February 9, 2021
by Ellen Cardone Banks, Conservation Chair
Sierra Atlantic readers are among the 3.8 million Sierra Club members and supporters whose dues and donations help to protect national monuments and national parks, defend the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, and put hundreds of coal-burning power plants on the path to replacement with clean energy, among other campaigns. Nationally, these projects have been combined with prioritizing environmental justice at all levels and actively pursuing anti-racism. In 2020, thousands of Sierra Club volunteers participated in successful voter turnout campaigns to elect candidates who will restore environmental protections and continue the work for climate action and justice.
Sierra Club members are automatically members of chapters, typically whole states, and regional groups within chapters. In New York State, the Atlantic Chapter has eleven local groups. Unlike most other national environmental organizations, the Sierra Club is volunteer-directed — volunteers at chapter and group levels are essential to its success.
Members who want to get involved may not be sure how to start. I’ll present here some examples of groups’ projects and successes in 2020, and in the next Sierra Atlantic issue I’ll cover the chapter-wide committees that also provide volunteer opportunities. To find your group, go to the Atlantic Chapter website, atlantic2.sierraclub.org, and scroll down for links to groups. Most of the groups have websites with contact information, and some have Facebook pages as well. For more information, or questions about group boundaries, click on “About” on the homepage to see contact information for chapter leaders.
The Lower Hudson Group is working to inform the public about, and push for remediation of PFAS chemicals in the local groundwater and the municipal water supply (see related article in this issue). They have participated in hearings and meetings to shut down fossil-fueled power plants, and they have joined local government committees to advocate for renewable energy, using the point and award structure of the NY State Clean Energy Communities and Climate Safe program. Several other groups around the state, including Hudson Mohawk, have also worked with their municipalities through these programs.
Long Island Group volunteers are working to protect ecologically important horseshoe crabs from extinction. Half a million horseshoe crabs are trapped and cut up as bait for export fisheries annually. Volunteers advocate for limits on horseshoe crab capture and using alternate, less endangered, forms of bait.
Rochester Area Group volunteers creatively redesigned a tree distribution project in October to make it pandemic-safe, distributing hundreds of saplings to beautify their community while educating the public on carbon sequestration and community beautification.
The Niagara Group continues to oppose the last stand of the Northern Access Pipeline, after years of lawsuits and government agency appeals. After years of advocacy for safe clean-up of the West Valley nuclear waste site, the latest challenge is addressing the risk of plutonium contamination during demolition of a building on the site. The Niagara Group is also making progress toward electrification of the regional transit system.
These examples are far from complete, and other groups’ projects will be covered in future articles, but they show the range and importance of local Sierra Club volunteering. Most groups have newsletters that go to all the members in their regions. Some of the ways new volunteers can get involved are by signing petitions, attending local government meetings, joining lobbying visits to state Senators and Assembly members (virtual now and in-district or on lobby days in Albany later) and, post-pandemic, tabling at local events, attending meetings and rallies against climate change and for renewable energy, and joining local groups that write letters to editors. It’s especially important to affiliate with youth groups who bring so much energy and passion to the climate crisis. Please watch for more information about volunteering in the next issue and other chapter messages.