Eastern Missouri Group E-Newsletter
JUNE 2013
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June 27, 2013, Sierra Club General Meeting - Potluck Picnic Dinner
The June General Meeting will be a potluck picnic from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Stone Shelter in Tower Grove Park. Bring your beverage and a dish to share. Enjoy the company of your favorite fellow Sierrans! Stone Shelter is located along Northwest Drive (map).
July 25, 2013, Sierra Club General Meeting - Social Gathering
The July meeting will be a social gathering at Olympia Kebab House on July 25, at 6:30 pm. No registration required, but please contact Mark Ostendorf (417-850-0064) if you plan to attend. Location: 1543 McCausland Ave. A private room has been reserved.
Event Volunteers Wanted!
The Sierra Club EMG is looking for volunteers to work tables at events in the St. Louis area. Help us promote environmental protection and attract new membership. We're looking for a few people to share duties including searching for appropriate events to attend, setting up/taking down table, and interacting with event-goers. Send an email to Sarah Merida know if you're interested, or call 660-988-1412.
Hearing on Coal Ash in Labadie
Ameren's plan for a coal ash dump at their Labadie coal plant puts the drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Missourians at risk, especially those living closest to the plant. Ameren has asked the Public Service Commission (PSC) to find that a new landfill is in the public interest.
Here in the Show Me State, let's show Ameren and the PSC that our state is already over-burdened with coal ash -- and more arsenic, cadmium, and lead in our rivers threatening our drinking water is not in the public interest.
Join us June 25:
WHAT: Labadie Coal Ash Landfill Public Hearing
WHEN: June 25 at 5:30 p.m., hearing begins at 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: East Central College Continuing Education Building, 1964 Prairie Dell Road, Building 12, Union, Missouri
Sign up online. For more information see the article on the Missouri Sierra Club website or email Sara Edgar.
St Louis City Water, Still At Risk
The City of St Louis is considering entering into a "public-private" contract with Veolia Inc. to manage the city water supply. This issue first came to light in December 2012 and the name Veolia raised red flags due to its questionable practices in other city water ventures and closer to home in its poor management of waste treatment in Sauget, Illinois. Sierrans and other concerned citizens started looking into the issue. More flags were raised when the proposed "consulting" contract with Veolia contained restrictions on intellectual property rights and Sunshine act requests.
The Eastern Missouri Group Executive Committee voted to oppose the Veolia option in February 2013. It's now June, the consulting contract is still pending, the public has been promised a full hearing, but none has yet been scheduled. When we hear the word on that schedule we will post information on our group website and contact city residents for whom we have valid email addresses.
To learn more about this controversy and how you can get involved click here. Contact Caroline at for more information,
These beauties are growing in the tiny Left: Purple milkweed
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Eastern Collared Lizards are now seen at Rocky Falls because the prescribed burns done on nearby Ozark mountain glades have increased and improved their habitat, thus their survival rates. Such prescribed burns also increase the connectivity of their habitat allowing them to spread to glades such as this one at Rocky Falls in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Photos by Becky Denney, May 2013. |
Making Lemonade
Selling
lemonade has been a great way for raising money for the environmental
protection efforts of the Eastern Missouri Group. We will be squeezing
lots of lemons at the Festival of the Little Hills on August 16, 17 18.
Plan to help out for a few hours -- call Jim Young at 314-664-0302.
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Southern Illinois Outing in April
Eight Sierra Club members participated in a treehouse adventure at Camp Ondessonk in Southern Illinois. They enjoyed Hoggs Bluff Overlook, the long, dark tunnel on the Tunnel Hill Bike Trail, and several waterfalls in the area. Potluck meals with bean soup and beef stew served as the main dish one evening followed by listening to the noisy geese on the lake, coyotes down by the dam and of course owls hooting. Several of the group went kayaking on the Cache River Canoe Trail before the rains set in. Sleeping in the open-air treehouses was a new experience for most of the participants.
Date Set for Annual Trivia Night
The EMG annual Trivia Night will be Saturday, November 16. Save the date and plan to attend. If you are interested in helping with this year's event, please email Sarah Merida to learn more. We are looking for a few volunteers to help with planning the event.
Green Time TV: Politics and Environment
Green Time appears in four Missouri areas. See the webpage at greentime.tv. In the St. Louis area it airs at noon on Saturdays and 5:30 pm Wednesdays on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays on Channel 24-2 on these dates:
July 6, 8, 10: "The Story of Broke." Fredric Raines and Rev. Elston K. McCowan discuss making federal and local money available for environmental and social justice needs.
July 13, 15, 17: "Occupation of Palestine: Environmental & Social Costs." Tareq Nabhan and Michael Berg discuss the UN and international law regarding Palestine, as well as how people are denied basic rights of water and medical care.
July 20, 22, 24: "The Future of Forests." Jim Scheff explores how economic growth can hurt forests. He explains terms like "externalized cost" and why the carbon market is called a "shell game."
July 27, 29, 31: "Animal Agriculture: Environment, Health & Ethics." David Feldmann and Greg Farough look at the UN Environmental Program reports on animal agriculture.
July Green Time programs include the movies "The Story of Broke" and "A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert." To volunteer to help produce Green Time call 314-727-8554 or email Don Fitz.
Eastern Missouri Group Outings Schedule
Sierra Club members and non-members are welcome to join Club members on our outings.
Visit the Eastern Missouri Group website for more information about outings, activities, and issues.
Please consider making a donation to the Eastern Missouri Group today!
A Need for Global and Local Sustainability
Green Time appears in four Missouri areas. It has a prime air time on KNLC: 5:30 pm Wednesdays. See links on Facebook and greentime.tv. In the St. Louis area it airs at noon on Saturdays and 5:30 pm Wednesdays on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays on Channel 24-2 on these dates:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->June 1,3, 5: "Perils of "Free" Trade" Marilyn Lorenz and Karen Wilson describe how the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), currently being negotiated in secret, could push poor people off their land and cause enormous environmental damage.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->June 8, 10, 12: "Perils of a Pacific Partnership" Jillian Severinski and Mark Strothmann explore how the TPP could allow foreign lawsuits to overturn domestic courts, expand extractive industries, hasten climate change, reduce access to medicines and increase US job loss.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->June 15, 17, 19: "St. Louis' Third Sustainable Backyard Tour" Terry Winkelmann and Travis DeRousse discuss the reasons to rethink the traditional lawn and reimagine how we use our backyards to lighten our impact on the earth.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->June 22, 24, 26: "Water, Energy and Mining" Bob Criss describes how water is used by extractive industries for the mining of coal, uranium, and lead. .
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->June 29; July 1, 3: "Veganism for the Planet, People and Animals" Alexandria Graff and Laura Shields ask if not eating meat or using animal products (veganism) could help end world hunger.
June Green Times include the movies "What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership?" "Peril in the Pacific," "The Third the Sustainable Backyard Tour," "The Hidden Destruction of the Appalachian Mountains," "Yellowcake," "Unleaded" and "A Life Connected: Vegan." To volunteer to help produce Green Time call 314-727-8554 or email don@greentime.tv