Comments from the Chair
Goodbye 2017, hello 2018
I wish all Alamo Sierra Club members safe and happy times in 2018. I thank all who came out to our Holiday Party event at 5 Points Local, and Lili, Greg and Loretta for putting it together.
I also wish for all of us a 2018 that brings a halt to the full assault on our environment brought to us by the Trump Administration:
- the gutting of EPA rules, staff and science,
- the massive downsizing of National Monuments,
- the opening of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (“America’s Serengeti”) to oil drilling,
- the opening of many other federal lands to mineral development,
- the opening of Keystone Pipeline
- the denial of climate change and the expunging of climate science from federal speech and websites,
- the criminal abandonment of the people of Puerto Rico to the devastation of climate change exacerbated hurricane Irma,
- the efforts to expand our nuclear arsenal again and move nuclear waste to West Texas (both begun under Obama),
- the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord,
- Rick Perry’s Dept. of Energy effort to prop up the coal industry and the nuclear power industry,
- the border wall attacks on the environment of our southern boundaries, especially in Texas...
I am sure I omit many affronts, but these are some of the low points.
Closer to home, we have the EPA refusing to designate us in ozone non-attainment as law seems to require. The Texas Land Office, under George P. Bush, filed a lawsuit to delist our endangered golden cheek warbler, whose protection also helps with protecting our Hill Country and Edwards Aquifer.
Our Governor Abbott appointed the owner of Energy Transfer Partners (of Keystone XL and Trans-Pecos pipelines notoriety) to protect our State Parks and Wildlife. He also mounted a vigorous attack on our ability to protect our trees, which was largely fought to a draw through the leadership of our own Richard Alles. 2017 is a year I will gladly wish good bye to for so many reasons.
City developing climate plan
The City of San Antonio (CoSA), our public electric utility CPS Energy, and our public university UTSA have joined together to develop a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) to develop a robust set of guidelines for bringing SA into a sustainable, equitable future, minimizing our contributions to climate change, and maximizing our adaptation strategies to equitably deal with coming changes. You are encouraged to get involved in this process!
CoSA is taking applications from community members interested in serving on the committee and working groups charged with developing San Antonio’s CAAP. See this email for details on applying. Applications must be submitted before midnight on Jan. 12, 2018. For more information, please visit the SA Climate Ready website.
SAWS raises rates for Vista Ridge
On December 7th, CoSA City Council voted 7-3 to raise SAWS water rates, with the strong support of the Mayor. We very much appreciate the courageous votes taken by John Courage, Greg Brockhouse and Clayton Perry (districts 9, 6 and 10) in opposition to the unchecked SAWS strategy for excess water far into the future. We will continue in 2018 to call attention to SAWS and their harmful and unsustainable management of our water resources, including the deceptions of Vista Ridge, and their unfair and unsustainable rate structures. 2018 will be another opportunity for involvement as SAWS begins a new cycle of rate planning.
2018 priority issues
Alamo Sierra Club will continue to prioritize Climate Action. Our own Greg Harman, working as clean energy coordinator through support from our Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club, is making great progress reaching out to many other groups around our community, especially those focusing on environmental and social justice issues and the impacts of climate change on some of our more disadvantaged groups.
We will also continue linking these efforts to push for more transparency from both our public utilities, and efforts to improve our sustainable management of energy, air quality and water. We will push for firm closure promises from CPS for Spruce 1 and 2 coal plants, very large polluters of our air, and more aggressive roll out of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
We will continue to work to protect our endangered species, our Hill Country and our Edwards Aquifer from ongoing sprawl and other threats. We will also continue to work for dark skies, and for a comprehensive plastic bag ban. Please email me with your top priority issues for us to work on in 2018.
Important elections on the horizon
The new year will also keep our Political Committee very busy. There will be primary elections March 6th for many local and state candidates. Although we do not normally endorse candidates before primaries, we will be sending questionnaires to them, scrutinizing their records and providing our members with pertinent information concerning their stance on our issues, so we can all make informed choices.
Please get involved in this important work! Any endorsements are followed with active work on behalf of the candidate(s).
We made an important positive difference last spring in the election of our Mayor and several Council persons. We must do as much and more in 2018, both in the spring and in the critical fall 2018 Congressional elections. Climate Change Denier-in-Chief Lamar Smith (district 21) has announced his retirement so we will very much want a person who accepts the science of climate change to take that seat finally. Will Hurd (district 23) runs as a moderate Republican but votes, almost always, for the anti-environmental positions of his party and so may also be a target of our opposition again.
Outstanding meeting series planned
Alamo SC monthly meetings will continue at William R. Sinkin Eco Centro, 1802 N. Main Ave on the third Tuesday of each month. Programs will no longer be coordinated by Barbara McMillin after her years of hard work. We will miss her, and welcome new volunteers to bring programs forward. Greg Harman will also be organizing a series of Climate Change events around our city to further engage many groups in discussions about how to prepare SA for climate change.
