January 2024 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
January 25, 2024
Join us on the trail!
Happy new year!
We have a packed newsletter for you this month - new faces join our team, what we're watching this legislative session, Stop the Water Steal, updates on our work, plus all our regular features and much more!
Rebecca Dien-Johns
Chapter Coordinator.
Introducing our new Executive Committee members
This year, we are so excited to welcome four new members to our Executive Committee!
Congratulations to Rossi Wingler, Michelle Carr, Neil Goswami, and Erika Blackwell on their appointment to the team.
Thank you to all our members who voted in the election - your participation is appreciated and helps us build a democratic, member-driven Sierra Club!
Meet Joab Schultheis, our new Executive Committee Chair
Following an impactful six year tenure by Julie Lowe as the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Executive Committee Chair, we’re excited to share that Joab Schultheis has been chosen to fill the role for a two year term!
We’re excited to welcome Joab as the new Executive Committee Chair!
Legislative Updates
The 2024 legislative session is well underway and we at the Hoosier Chapter have been actively tracking and acting on a number of legislative issues. Please see our stances on multiple environmental issues below and take action by reaching out to your legislators. For more information on these bills as well as bills related to democracy and justice, please visit our Legislative Tracker webpage, which includes links to all bills as well as where they are in the legislative process.
SUPPORT:
SB 246 - Would expand the program to create a voluntary incentive for wetland preservation.
HB 1117 - Would create a state fund to pay for lead testing and remediation in schools.
HB 1172 - Would create a Committee on Climate Resilience and Economic Growth to help Indiana seek climate-resilient, sustainable investments to address challenges and opportunities related to climate change.
HB 1193 - Would support independent community solar.
OPPOSE:
SB 216 - Would limit certain rulemaking authorities for the Indiana pesticide review board and the state chemist to restricted use pesticides only.
SB 241 - Would require the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to write and adopt rules to establish a bobcat hunting season no later than July 1, 2025.
SB 297 - Would require the Office of Management and Budget to review administrative rules that would cause over $1million in implementation or compliance costs, and further would require legislative approval of all such rules. This will likely lead to legislative veto over agency rules.
HB 1165 - Would undermine environmental regulations for the sake of "innovative products".
HB 1382 - Would delay the closure of coal plants and limit any replacement energy generation sources to only natural gas, coal, nuclear, and other "on-demand" energy sources.
HB 1383 - Would reduce the number of wetlands that are protected in Indiana by changing the definition of the Class III (most protected) wetlands.
HB 1399 - Would define PFAS in the way industry wants it (exempting polymers, side-chain fluorinated polymers and uses the two non-sequential molecules definition) and require that any future regulation of PFAS use this definition.
Stop the Water Steal
Stop The Water Steal is a nonpartisan community group created to protect the Wabash River, Teays Aquifer, and regional ecosystems for Wabash regional residents, businesses, and future generations. We will advocate for truly independent research to determine the potential impact the LEAP-Lebanon water pipeline could have on our environment and livelihood, share these findings with the public, then proceed to collaborate with legislators to create proactive and responsible water protection legislation for Tippecanoe County.
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders are passionate about getting out there and spreading the word about issues that matter to Hoosiers!
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders came together in December 2023 to discuss plans for this coming year at our Indiana planning retreat. We discussed our priorities which include protecting forests like the Deam Wilderness and Hoosier National Forest, moving our electric utilities away from dirty fossil fuels and towards clean renewable energy, our new PAC, and many more crucial issues for Indiana.
At the recent Indiana planning retreat, our outgoing Chair Julie Lowe presented Outstanding Achievement awards to volunteer leaders in recognition of their service.
Clockwise from top left receiving their awards from Julie are: Marilyn Bauchat, Richard Hill, Jean Webb, and Shannon Anderson.
Niles Rosenquist and Michelle Carr are also receiving awards.
Top right: Art Hopkins received an award for his service over the last twenty years working with the Winding Waters Group. Art is a previous Executive Committee Chair of the group, and recently completed Sierra Club Outings Leader training.
We are so grateful for all our volunteers who give so much of their time and energy to protecting our environment and working for our communities in Indiana.
Interested in volunteering? Complete our interest form!
The Sierra Club is launching an Industrial Decarbonization Campaign with the goal to reduce emissions from heavy industries like steel, cement, and aluminum.
To kickstart this campaign, Sierra Club volunteers from around the nation met in DC to have over 40 meetings with legislators and their staff to discuss decarbonization strategies.
Pictured is Ashlyn Devine and Joab Schultheis from the Hoosier Chapter and Jonathan Levenshus from national Sierra Club staff outside the Capital building in DC.
Did you know Sierra Club has chapters and groups all across the USA? Our friends in Kentucky have an active group Louisville which our readers in southern Indiana may be especially interested in! Read on to find out more.
The Sierra Club, Greater Louisville Group is a fairly large and active group with about 1700 members covering 15 Kentucky counties close to Louisville, KY. We are active in local conservation and political activities including an effort to stop a new natural gas pipeline that, if built, will deliver millions of pounds of methane to Bullitt County and cross an environmentally sensitive section of Bernheim Forest. We have a monthly educational program that features leaders from government, corporate, and nonprofit organizations doing good work around our area. We have a strategic networking “Ambassador” program that pairs our members (mostly our ExCom but not exclusively) with other nonprofits in the area, working on environmental, social justice, and environmental justice issues. We have an active outings program that very often takes us to beautiful places in southern Indiana. We already have a few people from southern Indiana that join our activities and would love to meet more!
Thu, Feb 15, 2024; 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM 2024 Mid-Session Legislative Update from The Hoosier Environmental Council and Carmel Green Initiative at the Carmel Clay Public Library.
