Editor's note: There’s some doom and gloom coming up with a new federal administration that likes the environment for its resources and riches as opposed to its soul. But the Sierra Club has been down this road before and has tremendous influence even in the Trump era, with scores of attorneys, and environmental experts.
Then there is our local watchdog and e-mail chronicler, Jim Hines, ever-hopeful, our premier lobbyist and activist. This covers the last two months (Oct-Nov) Jim is vice-chair of our Chapter and is available as a speaker.
The Hines Chronicles by Jim Hines
Nov 27: We have much to be grateful for and yes, we have many challenges ahead (read on!) and I know we will meet those coming challenges in a highly positive way. Without your dedication and passion we would have not achieved the many successes we had in 2024.
Nov. 25: Time to start infiltrating the upcoming Trump Administration so that we can gather firsthand information on what is being planned to destroy America's environment. For me, I applied for a job on the new DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) Task Force via Elon Musk’s X, so I will see what response I get.
Nov 20: New policy will likely be released forbidding Trump staff at the Dept of the Interior from meeting with what they call un-American people like me who will oppose the work of the Trump Administration. I will attempt some workarounds such as making contacts with lower-level staffers who are not on the radar of the President’s handlers.
Nov 19: Our chapter campaigns which started here are spreading across California and the nation. A sampling: Mountain Lions FOREVER! has spread across California and now I even get requests from groups in several other western states. White House Wednesday is a huge hit and spreading across the nation with so many joining with us. Several Sierra Club Listserv's are running the material I send out, as well as others.
Nov 16: MAGA celebration in Ventura County due to its control on the Board of Supervisors and supporters on several city councils. They are now planning for the midterm elections in two years to make sure that Ventura County voters keep MAGA in charge (despite the county supporting Kamala Harris!).
Nov 14: Offshore oil leases may be opened under the Trump Administration, rejecting former Administrations (D and GOP) 5-year plans. Watch the Trump Interior Dept. get smaller.
Nov 13: Show our support to Gov. Gavin Newsom in his efforts to Trump proof California. Here’s the details: https://tinyurl.com/TrumpProofCA
Nov 12: What are some of the things you will be doing to stop the Trump anti-environment agenda which is starting to form? Speaking out, advocating, building Trump proof local policies, advocating for last minute Trump proof protections for federal lands and policies before President Biden leaves office
Nov 8: Let’s spend this beautiful weekend out in the world of nature, reflecting, renewing and recharging ourselves for our work ahead.
Nov 6: Doomsday for the environment has arrived. Last night's vote counts were devastating for our nation's environment. Trump takes office in January, and he will have a Trump friendly U.S. Senate and quite possibly the U.S. House. We are going to need a lot of support, help and money to fight the destruction of our environment planned right here in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Help us through this link: https://tinyurl.com/SierraClubDonate
Oct 25: Working with our wildlife conservation partners over the past two years we have successfully lobbied CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) staff to list and protect close to 30 species as endangered in California.
But there is one glowing omission to this great list of protected species...the southern California population of mountain lions.
Protecting Mountain lions always draw a firestorm of opposition and we have been waiting, meeting with DFW staff and state legislators for over two years now (when the report on protection was due) and still we have been avoided by decision makers.
Our newest campaign is to put maximum pressure on decision makers at the local and state level.
Oct 12: Well we did it, we now have a vast ocean area off the central coast protected as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary....thanks to the Biden Administration.
One win and two more to go in our great Sierra Club campaigns to protect all that is wild in our chapter region.
But the other two land protection measures which we are working on will all depend upon the makeup of the 2025 congress and the 47th President of the United States.
The Central Coast Heritage Protection Act (CCHPA) would protect vast areas of the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument.
The Rim of the Valley Corridor Protection Act (ROTV) would create the largest National Park Service managed wildlife corridor in the U.S. This corridor would be in western Los Angeles county and eastern Ventura county. .
Currently there is a strong probability that these two pieces of legislation will die when the current congress finishes its; term in late December
Oct 1: I spoke on behalf of the Sierra Club to a class at UCSB. The topic was sustainability, so I spoke about the work of the Sierra Club both here locally and across our nation to ensure a sustainable future for all of us. I highlighted the 30 x 30 Conservation Plan.
An exciting class, there were actually students from several other nations in the class and students were very engaged during Q and A session.