Newsletter- June 2021 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter

 

Happy Pride Month!
 
Black text Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter banner with green pine tree logo image


Happy Pride, Hoosiers! We hope you’re having a great June so far and enjoying the warm weather. This month, we have our usual updates, news, and recommendations from the team. We also wanted to share some great LGBTQI+ organizations working here in our communities, and resources and articles from Sierra Club and beyond. 

Last month, we touched upon the importance of access to nature for mental health (New Scientist). Here at Sierra Club, we believe everyone has the right to feel comfortable and safe to show up as their whole selves - and that includes enjoying the outdoors (National Parks Conservation Association).

As this Sierra Club article says, “...we're working toward a just, equitable, and sustainable future built on a foundation of racial, economic, and gender equity -- where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet.” (Martín Witchger, Climate Justice Must Include Justice for LGBTQI+ People).

We encourage everyone to take action and Demand an End to LGBTQI+ Discriminations.

Further reading from Sierra Club: Celebrating Pride Month.

Here in Indiana, we have lots of great organizations who are led by, affirming, and lifting up LGBTQI+ people. Here are a few to check out and support. We hope you find these resources useful!
  • GenderNexus is bringing transgender and nonbinary communities together across Indiana to foster a community that is healthy, informed, and empowered.
  • The ACLU of Indiana LGBTQ Rights Project is the only statewide organization working to defend and advance the rights of LGBTQ Hoosiers on all fronts.
  • Queering Indy began in 2016 when two local queers came together with a shared dream: to create radically inclusive queer spaces that could change our community forever.
  • Indiana Youth Group creates safer spaces to foster community and provides programming that empowers LGBTQ+ youth and magnifies their voices.
  • Trinity Haven Indy provides safe, affirming housing for LGBTQ youth experiencing housing instability.
We love this quote from Indiana's own nature-loving drag queen, Mossy Stone, on Instagram: "My friends, the coexistence found in nature is our example to follow. The freedom found in nature is our freedom to embrace." If you want to feel teary in a good way, we recommend reading the whole post.

Join the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library on June 29!

Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter is excited to partner with the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library for this virtual event, part of their Vonnegut and the Environment season.

Come to Last Tuesdays at 7 on June 29th to discuss Muir’s book, My First Summer in the Sierra. John Muir is known for his incredible environmental efforts which helped to catalyze preservation and conservation. But how do we discuss Muir’s environmental legacy in the wake of social justice movements?

Hosted by Drew DeSimone, Chair of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library’s Good Earth: Vonnegut and the Environment Program, and Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter's Rebecca Dien-Johns.

Speakers at this event include (in the photo, clockwise from top left):
  • Mat Davis -  an Indianapolis native. He is an artist, neighborhood organizer, and co-chair of the Indiana Racial Justice Alliance. 
  • Amanda Shepherd - Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter director.
  • Mike Wurtz - Assistant Professor and Head of the University of the Pacific Library’s Holt-Atherton Special Collections and Archives - who oversees the largest collection of John Muir material in the world.
Register for Last Tuesdays at 7 here.
This event is free, online, and open to all!
A vintage black and white photo of John Muir in the woods. The text reads Last Tuesdays at 7. June 29th. "My First Summer in the Sierra" John Muir.
A photo grid of three people. Top left is a black and white photo of Mat Davis, a young Black man with short hair and glasses looking to the camera with arms folded. To the right is Amanda Shepherd, a white woman with curly hair, sitting with her legs crossed and smiling for the camera. The third person is Mike Wurtz, a middle-aged white man who is outdoors holding some papers with a mountain and a lake behind him. He is turning towards the camera and smiling.

Celebrating Juneteenth in Columbus, Indiana

Juneteenth commemorates June 19th, 1865 when Union Army Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and delivered the news that the slaves were now free. Even though it had been more than two years since the Emancipation Proclamation was decreed, not every place in the country had put it into practice.

Here in Columbus, Indiana, like many other cities, this day has been celebrated annually as the official day of freedom from slavery. This year on June 17th, President Joe Biden added his signature to certify Juneteenth as a federal holiday. This proclamation only added to the excitement of this year’s already anticipated celebration... read the full article here.

- Michelle Carr

Michelle is Chair of the Communications Committee for Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and the Winding Waters Group, and the Vice Chair of the Hoosier Chapter Executive Committee. 


Related reading:

NAACP Columbus/Bartholomew County

Support Outdoor Afro for Juneteenth

Sierra Club's Statement on Reparations
A street scene of a sunny day in Columbus Indiana for the Juneteenth expo. There are folks with event booths and people walking up and down the street stopping in at them.
Columbus / Bartholomew County NAACP’s 2021 Juneteenth Celebration
Volunteer leaders Joe Bronnert, a senior white male wearing a green shirt and a white cap, and Julie Lowe, a white woman wearing a florescent vest and holding a litter picker.They are outdoors on a street and smiling for the camera.
Joe Bronnert (Vice Chair of Winding Waters Executive Committee) and Julia Lowe (Chair of Hoosier Chapter & Winding Waters Executive Committee)

Readers' photos

The chapter's own Cory Ray sent this photo from a recent hike:

"A near perfect day for hiking at McCormick’s Creek State Park.

Scenic views like these are a beautiful reminder of what we are fighting to protect and promote in Indiana."

Do you have a photo of nature that you would like to share?

