Fundraising chair Jon Apfelbaum introduces guest speakers Charles Allen, councilmember of Ward 6, and Janeese Lewis George, councilmember of Ward 4, at the chapter’s virtual holiday party. Photo Credit: Sierra Club DC
So Long 2020…and Welcome 2021
Catherine Plume, Chapter Chair
It’s an understatement to say 2020 brought unprecedented challenges. But in spite of it all, we also made great progress. We endorsed and successfully campaigned for a more progressive DC Council, worked with the Council to develop and pass a comprehensive zero waste bill and launched a series of webinars promoting safe streets and accessibility for all DC residents, just to name a few accomplishments. You’ll see more about these projects in this newsletter.
We’re very excited about 2021. We’ll continue working to ensure DC meets its clean energy goals, allocates funds for lead water pipe replacement and creates a transportation infrastructure that is eco-friendly and accessible to all. And while we hope to be able to host some in-person events this year, we’ve already got virtual events lined up. Look out for Sharing the Streets, more composting webinars and, of course, our regularly scheduled monthly meetings. There are many ways to get involved in our chapter. Rumor has it there’s even a polar bear fundraising plunge coming up in February! So jump in, read on, and get active! Happy 2021!
DC Chapter Elections Results
Aykut Yilmaz, Nominating and Elections Committee Chair
As a proudly democratic organization, the Sierra Club holds chapter Executive Committee elections annually every fourth quarter. This year, the DC Chapter Nominating Committee nominated five candidates for four available seats.
With 87 valid ballots cast, the final result was very close. But after triple-checking the count, the Elections Committee reported the following winners: Catherine Plume, Mark Rodeffer, Daniela Ochoa, and Jon Apfelbaum. They will be officially seated at the next regular Executive Committee meeting on January 27 to serve a two-year term (2021-2022).
Congrats to the winners, and thank you to everyone involved in making the election a success!
The Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019 favors reusables over single-use plastic. Photo Credit: Rayne Man
DC Passes Landmark Zero Waste Bill
Catherine Plume, Chapter Chair
In December, the DC Council unanimously passed the Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019. Among other things, this bill requires:
The establishment of a donation and reuse program at the Department of Energy and Environment;
Decreasing single-use items, including a requirement that disposable food service ware is only provided upon request, as well as incentives for using reusable food service ware;
Large generators of commercial food waste (initially cafeterias, hospitals, and hotels) separate their back-of-house food waste.
The bill also requires improvements to the District’s recycling infrastructure, including a plan for recycling in public spaces, and establishes a collection point for glass and the establishment of a District-wide battery recycling program. The DC Chapter Zero Waste Committee looks forward to working with the Council to ensure that this bill is fully funded and implemented.
Sierra Club Collaborates with NAACP for Environmental Health
Larry Martin, Conservation Chair
The NAACP and Sierra Club launched a campaign for environmental health in the fall of 2020. We jointly identified five primary objectives for the campaign:
The work of DC government agencies serving disadvantaged communities and vulnerable citizens is coordinated and implemented with an effort to minimize bureaucratic requirements from citizens.
DC agencies are accountable for delivery of programs identified below to vulnerable communities and disadvantaged citizens.
Lead drinking water pipe replacement in vulnerable communities has set goals that are met or exceeded.
Healthy foods and nutrition education are made available and affordable in disadvantaged communities routinely and long-term to establish healthy eating patterns
Living conditions in public, low, and moderate-income housing support respiratory health or are quickly remediated to promote health.
The campaign plans to work alongside leaders and citizens in affected and disadvantaged communities to identify priority environmental health hazards and to advocate for timely and permanent solutions. Interested folks should contact Larry Martin, Chapter Conservation Chair, lmartindc@gmail.com.
Clean Water Committee off to Active Start in 2021
Ankita Mandelia, Chair, and Anna LaCombe, Vice-Chair, Clean Water Committee
The Clean Water Committee is kicking off the year by commenting on the National Park Service’s proposed remedies for the Kenilworth Park Landfill site.
Kenilworth Park, located east of the Anacostia River and south of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, is a former landfill contaminated by a mixture of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. The Park Service presented five remediation options or “alternatives,” ranging from No Action to complete Landfill Removal and Shoreline Stabilization. The federal agency selected a preferred alternative from the five and will accept public input on this alternative until February 10, 2021. We’re currently evaluating the Feasibility Study Addendum Report and Proposed Plan, commenting on the efficacy of the proposed alternatives, and coordinating with other stakeholders to ensure that this site is protected and restored.
The committee is also exploring ways to support ongoing efforts in the District to replace lead drinking water service lines. We also plan to revive efforts to comment on future use of the RFK Stadium site.
If you would like to be involved in clean water advocacy in the District, please join our meetings on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:30 PM. For more information, please contact Ankita at clean.water@dc.sierraclub.org.
In our first composting webinar, Howard Lee of DC’s Office of Waste Diversion spoke about new programs aimed at increasing composting in the District. Howard has been composting since he was a kid growing up on a small farm in Louisiana!
Zero Waste Committee Composting Webinar Series
Shevaun Lewis, Zero Waste Committee
DC aims to compost nearly all food and yard waste by 2032, but only a small percentage of residents and businesses currently compost. The Zero Waste Committee series on composting in the District explores how we can work with our neighbors to keep more food and yard waste out of landfills and incinerators and return nutrients to the ground in the form of compost.
The first webinar in the series was held October 15 during DMV Food Recovery Week, with guest speaker Howard Lee of DC's Office of Waste Diversion. Nearly 50 people attended to learn about composting programs in the District. It was exciting to hear about East of the River Compost Stewards, a new program aimed at increasing composting access in Wards 7 and 8, where the food waste dropoff program at farmers’ markets has been less successful.
