REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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Chapter Chair Report

By Margaret Pennington, Redwood Chapter Chair

This issue of the Needles will arrive in mailboxes around December 1st. By that time the outcome of this year's residential election may be known. But as I'm writing (November 12th) the "cliffhanger" remains. Sierra Club Executive Director, Carl Pope, has scheduled a post-election analysis, focusing on election results and their impact on Sierra Club conservation priorities for Thursday, November 16th. Invitations for this event went out about a week prior to the November 7th election. I chuckled upon receiving the invitation, thinking that Carl must be outlining TWO scenarios and waiting for election day to come and go before finalizing his presentation. Well, I'm glad it's him and not me attempting to sort out all the possible scenarios and what they may mean to conservation priorities at this uncertain moment in time.

Although many say that 'all politics is local', still and all, determination of who controls Congress and who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Blvd. will have impacts close to home &endash; perhaps most especially in regards to environmental policy. Secretary of the Interior, heads of US Forest Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, EPA are just a few of the leadership positions that hang in the balance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Sierra Club's endorsed candidate, Al Gore, will be the person making those appointments.

In state elections, all of our Redwood Chapter region Club endorsed candidates were successful. Other good news - Proposition 37, the 'Polluter Protection act' was defeated. See Peter Ashcroft's excellent summary of Sonoma Group election results. The defeat of Sonoma County's Rural Heritage Initiative was a disappointment, but certainly not a complete loss. I'd like to second Peter's thanks to the many volunteers who worked long and hard on the campaign.

Speaking of elections, our Chapter and Group executive committee member elections are at hand. Candidate statements are included in this Needles. The ballot is a separate insert this time. Please take a moment to read the statements, cast your vote and mail in your ballot. Thanks to all the candidates for offering to serve on the Chapter and Group governing boards. Without their help the work of the local Sierra Club simply wouldn't get done.

Holiday season is upon us &endash; Thanksgiving and then the winter holidays. It's a good time to say thanks once again to ALL our members. Thank you for choosing to support Sierra Club's work to protect the environment. We'll be sending out a survey sometime in the next few months to get your opinions about Club operations. I hope you'll take the time to respond and let us know what you think.

Lastly, I'd like to wish you all a joyous holiday season. There's a lot of pressure at this time of year from our culture at large and most prominently from advertising to turn us all into "consumers." It almost seems it's our patriotic duty to spend. We must, above all, keep the economy booming. I wish everyone the best with finding creative ways to engage in the joy of giving while keeping the consequences to the earth and our fellow living beings at a minimum. Here in the Redwood Empire, we're fortunate to have a bounty of locally grown and produced items from which to choose. (Looking for RHI friendly wine? See www.ruralheritage.net.) One of my co-workers is giving memberships in environmentally and socially responsible organizations (Sierra Club, anyone?) I gave florescent light bulbs one year &endash; pushing the envelope perhaps!

And we all know that giving our time, our friendship, our caring and our love are the most cherished gifts of all. These gifts cause no harm and generate the positive ripples in the world that lead the way for the positive changes we're all hoping for.

Peace on earth, goodwill to all,

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