Sierra Club elections
Be sure to vote in the Alamo Group executive committee election. Review the candidate profiles and vote online here! This election closes January 18th.
Lone Star Chapter executive committee nominations and voting are here. This election ends January 6th. Electronic voting saves SC money! Thank you all for your continued concern for and stewardship of the only earth we have.
by Terry Burns, M.D., Alamo Group Chair
Cancelled: Film Night and Discussion of 2018 Priorities
This meeting has been cancelled.
At our January General Meeting, we will be screening A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet. Afterwards, we will discuss the Alamo Group's priority issues for the coming year.
Tuesday, January 16th
6:30 p.m.
William R. Sinkin Eco Centro, 1802 North Main Avenue
Map
A Fierce Green Fire is the documentary of record on the environmental movement. You can view a trailer and extensive background information on the film's website. We will be viewing the introduction with some history, toxic waste and Love Canal issues, Environmental Justice and Human Rights, and Climate Change segments.
Even those who’ve seen the video previously will see the film’s project anew, in the context of ongoing efforts of the Trump administration to dismantle the EPA and other environmental protections from within.
"The most thorough, expansive, and inclusive documentary film on the rise of modern environmentalism."
Paul Sutter, Associate Professor of History, University of Colorado
This event is free and open to the public.
Natural Bridges National Monument
This smallish place is in southeastern Utah, about 40 miles northwest of Bluff. And it is about in the center of the much larger Bears Ears National Monument.
Bears Ears was created by President Obama in 2016 but was dissolved and recreated by President Trump as two much smaller national monuments adding up to 10% of the size of Bears Ears.
Update on Trump's Bears Ears attack
Creation of the Bears Ears monument was an objective of the Bears Ears Coalition of five Native American tribes for years. In addition, a bunch of conservation organizations supported it.
Trump's dissolution of Bears Ears is intended to allow oil/gas development and mining for coal and minerals on this public land, which would devastate the area and destroy traces of prehistoric civilizations (which are everywhere). Many ruins are easily accessible by short hikes from paved roads and many, many more ruins and other traces are harder to reach or have not even been discovered yet.
There are at least five lawsuits in progress attempting to block the changes. For further news check out EarthJustice.org and Center for Biological Diversity just to begin with. And there was an article with pictures about Bears Ears in the March 2017 issue of this newsletter.
Geology of Natural Bridges
Natural Bridges National Monument: what are these bridges? Here is the monument's page about its geology.
Bridges result from erosion by running water whereas arches are formed by erosion from rain, ice, and wind. It is the White Canyon drainage, which runs under the bridges and through the monument to the Colorado River, which caused the erosion. There is a picture looking across White Canyon in Bears Ears downstream of Natural Bridges, in our March 2017 issue.
Visiting Natural Bridges
This monument has a nice counter-clockwise one-way loop drive with parking areas for the three natural bridges, which can be reached by short hikes with stairs and ladders. These are named Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo. The two photos here show Sipapu and Kachina bridges.
A moderately difficult eight-mile loop trail goes past the parking areas at Sipapu and Owachomo bridges, under the bridges and across the mesa in the center of the monument. It is best to do the trail clockwise, as there is a confusing turn up from the drainage at Kachina Bridge if done counter-clockwise.
If you travel the loop counter-clockwise, you might miss the turn and be hiking down the drainage wondering why it is so difficult. But, you will get to see a small ruin there. Then, unless you are very unlucky, you will see the sign up on the right wall that says "WRONG WAY". Otherwise you might find yourself at the Colorado River in a few weeks, if you don't starve to death.
There is a nice campground which has only 8 sites, and consequently is hard to get into. There are good undeveloped camping spots north up the roads just east of Natural Bridges in Bears Ears. These are Burch Canyon and Elk Mountain roads off Hwy 275. In particular, it is less than 6 miles up Elk Mountain road (FR088) to the Bears Ears buttes, which are just west and east of the road.
Hovenweep National Monument is just an hour or so east-southeast at the Colorado state line and has a big campground. This is a great destination in and of itself with a super-short loop hike.
by Kevin Hartley, Alamo Group Outings leader
Keep Wipes out of the Pipes
In its newsletter, SAWS is encouraging people not to flush baby wipes. In addition, I have read that tissues like Kleenex don't dissolve like toilet paper when discarded in the toilet.
by Gay Wright, Alamo Group member
Outings: The Call of the Wild
Visit the Alamo Sierra Club Outings page on Meetup for detailed information about all of our upcoming Sierra Club Outings.
The Alamo Sierran Newsletter
Richard Alles, Editor
Published by The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club, P.O. Box 6443, San Antonio, TX 78209, AlamoSierraClub.org.
The Alamo Group is one of 13 regional groups within the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
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