The next event in the series to be held in early 2021 will focus on composting in multifamily buildings.
Aykut Yilmaz, left, testifies for DC Sierra Club in support of the Energy Efficiency Standards Amendment Act and the Electric Vehicle Readiness Amendment Act during a December 9, 2019, hearing of the DC Council Committee on Transportation and the Environment. Photo Credit: Chris Weiss
Energy Committee Helps Lead Energy Bills Across the Finish Line
Aykut Yilmaz, Energy Efficiency Subcommittee Chair
In December, the DC Council passed the Energy Efficiency Standards Amendment Act after more than a year of advocacy at council from local organizations like the Sierra Club DC Chapter and national groups like the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP).
Appliance efficiency standards are often called “the best climate solution you’ve never heard of.” ASAP’s analysis of this bill, which establishes minimum energy and water efficiency standards for products such as faucets and showerheads in DC, shows that “in 2025 alone, the bill will save consumers and businesses $19 million and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 25,000 metric tons, equivalent to taking 5,400 automobiles off the road. Savings climb to $54 million annually by 2035.” In a major victory over industry opposition, DC will also become the first jurisdiction in the nation to set energy standards for air purifiers – a product increasingly popular due to the pandemic.
The Council also passed the Electric Vehicle Readiness Amendment Act, which will require that at least 20 percent of parking spaces in new buildings can be easily upgraded to include electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
We need to ensure that both of these acts are funded in the next budget; they cannot be implemented otherwise. The Clean Transportation Subcommittee will also work to address a hole in the EV-ready infrastructure bill: it did not address residential buildings with fewer than five dwelling units. We are reviewing opportunities to address this gap through code changes or new legislation. Beyond that, there is much more to do to get car drivers to ditch their tailpipes!
Replacing fossil fuels with renewables, such as solar energy, will greatly reduce harmful toxins such as methane gas. Photo Credit: Science in HD
Fossil fuels burned inside buildings are responsible for about a fifth of DC’s climate pollution. Methane gas is the primary fossil fuel burned in DC’s homes, schools, and offices, largely to provide heat in the winter and hot water year round. These heating needs can be met with high-efficiency heat pump systems that rely on renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
DC’s energy efficiency program, administered by the DC Sustainable Energy Utility through a contract with the District government, provides incentives to reduce gas and electricity use. For nearly a year, the Sierra Club has campaigned for the DC government to end rebates for dirty energy systems like gas and move toward efficient and clean energy.
The Department of Energy and Environment has indicated it will end rebates for installation of new gas appliances, but will continue to subsidize upgrades to existing fossil fuel systems. Please sign our petition demanding the complete elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.
For more information on the chapter’s Beyond Gas campaign, visit BeyondGasDC.org.
More than 380 people signed the Sierra Club petition calling on WMATA to electrify.
Sierra Club Calls on WMATA to Go Electric
Lucas Godshalk, Clean Transportation Subcommittee
From an environmental standpoint, switching the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) bus fleet from diesel to electric has always made sense. It turns out it makes economic sense, too.
A 2020 Sierra Club report demonstrated how WMATA could save hundreds of millions of dollars on lifetime fleet operating costs by electrifying its bus fleet. Doing so could also reduce annual carbon pollution by more than 58,000 tons by 2030, reduce the public health toll that toxic air pollution has on the area’s most vulnerable residents, and save millions of dollars annually in healthcare costs. For this reason, we called on WMATA to commit to electrifying its roughly 1600 regional buses by 2045.
DC chapter volunteers led the charge to build out the campaign, coordinate with our partners, and advocate to public officials. While the coronavirus pandemic has created drastic shortfalls for Metro in the near term, the challenge of reducing its carbon emissions is a vital step in meeting DC’s climate ambitions.
To read more about electrifying our bus system, see the report the Sierra Club published here. If you’re interested in local efforts to electrify our transportation, please email lucasmg91@gmail.com to join our subcommittee’s monthly meetings.
Electronic Ballots to vote for the Board of Directors
Are you a dues paying member of the Sierra Club? One of the benefits of membership is electing Sierra Club's National Board of Directors each spring. By default, your ballot will be mailed by regular post. You can also choose to receive an electronic ballot by completing the consent form here by January 30: https://www.sierraclub.org/board/election/electronic-ballot
While our offices remain closed amid the pandemic, our committee meetings have remained active and online. See details on how to sign up below!
DC Chapter Committee Meetings
Clean Energy Committee Meeting - Tuesday, January 19 at 6:30pm (online) Contact Lara Levison (clean.energy@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information. RSVP here.
Clean Water Committee Meeting - Wednesday, January 20 at 6:30pm (online) Contact Ankita Mandelia (clean.water@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information. RSVP here.
Zero Waste Committee Meeting - Tuesday, February 9 at 6:30pm (online) Contact Doreen Campbell (zero.waste@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information. RSVP here.
Smart Growth Committee Meeting - Wednesday, February 10 at 6:45pm (online) Contact Payton Chung (smart.growth@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information. RSVP here.
Communications Committee Meeting - Thursday, February 11 at 6:00pm (online) Contact Sara Lepley (communications@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information.
Fundraising Committee Meeting - Friday, February 19 at 2:00pm (online) Contact Jon Apfelbaum (fundraising@dc.sierraclub.org) for more information.
As always, we couldn’t do this without your support. Sign up to be a monthly donor to keep our campaigns, committees, and advocacy going. Giving $5, $10, or $25 a month can greatly increase our effectiveness as we communicate with our members and activate our campaigns. Just check the box to make your gift monthly.
