At the Capitol
It‘s up to the NC House, now, to protect our beaches
The natural beauty and economic value of North Carolina’s public beaches and inlets exists today in large measure because our state leaders long ago adopted a conservative management policy that bans the use of hardened structures—seawalls, jetties and groins of any kind—from our coast.
SB 832 creates an exception to that policy by allowing one type of hardened structures, “terminal groins” to be constructed at inlets in order to protect beachfront property. But like other types of hardened structures, terminal groins accelerate erosion of the public’s beaches elsewhere.
SB 832 is moving through the North Carolina Senate, which has passed similar measures in the past. It will be up to the members of the House to keep our beaches open and natural.
Please keep North Carolina’s beaches public and natural. Tell your Representative to oppose SB 832.
NC Sierra Club changing faces
Long time Sierra Club staffer Lisa Cox makes the transition this week from staff to volunteer. After 6 years of dedication as the Chapter’s Development Director, Lisa will continue to work with the Club as a volunteer. Thanks to Lisa for all her years of outstanding service on behalf of the Chapter and the Sierra Club’s mission to ‘enjoy, explore, and protect the planet.’
Welcome to Nation Hahn, who began work March 30 under Lisa’s tutelage as the new Development Coordinator. Nation just got married, too, so it’s a double congrats - new job, new marriage. Nation is a native North Carolinian (Lenoir) and has prior political fundraising experience on both Presidential and Congressional campaigns. Nation is already hard at work with the Chapter’s fundraising committee, planning house parties for later this spring.
Best wishes to Cool Coordinator Kara Craig, who is headed off to Lubbock, TX. Thanks to Kara for all her hard work on behalf of the Cool Cities Campaign. Under Kara’s watch, the state program grew to include 50 Cool Cities and Counties committed to lowering their climate change emissions. Good work Kara.
Arlington, VA wanna go?
On May 18th, we have our first major opportunity since the Presidential election to demonstrate clear, decisive, overwhelming support for bold federal action on global warming. The EPA has just issued a historic finding that global warming pollution threatens public health and welfare, and the Sierra Club anticipates industry will fight this process with everything they’ve got. Please consider:
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attending EPA's public hearings on May 18th in Arlington, VA
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signing up to speak at: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html
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signing up to receive regular updates on this and other EPA rules targeting coal at www.sierraclub.org/bigpicture
We are working to turn these hearings into a powerful demonstration that our country's future will not be set by the coal industry and their allies. We hope to see you there.
GET OUTDOORS!
Summer is around the corner and now is a great time to get outside and enjoy North Carolina’s environment. Check out our new outings calendar to see a list of activities in your areas!
In The News
Muddy Sneakers gets grant from Sierra Club | BlueRidgeNow | Apr 21, 2009
The Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors Project has given an $18,000 grant to Muddy Sneakers, a local science education nonprofit. The grant will allow Muddy Sneakers to continue to partner with Western North Carolina public school teachers to bridge the gap between science classroom instruction and outdoor experiences.
House Finance Comm, in 19-6 vote, jump aboard transit wagon | News & Observer | Apr 15, 2009
The state's roadbuilders and the Sierra Club. The N.C. Justice Center and the N.C. Chamber (of commerce)...These diverse groups routinely fight each other over state priorities and political issues. But they're on the same page in their support of House Bill 148: Congestion Relief / Intermodal Fund.
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