Sierra Club locally and nationally is working hard to respond to both COVID-19 and our country's cries for racial justice. Read Sierra Club's Covid-19 response page, and read the Toiyabe Chapter's work toward Racial Justice. And we still remember 9/11. If you're still hurting, we grieve with you.
As you might expect, 2020 is keeping us busy. There's a lot going on, and a lot you can do to influence outcomes for public lands, wildlife, and communities in Nevada and the eastern Sierra. Please read this newsletter and take action today!
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Nevada Climate Strategy
As wildfires rage across the West, smoke chokes our lungs, and grid-overload blackouts affect our communities during the hottest days of the year, the Sisolak Administration is working to find solutions to our climate crisis. On August 24, Sisolak launched the Nevada Climate Initiative (NCI), an effort to gather public input to inform the State Climate Strategy, due December 1, 2020.
The website link above leads to a survey and details on upcoming public listening sessions on the following topics:
- Renewable energy
- Land use & land change
- Transportation transformation
- Air quality
- Urban planning
- Economic recovery
- Green buildings, and
- Climate justice.
Speak up today. Encourage Nevada to create bold climate action. Register for the listening sessions, and share your concerns and good ideas. We need to make sure the voices and needs of the people outweigh the interests of industry and developers.
Sign this petition to tell Nevada to prioritize the needs of communities who have been hit hardest by the impacts of climate pollution. We will keep you informed about opportunities to advocate.
Thank you, Governor Sisolak, for taking #NVClimateAction. Please make it bold.
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Take Action For Elections
Elections matter, and this one matters more than most. You can make a difference.
Read the Sierra Club Nevada Election Guide, with facts you need to know to make sure your vote is counted, and opportunities to help elect environmental champions up and down the ticket, in Nevada and in key battleground states.
There are several ways you can help make a difference in the elections:
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Don't Let the Navy Bomb Fallon Wildlands
Lands of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge are not the only ones threatened by military activities.
In northern Nevada, public lands and fragile habitats, like the Fallon National Wildlife Refuge shown here, are under threat as the Navy's Fallon Range Training Complex plans to quadruple its footprint of activities. At risk are places like this refuge, several wilderness study areas, tribal culture and heritage, and your access to your public lands.
Nevada's Congressional delegation has stood strong against Air Force plans to bomb the Desert Refuge. Urge them to fight to stop the Navy's Fallon expansion, too. The Department of Defense is lobbying Washington hard to get these expansions. Your voice is needed to protect them.
Read our blog with more details and take action.
Or cut to the chase, and take action here.
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Toiyabe Anti-Racism Team
Are you aware of how institutional racism plays out in Nevada?
Did you miss our webinar last week? Wondering how you can end systemic racism here in Nevada? Watch our recorded sessions and take action in the links below. Together, we can be the change to bring justice to all.
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Oil & Gas Lease Harms Nevada's Heritage
On September 8, the BLM leased 15,445 acres of your public lands in Nevada to investors. Of these, 10,459 acres (68%) were sold for the minimum bid of $2 per acre. Ten of the 11 parcels leased went to a California-based speculator with ties to Myanmar.
It's clear Nevada's oil & gas leasing program ignores the larger and more important values that exist on your public lands in the state: wildlife habitat for sage grouse, desert tortoise, numerous endemic and threatened fish, as well as hundreds of other species; migration corridors for mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and other wildlife; cultural values for Nevada's indigenous tribes; the state's $12.6-billion outdoor recreation economy.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has introduced two bills to curb oil & gas leasing that harms Nevada and Nevadans:
Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto, for placing Nevada's natural beauty and heritage before the profits of the oil & gas industry. We will support passage of these bills this Congress. Until we can wean our society off fossil fuels, reforms like these will be necessary.
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Become a Monthly Donor
For all the reasons you've read in this newsletter, your local Sierra Club, the Toiyabe Chapter, needs to be there consistently, advocating for our environment and communities. To do this, we need consistent support.
Be a champion for climate solutions and environmental protection every month of the year.
Click here to become a monthly donor to the Toiyabe Chapter.
The Toiyabe Chapter needs 50 new monthly donors by the end of the year. Will you be one? Thank you!
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Executive Committee Nominations Open
Your Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter seeks to recruit and sustain Executive Committee membership through diversifying and empowering its leadership to represent our community and region in promoting environmental, social and racial justice. Join the team and shape the future of environmental advocacy today!
If you know someone, maybe even yourself, who would be a great fit for our executive committee—submit a nomination today! The election voting period runs from Nov. 1st - Dec. 31st, 2020. Terms are for two (2) years and officially begin February 2021.
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Southern Nevada Group
Petition: Stop Las Vegas Sprawl
Federal legislation may be introduced soon to address land use and development in Clark County. Although there will likely be important conservation designations (such as wilderness and national monuments, which we would love to support), the legislation would also facilitate the sell-off of your public lands for continued urban sprawl development. And sprawl is bad in so many ways:
- Impacts to wildlife habitat and public lands,
- Increased greenhouse gas emissions,
- Worse air quality and more intense heat waves, which are typically concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color, and
- Expanding inequalities between those who benefit from far-flung development, and those who get left behind.
The good news: Clark County is updating its master plan, which will determine how and where development occurs. At the same time, the Sisolak Administration is developing a State Climate Strategy, due in December (see above), which will identify areas of concern and policy solutions. Both of these processes deserve respect and coordination, so the Las Vegas Valley can grow into a healthier, happier, climate-resilient community.
Sign the petition today.
Ask Nevada's Congressional Delegation to wait until the Clark County Master Plan and Nevada Climate Strategy are in place before introducing the Clark County lands bill.
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Great Basin Group
Where Did You Explore This Summer?
Although COVID risk keeps Sierra Club from leading official outings, these pandemic times have helped many people get outdoors more often.
Let's share our stories and photos of summer explorations on Thursday, Sept. 17, 7:00 - 8:30 PM. We will call it “Here is What I Explored in Summer 2020.” And YOU are the presenters!
Send up to 6 images of your summer exploration (photos, maps, whatever is appropriate) to David von Seggern at vonseg1@sbcglobal.net. You will have 5-10 minutes to talk about them as they are shown with screen sharing by the Zoom moderator. We want to have the screen sharing under one person, so that is why we ask you to submit the files in a common format like PNG, JPG, or PDF.
Include your name in the file names or in the zip archive if you zip them.
Please join us!
When: Thursday, September 17,
Program: 7:00 PM - 8:30
Where: Zoom Virtual Meeting (Click here to join)
Meeting ID: 852 705 0955
Password: solidarity
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Three Things You Can Do This Fall for a Healthy Pollinator Garden in Spring
As summer comes to an end and temperatures finally begin to drop, many of us begin to think about fall yard maintenance. This year, give some thought to how your yard can become a habitat garden! We have the power to create small pockets of habitat in our own front and backyards. If enough of us can do this, we can make a huge difference in our local ecosystem. Here are three things you can do this fall to protect pollinators and contribute to a healthy environment.
Click here to learn more before you winterize your garden.
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Join the Sierra Club
Thanks for reading. Become an environmental champion by becoming a member! The Sierra Club is the largest, oldest, grassroots environmental organization in the nation. Your support will make us stronger!
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