Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Winter 2010 Delaware Sierra Club Newsletter
Winter 2010 Delaware Sierra Club Newsletter
Recycling Corner 3
Get Involved with a Committee 3
Indoor Win-Win-Win-ter Sports 4
Hikes and Happenings 5
Cool Cities...continued 5
Sierra Club Contacts 6
Looking Back at 2009 and Looking Ahead
continued from page 1 remaining coal-fired power plants and liquid coal
proposals; mining companies are still getting new
build a nationwide movement that is systematically
permits to destroy Appalachian mountains; Alaska’s
working to loosen the coal industry’s lock on our
wilderness is under siege from Texas billionaires
future and our politics. Here are my highlights from
seeking to strip mine coal for Asian markets; and
2009:
millions of Americans live in communities where
• Total coal use is down ten percent in 2009, accord- the air is unsafe to breathe and fish are unsafe to eat
ing to the Energy Information Agency. all because 500 existing coal plants are still polluting
• The massive Santee Cooper plant proposed for at record levels.
South Carolina, which would have been the largest On top of this, the coal industry’s obscene influ-
new consumer of mountaintop removal coal, was ence on the U.S. Senate is the major stumbling block
abandoned after years of opposition. to enacting President Obama’s clean energy agenda,
• After a decade-long fight, the Dakota Minnesota & and why the U.S. was unable to provide critical
Eastern Railroad proposal to build a massive new leadership in Copenhagen.
rail line from Wyoming to Wisconsin was finally But there is great reason for hope, as record
defeated in August. This rail project would have car- numbers of concerned citizens across the country
ried enough coal to power about 50 medium size have learned about the dangers of coal to their fami-
coal plants. lies and their future, have become outraged, and
• We saw some massive coal-fired power plants have joined the beyond coal movement. There is a
defeated in 2009 – including the American Munici- major shift going on across America as companies
pal Power coal plant proposed in Ohio, the Big realign away from old dirty practices involving coal
Stone II plant in South Dakota, and Florida’s last and toward cleaner energy options, including wind,
proposed coal plant – the Seminole Unit-3 facility. solar and ending wasteful use of energy.
• Several companies announced plans to start or con- And we recognize the 40th anniversary of the
sider transitioning away from existing coal plants, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which
including Progress Energy in North Carolina and requires all government actions to consider environ-
Tennessee Valley Authority in Tennessee and mental impacts – including all the project’s effects
Alabama. on global warming. On the first day of 2010, Presi-
• Students on campuses across America turned their dent Obama proclaimed a renewed commitment to
concern about their future to the biggest polluters on NEPA:
campus – coal-fired power plants that still operate “...(M)y Administration will recognize NEPA’s enact-
on more than 60 campuses. To end coal’s foothold ment by recommitting to environmental quality
on campuses, Sierra Club and its Sierra Student through open, accountable, and responsible decision
Coalition in September launched a campaign to edu- making that involves the American public....I call
cate and enlist hundreds of thousands of students to upon all executive branch agencies to promote pub-
move beyond coal and fight for clean energy. This lic involvement and transparency in their
campaign has taken off like a prairie fire on a warm, implementation of the National Environmental Poli-
dry spring day. cy Act.”
This offers great hope for us in fighting coal projects
• Los Angeles took major action on clean energy
requiring federal agency approval.
last summer when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
So, looking forward: In 2010, the Sierra Club’s
announced that the city would eliminate the use of
Beyond Coal Campaign will be focused on ending
coal by 2020 - replacing the 40% of its power cur-
mountaintop removal mining, keeping Alaska’s
rently generated by coal with renewable energy.
wilderness off limits to coal barons, stopping the
All of this progress opens the way for a transition remaining new dirty coal plant proposals, and begin-
to a clean energy economy, including a 22.5% ning a two-decade plan to replace the existing fleet
increase in electricity generated from wind between of coal-fired power plants with clean energy alterna-
2008 and 2009. tives. I hope you will join us.
We indeed have a lot to celebrate in 2009, but we Check out climatecrossroads.sierraclub.org for
are far from done. There are approximately 90 more information.
2
“Thanks!” From the Membership Committee
by June Satterfield If you’d like to share your environmentally-relat-
ed specialty with others or know someone who
“T hank you” from the membership committee.
We had a super response to our request for
email addresses from members who may not have
might enjoy doing so, please contact us at member-
ship@delaware.sierraclub.org. Likewise, if you are a
had or not have given an email address when join- member of a group that is looking for a speaker on
ing, or may have changed their email provider since an environmental topic, please let us know. Educa-
then. Once again, if you’re not sure we have an tion can create the environmental mindset necessary
email address for you, send it to membership@ to create a sustainable future for the Earth.
delaware.sierraclub.org. It’s the “green” thing to do.
