Season’s Greetings from Team Ohio!
We are grateful for the work we’ve achieved this year with our volunteer leaders, members, partners, and our amazing staff team to advance environmental and climate priorities in our region. As we welcome the New Year, we are encouraged and excited to continue building relationships and uplifting the work of local environmental champions like you.
Please consider getting involved, supporting our campaigns, and connecting us with additional resources to support our environment.
Thank you for all you do!
Happy Holidays,
Ericka Copeland
State Director, Sierra Club Ohio
ericka.copeland@sierraclub.org |
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Announcing Sierra Club's New Executive Director
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We are thrilled to announce that Ben Jealous will be joining the Sierra Club as our new Executive Director! This is a historic moment for our organization and for the environmental movement. Ben is an experienced civil rights leader, and coalition builder who has always brought together people to organize – exactly what the Board of Directors unanimously decided the Sierra Club community needs right now. The world we want to conserve and protect, and the livable planet we all deserve to thrive in, must at its core work towards justice and transformation.
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News from the Ohio Steering Committee
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We have not had an update in several months as we have been in a period of transition with the loss of several Steering Committee members. However, there has been a lot of activity happening:
- We are forming a nominating committee to replace 2 Steering Committee members. Our goal is to have the committee in place in December and kick off a search in January. If you are interested in this role or would like to nominate a candidate, please contact Mary Aguilera at aguileramarym@gmail.com for more information.
- We have been working with our national Cultural Transformation team in our rebuilding process and are starting to implement their recommendations through our Strategic Planning process and team building with our staff.
- Strategic Planning is moving ahead with a survey to better guide us in our direction, both in our conservation and organizational planning. Our goal is to send this survey out at the beginning of the New Year.
- Several of our committees have been restructured and looking for new members. Please take a look on our webpage, if you would like to volunteer with Sierra Club Ohio in the new year!
We are so thankful for each member of Sierra Club Ohio and hope everyone has a peaceful holiday season.
Lisa, Bob and Mary
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Assistant Treasurer Volunteer Opportunity
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We are looking for a volunteer to fill this crucial role of helping maintain Sierra Club Ohio’s financial management systems. The primary role of Assistant Treasurer is to support managing Sierra Club Ohio's donation receipts and other mailed correspondence, and to assist the Treasurer with affiliated Group communications, reports, and budget preparation.
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You're Invited: Volunteer Welcome Webinar and Appreciation Event!
Join us for a Volunteer Welcome Webinar and Appreciation Event! We will be celebrating 2022 and looking forward to 2023. Join us to learn from our local staff and volunteer leaders on their projects and campaigns. We hope you can attend as we finish out this year and get excited for the next!
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Committee and Campaign Updates
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Political - Thank You for Voting for Environmental Champions
Thank you for voting to elect environmental champions for Ohio. Sierra Club Ohio endorsed 24 candidates in the November 8 General Election. We are delighted that 17 of those candidates won their races. Results for all of our endorsed candidates can be found at the link below. The Political Committee will soon be evaluating local races for 2023 and preparing for important races coming up for 2024.
Charlie Mitch, Political Committee Chair
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Let's Talk about Ohio's Radioactive Waste
Let's Talk About Ohio's Radioactive Waste, question and answer session was a great success! The Ohio Beyond Dirty Fuels Team reviewed the petition filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revoke Ohio’s authority to manage class II oil and gas waste injection wells. Injection wells leak causing toxic radioactive oil and gas waste that negatively impacts our families and communities. This is a concern because Ohio has the largest population impacted by oil and gas development in the country.
You can watch the recording at the following link (passcode: 3uXaTK?%) |
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Legislative Committee
Ask your state legislators to vote YES on House Bills 389 and 450, and on Senate Bill 307.
- House Bill 389 would allow electric utilities to create voluntary energy efficiency programs for consumers.
- House Bill 450 would authorize the development of community solar projects.
- Senate Bill 307 creates policies and a statewide commission to spur the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles in Ohio.
YES on House Bills 389 and 450, and YES on Senate Bill 307!
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City of Cincinnati Adopts COMPLETE STREETS Ordinance To Make Transportation Safer And More Sustainable
Complete Streets are designed to be used safely and conveniently by everyone, regardless of age, ability or economic capacity. By increasing the capacity of our city streets to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, users of mobility devices and transit riders, we can decrease the proportion of single-passenger automobiles on the road. In turn, we can reduce harmful emissions that contribute to both acute, local air pollution and global climate change.
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Conservation
Our state has remained active in conservation work over the past two years thanks to our many supporters, staff, and volunteer leaders. As we look forward we have much to do to reorganize our environmental justice work across Ohio. We will continue to provide the Sierra Club Ohio community with these updates and have our first of several articles at the button below. Take a look at our concepts and ideas around the restructuring of conservation work in Ohio here: |
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Environmental and Social Justice Committee
We hear so much about gratitude and giving in the month of November and as we head into the larger holiday season. This year, we on the Ohio Sierra Club Environmental Social Justice Committee are grateful to each other for holding our dream alive. For moving it forward to a place where we can begin to actively provide opportunities for healing, connection, and capacity building around restorative accountability using SC values and a strong commitment to the intersection of environmental, anti-racism, and social justice work. This will include building relationships and community through collaborative, intersectional work across Ohio, and adopting Sierra Club’s mission and values in order to lead with understanding and care to our community. Moving forward, we pledge to work to build our capacity within Ohio and rebuild into a strong foundation built on equity and justice.
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Happy Winter Solstice from Sierra Club Ohio!
The upcoming Winter Solstice is a perfect opportunity to take a break to reflect on the year we had and the year to come. Head over to our blog to see how the Sierra Club takes the time to align our values to what nature is communicating during this time. |
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Thank you!
Thank you for all you do for the environment in Ohio. We look forward to hearing from you and connecting on all of our rebuilding activities. Hoping that you and your loved ones are well and safe.
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