1 PEATDUSTER - Sierra Club€¦ · 1 PEATDUSTER Volume 48 Number 3 P-1 Printed on Recycled Electrons August & September 2017 ... this event and we hope you will come to our booth

1

PEATDUSTER

Volume 48 Number 3 P-1 Printed on Recycled Electrons August & September 2017

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.

Newsletter for the Delta-Sierra Group, Mother Lode Chapter

Visit us at www.sierraclub.org/mother-lode/delta-sierra

2

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.


MEETINGS and EVENTS

All Delta-Sierra Group general meetings are open to everyone whether you are a Sierra Club member or not. Meetings are held in the Fireside Room at the Central United Methodist Church, 3700 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, across from the University of Pacific Tower.

Monday, August 28 at 7 pm Ryan Mykita with “Wild Utah – America’s Redrock Wilderness”

What’s at risk for threatened wildlands in the heart of the Colorado Plateau? Since 1983, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has been the only independent organization working full time to defend America’s redrock wilderness from oil and gas development, unnecessary road construction, rampant off-road vehicle use, and other threats to Utah’s wilderness-quality lands.

SUWA Photo

3



Our protected lands are being seriously threatened by our elected officials, and it is up to each and every one of us to take action. This is a multi-media presentation about the 23 million acres under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction in Utah that hold nearly half a million archeological sites - from cliff dwellings to kivas to rock art. Come to enjoy, and plan to go away inspired to take action. Photo: Scott Groene SUWA.

You can meet this rare bird at the Micke Grove Zoo. Delta-Sierra Group will be there August 12. Please see the next article. This little guy is called a Spotted Dikkop.

4



August 12 - 60th Anniversary!

The Micke Grove Zoo will host a celebration of its 60th Anniversary on August 12th from 11 am-3 pm. The Delta-Sierra Group will be tabling at this event and we hope you will come to our booth to visit or consider tabling with us for a short shift. Please contact Margo Praus at

[email protected]

The Micke Grove Zoo that exists today is very different from the zoo that first opened its gates in 1957. It covers a five acre site with amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates and emphasizes uniqueness and quality over size and quantity. There is a concentration on the welfare of the animal ambassadors that live here.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums facilitate the breeding of threatened and endangered wildlife that are on the verge of going extinct in the wild. Micke Grove Zoo is one of many zoos which has the opportunity to be involved in their programs.

In 2013 alone, the zoo successfully bred golden-lion tamarins, Chilean pudu and Waldrapp ibis all threatened or critically endangered species. The zoo is also involved in the breeding of several other threatened species such as the Prevost’s squirrel, marbled teal, western pond turtle and spotted dikkop.

Micke Grove Zoo is passionate about the contribution it makes to conserve wildlife and uses every opportunity to educate students and zoo visitors on wildlife issues.

For more info about the many events for this anniversary year go to

http://www.mgzoo.com/zoo/micke-grove/default.htm

5



International Coastal Cleanup Day

Saturday, September 16 9:00 am-12 noon Ocean trash is a serious pollution problem that affects the health of people, wildlife and local economies. Even though we are inland and don't live near the beach, trash travels downstream via inland waterways, storm drains, sewers, and then, if not removed, this debris will end up in the ocean. Join the world’s largest volunteer effort for our ocean and waterways by participating in the International Coastal Cleanup event. Our local group will again focus on the northwest corner of the Calaveras River and Pacific Avenue. If you'd like to participate, contact Margo Praus at [email protected] or Dick Abood at [email protected]

6



We are showing THE BURDEN Monday, September 25 at 7 pm

The Burden: Fossil Fuels, the Military & National Security is the first feature-length documentary of its kind to convey how our dependence on fossil fuel threatens our national security and puts the lives of our men and women in uniform deployed around the world at greater risk. And it shows how the military is posed to lead development of new clean energy technology.

There is no question that the United States is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Specifically, the Department of Defense is the largest institutional consumer of fuel in the world. Our dependence on fossil fuels makes us extremely vulnerable to the volatile prices of the global market and puts the lives of our servicemen and women at greater risk to secure those resources.