We are still looking for members who would like Get Involved with a Chapter or
to serve on the membership committee. It’s an Group Committee
opportunity to use all your heretofore-unrecognized
talents for brainstorming event ideas, planning and Cool Cities organizational meeting – Saturday,
coordinating people, places, and things, talking on February 20, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. at the public library in
the phone, addressing envelopes…you name it. Delaware City. Details may be seen on our newly
Let me know your interest. Everyone’s help is wel- developed web site at CoolCitiesde.us.
come. Email membership@delaware.sierraclub.org. Plans are being made to contact each mayor or
The Delaware Chapter is organizing an “Envi- city manager in the state. Dover’s City Manager,
ronmental Speakers Registry,” which we will make Tony DePrima, spoke recently at a conference of
available to clubs, schools, and organizations in mayors and outlined the programs Dover has imple-
Delaware. People who have expert knowledge of an mented since joining. Committees will be formed at
environmentally related topic and are willing to this meeting to included fundraising, public rela-
speak to groups, either gratis or for a fee, are giving tions, and promoting seminars thought the state for
us their topic(s), preferred audience (age and size of energy consumers as well as public education. All
group), time of day, distance willing to travel, and so Sierra Club members are invited and urged to bring
forth, so that we may match them to groups asking their friends.
for speakers. We already have several volunteer Energy Committee meetings will be held on the
speakers on the registry. third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Contact
Chad Tolman (ChadTolman@verizon.net) to learn
RECYCLING CORNER: more and to get the information to join the confer-
Stop plastic bottle caps from ence call.
entering our streams and rivers! February 17 - Conference call
March 17 – Smyrna, place TBD
A majority of plastic bottle caps do not get recy-
cled today. You can collect your plastic caps
and stop them from ending up as litter, trash or
April 21 – Eeffoc's Cafe near Trolley Square in
Wilmington
from migrating into our rivers and oceans by join- Political Committee will be meeting on the 2nd
ing the “Recycle caps with Aveda” program. Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. We will alternate
Households and schools are invited to participate. conference calls with face-to-face meetings.
Check out Aveda’s website: http://aveda.aveda. February 8 – conference call
com/aboutaveda/caps.asp to learn which caps they March 8 – meeting at Border’s Books Café at
are collecting. (The program accepts caps that are Churchmans Crossing off of Route 95
rigid polypropylene plastic, sometimes noted with April 12 – conference call
a 5 in the chasing arrows recycling symbol.) Please contact Debbie Heaton at politics@
Individuals can drop off their collected caps at delaware.sierraclub.org to get the conference call
a local Aveda store. information a few days prior to the call.
School groups wishing to start a collection pro- For other committee meetings planned for February,
gram should contact Aveda for more information March and April 2010, please check the chapter cal-
on how to enroll your school at capcollection@ endar at:
aveda.com or call 1-877-Aveda09. http://www.brownbearsw.com/freecal/SierraClub
3
Indoor Win-Win-Win-ter Family Sports
by Dave Donohue and get a membership in the process. So far we have
5
Sierra Club Contacts
All phone numbers are Area Code 302 Cool Cities: Ron Zink 735-8996
Outings: Jennifer Egan 540-4546
Chapter Office
jennifermegan28@msn.com
Phone: 351-2776
Political: Debbie Heaton
Chapter Executive Committee politics@delaware.sierraclub.org
Chair: Matt Urban 521-4495
Pollution: Al Denio 455-0389
murban@mobiusnm.com
Alvaldenio@aol.com
Vice Chair: Nancy Carig
nancy@bluewaterwind.com Web Editor: Michael Casale 239-2225
Conservation: Debbie Heaton mike.casale@verizon.net
politics@delaware.sierraclub.org Newsletter Editor: Jay Lacorte
Energy: Chad Tolman 478-3516 jay.lacorte@yahoo.com
chadtolman@comcast.net Southern Delaware Group (SDG)
Land Use: Jay Cooperson 571-0660
Executive Committee
CoopersonArc@aol.com
Chair: Steve Callanen 539-0635
Membership: June Satterfield 653-6596
prnmed@mchsi.com
junesatterfield@comcast.net
Harry Haon 656-4582 Vice Chair: Harry Haon 656-4582
John Irwin 475-8527 Conservation Chair: Barbara Murray
johnirwin@comcast.net bemursaga@hotmail.com
Tom Noyes 652-3241 Environmental Justice Chair:
tomnoyes@gmail.com Mable Granke 227-6637
Chapter Appointed Committee Chairs Secretary & Membership Chair:
Treasurer: Lorri Fencer LorriFencer@verizon.net Carrie Bennett 732-3358
The Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club publishes the
c.bennett@de-enviro.net
Delaware Sierra News quarterly. This publication is written Terri Usuki 436-2296
and produced entirely by volunteers. Ideas expressed in the
Delaware Sierra News are those of the columnists and may
tamaki@prodigy.net
not necessarily reflect the position of the Sierra Club. Limit-
ed time constraints of an all-volunteer staff do not always
allow for full data corroboration. Send materials for submis- Visit us on the Web!
sion to the Sierra Club, 100 W 10th St, Ste. 106, Wilmington,
DE 19801 or by e-mail to our editor. www.delaware.sierraclub.org
Editor: Jay LaCorte – jay.lacorte@yahoo.com Web Editor: Mike Casale
Production: Susan Oldenburg – VideoSue@aol.com 302-239-2225 mike.casale@verizon.net
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Mail to: Sierra Club, P.O. Box 52968, Boulder, CO 80321-2968