Dear Supporter,

News from the Chair
by Nick Cheranich

As you probably have heard, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report on the climate emergency. The IPCC report shows humanity has reached a “critical moment in history,” IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee said. “The world has all the knowledge, tools and financial resources needed to achieve its climate goals, but after decades of disregarding scientific warnings and delaying climate efforts, the window for action is rapidly closing,” he said. (Photo credit: Alain Audet. Will this view be a distant memory?)

If you look at the report – actually a shortened “Synthesis Report” of about 35 pages for policy makers – it breaks the issues into 3 categories: Current status and trends; the future risks; and near term responses (things we have to do now). Then it breaks down each of its categories into specific claims, based on scientific analysis. Each claim includes an assessment as to whether the claim has a “Very High, High, or Moderately High (level of) Confidence.” Most claims were of High Confidence. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

“This report offers hope, and it provides a warning,” Lee said. “The choices we make now and in the next few years will reverberate around the world for hundreds, even thousands, of years.” For me, this is very sobering.

Please read the report. And then consider what we can actually do to reduce our own carbon emissions.

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Speaking of which, please read our “Comment to the County Climate Action Committee,” regarding the continued funding for the website platform called Napa County Climate Challenge , which challenges you to utilize the free platform in order to calculate and then reduce your carbon emissions by taking various actions. You can read my article about using the Challenge, below.

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With all this rain, are you eager to get moving again? Join the Napa Sierra Club’s team, “Sierra Club and Friends," for the Vine Trail’s Month of Movement fitness and fundraising challenge. It’s FUN and EASY and supports a great cause. See below for details.

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Please read more about the many upcoming Earth Month events in April including Earth Day in both Napa (April 23rd) and American Canyon (April 22nd). We hope to see you there. (Photo credit: Tom Reese)

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Our next Conservation Committee meeting will be May 9, 2023 at 6:30PM (it has been changed from May 16). Just click on the RSVP button below and I'll send you a Zoom invite in the near future. Thank you.

- Nick Cheranich, ExCom Chair
napavalleysierraclub@gmail.com
 

Time to Get Loco! Join Our Loco-Motion Team and Support the Vine Trail
by Chris Benz

Eager to get moving?

Join the Napa Sierra Club’s team, “Sierra Club and Friends,” for the Vine Trail’s Month of Movement fitness and fundraising challenge.

It’s FUN and EASY and supports a great cause—a 47-mile walking and biking path connecting the Vallejo Ferry Terminal to Calistoga.

Sign-up, pay the $47 registration fee (which gives you a one-year membership in the Napa Valley Vine Trail), and log the miles you move - anywhere, anyhow - during the month of May.

Help our team log the most miles AND raise the most $$!

And save the date for a Team Napa Sierra Club and Friends ride on May 21, from Napa to Yountville and back via the Vine Trail (details to follow).

Below are detailed instructions on how to sign up (sign up for “Multi-Sport” to log miles cycling, running, walking, skateboarding, etc):

1. Sign-up here > Sierra Club and Friends LOCO-MOTION Page and click on the Sign-up button (GREEN).
2. Select “JOIN A TEAM,” and click next to move forward.
3. Set your personal fundraising goal and miles goal.
4. Connect with Strava or you could skip this step. This is the app used to log/track your miles during Month of Movement.
5. Choose how often you will log your miles and complete the other check boxes, address information, few questions, and your shirt size.
6. Complete checkout information and submit payment. Now you’re part of the team!
7. If you need further assistance, please contact Lili Ramos, lili@vinetrail.org, or Carlos Ramos, carlos@vinetrail.org.

See you out there! And don’t forget to tell your friends!

In case you missed this from our Feb. newsletter.

Napa’s lovers of wildlands were ecstatic this January to learn that the 2300-acre Walt Ranch on Atlas Peak is on track to be purchased by Land Trust of Napa County.  The deal is not quite sealed, a lot more money needs to be raised (Napa Sierra Club and the Redwood Chapter are contributing a total of $4000).

To make your own contribution click here. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page.

The Land Trust will conserve the land in perpetuity, operating it in partnership with Napa Parks and Open Space District, raising hopes for public trails in this glorious spot high above the valley floor.  

Walt Ranch is the epicenter of the biggest local environmental fight of recent memory: the plan by a Hall family company (vintners Craig and Kathryn Hall) to destroy 400 acres of Atlas Peak wild habitat in order to develop vineyards. For nearly a decade, starting in 2014, Sierra Club led the vigorous opposition to this project, which outraged a large segment of the Napa community, invigorating such organizations as Napa Vision 2050 and Defenders of East Napa Watersheds (DENW). The fight created a network of trusted allies which still exists. Click here to read more.

Climate change may be a global problem. But we are not all the same. Far from it.
The wealthier we are, the more climate pollution we produce, because of how much electricity we consume, what we eat, and how much we drive. But it’s not just wealth. It matters a lot in which country we are wealthy.

Take a look at this chart (right) that my colleague Mira Rojanasakul prepared based on an International Energy Agency analysis of per capita carbon dioxide emissions by income.You will see the wealthiest people in the United States have an astonishingly large climate footprint, far larger than rich people in wealthy, industrialized Europe and in fast-rising China.

Not only that: Nearly everyone in the United States, even those in the lowest income brackets, produces a lot of climate pollution relative to everyone else in the world. It’s the way our economy is built. We take for granted long commutes and frequent flights. Our electricity comes from sources that are relatively carbon-intensive. The rest of the world is different. Click here to read more.

As you know, the Napa Sierra Club Group has a mission to conserve natural ecosystems and work for sustainability in land and water usage, and to reduce the carbon release into the air. We take on projects that we think are significant to Napa that may be helped by local action.

We are looking for people to join our Executive Committee team who have knowledge and experience relevant to our mission and skills in research, presenting, organizing, and/or educating our neighbors. People who are willing to learn.

Is that you? Or do you know someone? We have openings on our team. Looking for motivated volunteers.

Email us, in care of Nick Cheranich, at napavalleysierraclub@gmail.com. Thank you.