The US consumes one-fifth of the world's oil. The US military is the world's largest institutional consumer of petroleum. Every $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil costs the US military $130 million. 50% of all convoy loads is fuel. A tanker truck averages 5 miles per gallon.

7


Volume 46 Number 4 P- 7 Printed on Recycled Electrons August & September 2017

This promises to be a terrific discussion about the military's clean energy demands and the innovation that industry can supply. For the Department of Defense, energy security means having assured access to reliable sources and the ability to protect and deliver sufficient energy to meet operational needs. The military is leading the world in developing clean energy technology in order to meet those needs.

Please visit www.theburdenfilm.com to view the trailer.

8



CELEBRATING 125 YEARS Exploring, Enjoying, and Protecting our Planet

For 125 years the Sierra Club has been at the forefront of the outdoor advocacy movement and with over 2.4 million supporters and members, it is the largest and most influential grassroots conservation organization. It is dedicated to celebrating a passion for exploring, enjoying, and protecting the outdoors.

Founded in San Francisco in 1892 by Scottish-born conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club's original mission was to protect California's Sierra Nevada Mountains from excessive mining and logging. Among its first major achievements were protecting Yosemite National Park and establishing Sequoia National Park, home to the giant trees that are the largest living things on Earth.

Arguably the Sierra Club’s most renowned preservation victory was leading the fight to prevent the Grand Canyon from being dammed in the 1960s. The ensuing years saw the organization broaden its mission to protecting clean air, clean water, and endangered species, and in the 21st century it is spearheading the effort to transition the United States from climate-disrupting fossil fuels to clean, renewable sources of energy. The Sierra Club today counts 3 million members and supporters in 64 chapters, in every state plus Puerto Rico.

Actress Shailene Woodley speaks onstage during the Sierra Club's 125th Anniversary Trail Blazers Ball at Innovation Hangar on May 18, 2017 in San Francisco, California.

9



CONTACT YOUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES

Donald Trump The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 Comment Phone: (202) 456-1111 Switchboard Phone: (202) 456-1414

Email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Senator Member Dianne Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3841 Email:

www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

Senator Member Kamala Harris 112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3553

Email: www.harris.senate.gov/content/contact-senator

House Member Jerry McNerney Washington, DC Office, 2265 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. Phone: (202) 225-1947

Stockton Office, 2222 Grand Canal Boulvard # 7, Stockton, CA 95207 Phone: (209) 476-8552

Email: https://mcnerney.house.gov/contact/email-me

10



CONTACT CALIFORNIA STATE REPRESENTATIVES

California Governor Governor Jerry Brown

Office of the Governor, State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 9581 Phone: (916) 445-2841 Email: https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov39mail/

Senator Member Cathleen Galgiani (State Senate District 5 Lodi, Stockton, Tracy & Manteca Areas)

Capitol Office, State Capitol, Room 5097, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 651-4005

Stockton District Office, 31 East Channel Ste 440, Stockton, CA 95202 Phone: (209) 948-7930

Email: http://sd05.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail

Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman (State Assembly District 13 Stockton & Tracy Area)

Capitol Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0013 Phone: (916) 319-2013 Fax: (916) 319-2113

District Office: 31 East Channel Street, Suite 306, Stockton, CA 95202 Phone: (209) 948-7479 Email: https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD13

11



CONTACT CALIFORNIA STATE REPRESENTATIVES

Assembly Member Jim Cooper (State Assembly District 9 Lodi Area)

Capitol Office: State Capitol, Room 6025. Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 319-2009 District Office: 9250 Laguna Springs Drive, Suite 220, Elk Grove, CA 95758 Phone: (916) 670-7888

Email: http://www.cooperforassembly.com/contact/

Assembly Member Heath Flora (State Assembly District 12 Manteca Area)

Capitol Office: State Capital, Room 3149, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0012 Phone: (916) 319-2012

District Office: 3719 Tully Road, Suite C, Modesto, CA 95356 Phone: (209) 576-6425

Email: https://ad12.asmrc.org (Go to “EMAIL US” on this page.)

