Missouri E-Sierran
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Impressions from Copenhagen - Conference on Climate Change
by Frank Loberbaum, Sierra Club Delegate to Copenhagen
I am back home a week now and still trying to understand what happened. I am used to attending conferences like the American Institute of Architects or US Green Building Council that are basically educational, networking, and party opportunities. Read More
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
What Future for the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers?
by Caroline Pufalt
ATVs, motorized watercraft, damaged stream banks, noise, contaminated water and loss of wildlife. You help choose! The National Park Service is developing a new management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Read More
What Happened in the Capitol this Spring?
by Ginger Harris, Chapter Legislative Chair
The Sierra Club achieved some of its goals in this year's nutty Missouri legislative session. Read More
Biomass Burning: When Renewable Energy Isn't Renewable
by Henry Robertson
There are lots of things you can burn to make electricity: coal, gas, oil, trash, old tires - and our forests. Read More
Let's Use the 2010 Elections to Promote a Clean Economy
by John Hickey, Political Chair
According to the most recent federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Missouri is 9.6%. Behind this statistic are thousands of
workers struggling to pay their bills and keep food on the table. Read More
Say No to a Casino Complex at the Confluence
by Becky Denney
In late April the Eastern Missouri Group sent a letter to the Missouri Gaming Commission urging them to deny a gaming permit to North County Development, L.L.C. for the 377 acres on the floodplain immediately south of the Confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in Spanish Lake. Read More
A Community Engaged to Save Our Bottoms
by Amy Bonsall, Labadie Community Organization (LEO)
LEO was formed in September of 2009 after a member of our local book club became aware of AmerenUE's plans to site a Coal Combustion Waste (CCW) landfill in a flood plain in the Missouri River bottoms next to their Labadie plant, over 400 acres, eventually to reach a height of 100 feet. Read More
Urban Agriculture: What's Happening in Your Town?
by Ginger Harris
The recipe: Mix the growing interest in healthy lifestyles with the growing concerns about global climate change and species extinction, heat it up in the "Great Recession," and throw in a dash of the Slow Foods movement, and you have the perfect conditions for urban agriculture. Read More
Recent Victories
The Missouri Sierra Club remains involved at the local, state and national level to protect our land, air and water. Here examples of where we have made a difference in 2010.
- This Spring, voters in St. Louis County overwhelmingly voted to support the Metro public transportation system with a 1/2 percent sales tax. The Sierra Club was an integral part in passing the measure which will help keep St. Louis area public transportation viable for years to come.
- In late April, Region 7 of the EPA decided to reassess the dangers associated with the Kansas City Bannister Federal Complex. The reassessment will make possible an intensified cleanup effort for the three superfund sites at the facility. The Missouri Sierra Club and Sierra Club Water Sentinels have been working for years to shine a spotlight on this dangerous legacy of our country's nuclear weapons program.
- Also in late April, Washington University in St. Louis hosted a debate between Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Bruce Nilles and Peabody Energy's Fred Palmer on the future of coal in America. Nilles did a fantastic job, as did the Sierra Student Coaltion and engaged Washington University students who made the event possible.
- As detailed in Ginger Harris' article, we gained some victories during the last legislative session in Jefferson City. One of the most important is the passage of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Bill, which allows municipalities to set up incentives for property owners to make energy saving improvements. This legislation has unfortunately still not been signed by Governor Nixon. If you have not yet written the Governor on this issue, click here to learn more and here to take action.
- Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill recently did the right thing and voted against the Murkowski resolution. This resolution called for blocking the EPA's authority to regulate greehouse gas emmission. The Senator's crucial vote was influenced by pressure she received from Sierra Club members and other environmentally engaged citizens. We need to thank her for her vote and make sure that now she does the right thing by supporting comprehensive climate change legislation.
Save The Date - October 15, 16, 17
The Missouri Sierra Club Chapter camp out will take place this year on October 15, 16 and 17 in the wilderness near Emenence. Good food, good people, a great natural environment, what could be better?