July 23, 2024
Recently, Jati Wibisono, San Jose State University student and Loma Prieta volunteer, interviewed Les Kishler, Loma Prieta Executive Committee Member, Conservation Committee Chair, and Guadalupe Regional Group Chair in the 1980s, to capture some of the important history of the chapter.
- Jati: What is ExCom?
Les: Executive Committee of Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club.
- Jati: Do you know when the Cesar Chavez meeting took place?
A: 1984
- Jati: You said the labor movement and environmentalists were often seen on opposite sides on the issue of jobs back then, and unfortunately it seems like that's still the case today, with certain unions opposing pro-environmental measures using the argument that it would put people out of a job. In 2020, the oil industry and some labor unions opposed an oil setbacks bill saying that 7,000 jobs would be lost (Red, Green and Blue: "CA Senate committee votes 4 to 5 against bill to create health and safety zones around oil wells"). Why do you think this conflict has not been resolved? Do you think it can ever be resolved? Clearly agricultural workers are different from oil workers, so does it depend from union to union, industry to industry?
A: Your observations, Jati, are very insightful. The conflict could possibly be resolved if the workers don't lose their source of income but are asked/allowed to do alternative work. For example, can coal workers be allowed to become renewable energy workers or receive income from other endeavors. Everybody needs to be able to pay their bills.
- Jati: Did Cesar Chavez's efforts to preserve the agricultural land in San Jose succeed?
A: It's a yes and no answer. The San Jose City Council in 1984 voted to open up agricultural zoning to large scale development. Over the years several attempts were made to develop Coyote Valley that never succeeded. Now, San Jose is doing some things to preserve the open space character of Coyote Valley with pressure from the Committee For Green Foothills and the Sierra Club.
- Jati: Which year did the Sierra Club endorse Byron Sher for State Senate?
A: Let's clarify it was to the State Assembly in 1980. He was later elected to the State Senate in 1996.
- Jati: When you say the Sierra Club endorsed Byron Sher for State Senate, do you mean the whole national Sierra Club, or just Sierra Club California, or just the Loma Prieta Chapter?
A: The Loma Prieta Chapter initiated and endorsed [Sher]. The Loma Prieta endorsement was subsequently approved by the national Sierra Club. There was no Sierra Club California at the time. Sierra Club California was established later in the 1980s.
- Jati: How effective do you think the endorsements (both for candidates and propositions) are? Have they been decisive in swinging elections, or would you say it's more like a small bonus?
A: The endorsements have had significant impact. A consequence of the Sierra Club endorsing candidates has been to slow down environmental degradation as national and global population effects on the environment increase. If environmental degradation continues, the degradation would even be worse without the work of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
- Jati: You said that early Sierra Club history avoided taking direct political action in the way of endorsements and taking positions to avoid upsetting members of opposing political parties. So, did this first endorsement of a political candidate (Byron Sher) mark a sort of turning point where the Sierra Club became more politically active but also more partisan in a way? What were the consequences of this move, if any?
A: Yes the endorsements of candidates can be said to be a major turning point. Before candidate endorsements, the Sierra Club only took positions on propositions or legislative bills. It was David Brower who more than anyone kept John Muir's legacy alive by moving the Sierra Club into the political fray in a major way, by taking strong positions on environmental issues even if there wasn't yet official Sierra Club endorsement of candidates.
When the Sierra Club started to endorse candidates it wanted to avoid partisanship, so the Sierra Club looked for republican candidates that could be supported. Republicans for many years included solid conservationists. Lincoln signed a law to protect Yosemite Valley. Theodore Roosevelt set the conservation bar very high. Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. The era of Ronald Reagan and now Donald Trump has turned the Republican Party away from traditional conservative values. It may be most accurate to say the Sierra Club hasn't become more partisan, but the Republican Party has become less conservationist and less interested in protecting the environment.
The consequences of endorsing political candidates are moderate in some elections and substantial in others. The endorsements range from city councils to members of state legislatures and governors to members of Congress and the office of the President.
- Jati: Could you recall what other environmental groups attended the Cesar Chavez meeting?
A: Aside from the Loma Prieta Chapter's Guadalupe Regional Group, the meeting was also attended by the Committee for Green Foothills and United New Conservationists. Perhaps the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society was also there.
- Jati: How fast exactly did the Sierra Club membership grow in response to Ronald Reagan's presidency? How many people joined?
A: Quite sure the Sierra Club membership more than doubled and for the first time membership outside California surpassed California, even though California's membership was still growing. Will guesstimate in Ronald Reagan's first term membership at least doubled from 250,000 to 500,000. This significant impetus has continued to increase to over 3,000,000 members today.
Regarding Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Interior James Watt, "he was the worst of MAGA before it was invented," tweeted David Donger of the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, referring to former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Watt and his supporters saw him as an upholder of President Ronald Reagan's core conservative values, but opponents were alarmed by his policies and offended by his comments. In 1981, shortly after he was appointed, the Sierra Club collected more than 1 million signatures seeking Watt's ouster and criticized such actions as clear-cutting federal lands in the Pacific Northwest, weakening environmental regulations for strip mining and hampering efforts to curtail air pollution in California's Yosemite Valley." (The Associated Press)
- Jati: How does the Sierra Club decide if a candidate or proposition is worthy of an endorsement? You'd obviously probably look at speeches, track records, promises, the contents of a proposition/bill, that sort of thing, but is there anything else on top of that?
A: Yes regarding the things you've mentioned. The Sierra Club will also look at the viability of the candidates chances to win the election even if odds uncertain. Sometimes the Sierra Club will endorse two candidates for the same office if each candidate represents good positions on the environment.
- Jati: Back then, did chapters independently give out endorsements or was it something decided on the national level? How did the process evolve over the years, if at all?
A: Early on chapters were somewhat independent. As candidate endorsements became more frequent, oversight at the state Sierra Club level was established to add another layer of candidate evaluation and to add uniformity of process among the different chapters. The current state level of endorsement oversight is called the Sierra Club California Political Committee.
- Jati: In your experience, how much corruption and conflict of interest do you think there is in American politics, at the national, state, and local levels?
A: The U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision legalized and what used to be called corruption and conflict of interest. Most elected officials are beholden to large campaign donations which continues to corrupt and create conflicts of interest in American politics. Some politicians more so than others.