Events

Weelaunee Forest (South River Forest Updates)

Part of the Weelaunee (South River) forest is under two major threats:

  • The City of Atlanta leased 381 acres of the forested area west of Intrenchment Creek to the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) to build a massive, regional, militarized public safety training facility. Opponents of the facility call it "Cop City" (as in, #StopCopCity).
  • East of the creek is Intrenchment Creek Park. DeKalb County agreed to a land swap that would give ownership of part of Intrenchment Creek Park to Blackhall Studios, in exchange for cleared land offered to the county. Blackhall intends to build a huge studio complex on the land it would receive in the swap. The swap is subject to an ongoing lawsuit.
  • A map is available here, showing the area leased to APF in blue and the "land swap" areas in red along Bouldercrest Rd north of Constitution Rd.
Popular resistance continues against both the Atlanta Police Foundation facility and the DeKalb County/Blackhall land swap!
 

For more on the APF facility and why we're working to protect the forest against this threat, check out the Equity committee column on page 6 of the July/Aug/Sept 2022 issue of the Georgia Sierran.
 

 

Recent news:

Upcoming in-person opportunity:

  • Saturday, Nov. 12, 12 noon - 4pm: Weelaunee Park clean-up party (3251 West Side Pl SE, Atlanta, GA 30316) - Flyer text reads: "Come clean up the parking lot and living room! Pizza will be provided!"

 Action opportunities online and by phone:

 

 

*Sweetwater Creek, Red and White Trails hike

Time: Saturday, November 12th, 2022; 8:45am

Place: 1750 Mt Vernon Road, Lithia Springs, GA 30122 

Join the Sierra Club at the remote parts of Sweetwater Creek State Park. Find out more about the hike, and RSVP here. 

 

Service Saturday

Time: Saturday, November 12th, 2022; 10am

Place: 1442 Richland Road SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

Join the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance for this event for youth 10 years and older to learn stewardship and conservation. Activities include trail building and maintenance, habitat restoration and more. Find out more and sign up here. 

 

Thrive Outside Day

Time: Saturday, November 12th, 2022; 11:30am-3:30pm

Place: Rodney Cook Sr Park (161 Joseph E. Boone Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30314)

Join the Thrive Outside Atlanta Community to engage children from the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, Atlanta Parks, and Cook Park community. There will be food, music, and other fun activities at this event; find out more and sign up here. 

 

Weelaunee Park Clean-Up Party

Time: Saturday, November 12th, 2022; 12pm-4pm

Place: 3251 West Side Pl SE, Atlanta, GA 30316

Find out more about cleaning the Weelaunee Park here. 

 

March for Climate Justice

Time: Saturday, November 12th, 2022; 4pm

Place: Piedmont Park (12th Street entrance)

Find out more about this march here. 

 

Stop Camp Grayling tour presentation

Time: Thursday, November 17th, and Friday, November 18th, 2022; 4pm

Place: TBA

Information on a movement to prevent expansion of a military base in Michigan into public-use state forest. Find information here. 

 

*Gold Branch Hike

Time: Saturday, November 19th, 2022; 8:45am

Place: Lower Roswell Road, Marietta, GA 30068

Join the Sierra Club for this relatively easy 4-mile hike in the National Chattahoochee Recreation area, avoiding rocky parts. Learn more and RSVP here. 

 

*Rate Case Revel at the River

Time: Saturday, November 19th, 2022; 2pm-5pm

Place: Reformation Brewery on Chattahoochee River (6255 Riverview Rd, Bldg 4000, Suite 200, Smyrna, GA 30126)

Join the Metro Atlanta Group, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, and the Centennial Group to learn how you can push back against Georgia Power's unreasonable rate increases: RSVP here. 

 

*Advocate for Affordable Energy 

Time: Ongoing

Place: Virtual (RSVP here)

Sign up here to fight against Georgia Power's proposed 16% rate increase for energy bills. 

 

Protect Right Whales

Time: Send comments in by October 31st, 2022

Place: Virtual (RSVP here)

Send your comments in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed rules in protecting right whales. 

 

 

MARTA Network Redesign Survey

Time: Ongoing

MARTA is calling for riders to share feedback on proposals to change the MARTA network of buses/trains. Please take the survey here. 

 

City in the Forest public comments

Time: Ongoing

Join City in the Forest on contacting the Atlanta City Council to strongly update their Atlanta tree ordnance. Find out more here. 

 

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition petition for car-free Peachtree Street every Sunday

Time: Ongoing

Learn more about this petition here. 

ALSO CHECK OUT THE GEORGIA CHAPTER SIERRA CLUB CALENDAR FOR EVENTS STATE-WIDE

 * denotes Sierra Club events

 

Join our climate action and clean energy allies on Thursday, July 14, as they make their last call for climate & energy justice in Georgia's 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)! Find out more and RSVP.

And we'd like to share a call to action from Neil Sardana, Georgia organizer with the Sierra Cub Beyond Coal campaign:

Georgia regulators are in the process of deciding the future of clean energy in our state, and they need to hear from you! The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) has already held three sets of hearings on Georgia Power’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which will determine energy production in our state for the next 20 years. And now, the PSC and Georgia Power want to settle things through a stipulation agreement that is not the best deal for Georgians.

We are asking Georgians to send comments to the PSC and focus on the two main ways we can influence this decision:

1. More solar and battery storage, right now.
2. Protect customers from Georgia Power’s bad decisions - especially with regards to coal power and the toxic coal ash left behind. 

For example, Georgia Power is already dragging its feet on retiring coal plants, but it wants to keep them running for years longer than the experts say is necessary — costing customers millions of dollars for expensive energy when cheaper options are available! To make matters worse, the PSC wants to keep these plants burning coal for even longer than Georgia Power has proposed! 

The PSC decided in the 2019 rate case (under appeal by Sierra Club) that customers should pay the cleanup costs for Georgia Power’s decision to store coal ash improperly for decades, despite the utility’s knowledge that coal ash was contaminating groundwater with toxic substances that cause cancer. Georgia Power still wants to leave coal ash capped-in-place without a liner to protect groundwater at many locations throughout the state, yet we’re being asked to pay for a non-solution that may turn out to be illegal and won’t protect our communities or our water. 

Commissioners have also signaled that they will dial back Georgia Power’s plans to build out battery storage, which would make our electricity system more resilient to weather fluctuations and ensure 100% clean energy can be delivered to customers, 100% of the time. Instead, we need to go BIG on solar and battery storage — it’s by far the cheapest source of electricity. 

The bottom line is that Georgia Power’s plans would pass Georgia Power customers the bill for expensive, dirty energy instead of cheap, clean solar!

Help make sure the Public Service Commission (PSC) hears the will of the people of Georgia!

The Public Service Commission is elected to represent YOU and YOUR INTERESTS. It’s more important than ever that they hear from Georgians across our state about what we want our energy future to look like. Click this link to tell the PSC that it’s in the public’s best interest to ditch coal, set high targets for solar power, and avoid the economic and health risks from improper coal ash storage.