We'd love to see it and perhaps feature it in a future newsletter!

Use the button below or email rebecca.dien-johns@sierraclub.org
 
A sunny creek with water babbling and a canopy of green trees.
I have a photograph to share

Beyond Coal delivers more than 600 petitions
to Duke Energy President

Duke Energy Indiana (DEI) customers who volunteer with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign met with DEI President Stan Pinegar and other executives on June 17 to deliver 618 petitions from Duke customers and talk about their hopes for the outcome of Duke’s 20-year energy planning process, currently underway. Of those who signed the petition, 243 Duke customers felt passionate enough to include personal comments. The petition reads:
 
As you develop Duke’s 20-year energy plan, we, your customers, urge you to take action on the
climate crisis.

- Move beyond coal before 2030
- Eliminate fracked gas plants from your plans
- Transition to 100% affordable, renewable energy before 2030

Fossil fuel pollution harms our environment and climate. Low-income communities and communities of color suffer disproportionate damage that is especially visible during this unprecedented time of global hardship. Utilities across the state and country are moving quickly to provide customers with inexpensive, clean, renewable energy, while protecting impacted communities and workers in the process.

On the video call with Pinegar, Indiana Beyond Coal volunteer leaders from Greater Lafayette and Carmel, including students, public officials and grandparents, shared their personal stories explaining why it is important that Duke retire their coal plants and replace them with clean energy and energy efficiency by 2030. 

Duke customers who would like to sign the petition should go to: sc.org/getmovingduke.

Additionally, 21 public officials have signed on to a letter in support of our goals in the DEI 20-year energy planning process:

Mayor James Brainard, Carmel
Mayor John Dennis, West Lafayette 
State Senator Ron Alting
State Representative Sheila Klinker
State Representative Chris Campbell
State Representative Matt Pierce
State Representative Shelli Yoder
Carmel City Councilor Miles Nelson
Carmel City Councilor Tim Hannon
West Lafayette City Council President Peter Bunder
West Lafayette City Council Vice-President Gerald W. Thomas
West Lafayette City Councilor Shannon Kang
West Lafayette Councilor Kathy Parker
Bloomington City Councilor Matt Flaherty
Bloomington City Councilor Isabel Piedmont-Smith
Bloomington City Councilor Sue Sgambelluri
Monroe County Commissioner Penny Githens
Monroe County Councilor Cheryl Munson
Monroe County Councilor Kate Wiltz
Tippecanoe County Councilor Lisa Dullum
Westfield City Councilor Cindy Spoljaric

If you would like to encourage your public officials to sign on, email matt.skuya.boss@sierraclub.org.

Our recommendations- what we've been reading this month! 

From Indiana:
Nature as Therapy (Central Indiana Land Trust)
Scrub Hub: What causes air pollution in Indianapolis, and how does it compare to others? (Indy Star)
Unearthed introduction and video (Indiana Humanities) 
Will neighbors rally for green space in Meridian-Kessler? (NUVO)
Meet Eagle Creek Park's Barn Owl "Obi" (NUVO)
20% of Indiana's hemp crop was destroyed last year because it had too much THC (Indy Star)

From the rest of the country and beyond:
A Black Scientist Was An Early Cicada Researcher. His Work Has Been Mostly Overlooked (NPR)
Parks Carried the Pandemic Year on Their Backs. Here’s How to Thank Them (VICE)
How to Turn Your Yard Into an Ecological Oasis (Yes)
A More Inclusive Outdoors: How You Can Help (Backcountry)
‘Birds are here for everyone’: how Black birdwatchers are finding a community (The Guardian)
Amazon-dwellers lived sustainably for 5,000 years (BBC)
The Infuriating Case of Toxic Chemicals in Breast Milk (Ms. Magazine)
Tearing out these dams will open rivers up for recreation—and save lives (National Geographic)
Where are the U.S.’s natural gas pipelines? Often in vulnerable communities. (National Geographic)
Planet Possible Family Challenge (National Geographic)
Thousands Came to Minnesota to Protest New Construction on the Line 3 Pipeline. Hundreds Left in Handcuffs but More Vowed to Fight on (Inside Climate News)
New Report: Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss Must Be Tackled Together, Not Separately (Inside Climate News)
Indigenous Women Lead the Movement to Stop Line 3 Pipeline: “This is Everything We Have” (Ms. Magazine)

From Sierra Club:
Racial Justice Is Environmental Justice
Republicans Want to Make Protesting a Crime
Meet Six Species That Need Federal Protections, Stat
14 Inspiring Eco-Minded LGBTQ Folx to Follow on Instagram
George Takei–Narrated Documentary Raises Up LGBTQ Adventurers

What have you been reading, listening to, or watching lately? We'd love to hear from you! Use the button below or email rebecca.dien-johns@sierraclub.org
I have a recommendation!
Finally, have you heard about the R/Evolution Fund, a bill-pay support system for local BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) artists? You can read about it on the NUVO website. You may recognize Irvington Vinyl and Books from the article as being the folks who published our chapbook in 2019. If you would like to support the initiative, you can donate to the R/Evolution Fund via the Central Indiana Community Foundation. 

That's all for this month, folks! Thank you for reading and thank you, as ever, for your support of our work. We apprecaite you!

Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
DONATE
Facebook Facebook
Twitter Twitter
Instagram Instagram
YouTube YouTube

Related content: