean Energy & Jobs - Earth Day and Beyond… No More Band-Aid Solutions for Transportation… Environmental Justice Leaders Achieve Steps Forward for Minnesota… Upcoming Outings - Get Outdoors!... Rochester Clean Energy Campaign Ramping Up… An Earth Day Trip… Don’t Like Biking in Traffic? Protected Bikeways are For You!... Chapter Executive Committee - Call for Nominations