12



From the Editor:

“Who writes his speeches?” Yes, I was

shouting at my television as I watched Trump disgrace America as he read his speech which trashed America’s role in the Paris Climate Accord. The next day I sat down and expressed my frustrations for this issue of the Peatduster. You wouldn’t be interested now. Does anyone expect the master of discord, destruction, dysfunction, division and chaos to change after nearly seven months in office? Trump made a mistake. He will make many more. For Trump, every day is a winding road.

Delegates from 195 countries signed the accord. One country dropped out making the score 194 to 1. Two countries did not sign - Syria and Nicaragua. Yes, North Korea also signed it. Sierra Club created a webpage listing 10 Things You Can Do to Resist Trump’s Historic Paris Mistake. You can find in the link below. Two of the things mentioned is to call and write to your congress persons. We have provided contact information in this issue. We suggest you take the high road and be nice. Your call, email or letter will probably be reviewed by an aide and be among hundreds, if not thousands of calls and correspondence. It would probably be helpful to keep it brief and focus on just one issue. You may want to ask for a reply.

http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2017/06/10-things-you-can-do-resist-trump-s-historic-paris-mistake Editor’s Note: This might not open in Safari. If so, please try a different browser.

13



The backlash started before Trump’s announcement. Thirty cities, three states, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 companies are part of a growing group intending to uphold the Paris Agreement. The billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is organizing the group. We also just learning that climate change will sharply boost the frequency of lethal heat waves even if humanity caps global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the core goal of the Paris Agreement according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Our little recent heat waves here in San Joaquin County may have been part of it. Nearly half the world's population will be exposed at least once a year to bouts of heat and humidity that have proven deadly in the past. The scientists searched available online databases for peer-reviewed publications on heat-related mortality published between 1980 and 2014. From over 30,000 relevant references, they identified 911 papers that included data on 1,949 case studies of cities or regions where excess mortality was associated with high temperatures. I don’t think this is fake news, do you?

Who’s on the cover?

Some of the following might have been called conservationists or preservationists, but they all are associated with the planet’s welfare. They include Al Gore, Bhagat Puran Singh, Jacque Cousteau, David Bower, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Edward Abbey, John Audubon, John Muir, Killroy, Leonrdo Dicapio, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel Carson, Woody Guthrie, Michael Brune, President Obama, Robert Redford, David Attenborough, Gaylord Nelson, Loren Legarda, David Mayer de Rothchild, Maathai Wangar, George Perkins Marsh, Jane Goodall, Faceless Man and Faceless Woman representing the additional millions of us environmentalists who are concerned about climate change. Mentioning Woody Guthrie might be a stretch, but his songs Pastures Of Plenty and This Land Is Your Land certainly meet the spirit of our philosophical doctrine.

14



The article about 125th celebration of the Sierra Club does not mention all the smaller victories we have accomplished. Within our own boundaries under the leadership of Dale Stocking, Delta Sierra Group stopped the privatization of the City of Stockton’s water system. Former Mayor Gary Podesto rammed it through city council only to lose to a Sierra Club lawsuit. In doing so, we set a precedent for other cities to follow.

Michael Brune who is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club makes it clear in the July/August issue of Sierra that our battles have expanded in recent times. It used to be that the issues were easier to define: clean air, clean water, sprawl, clear cutting. Now they are more complex because human rights and the environment are strongly connected. He says, “The board and I are convinced that if the Sierra Club ignored ‘nonenvironmental’ issues, our mission of protecting the environment would be far more difficult, if not impossible.”

“Think about this classic insight of John Muir and one of his foundational principles of ecology: When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. We don't want to be the tree huggers who don't see the whole forest. And by forest, I don't just mean the rest of the trees—I mean the whole ecosystem, from owls to epiphytes.”

“The Sierra Club is part of a network of progressive change-makers, including communities of color, advocates for women's rights, scientists, immigrants, Muslims, Native Americans, LGBTQ individuals, union workers, and many more. Just as we can't protect the forest by focusing only on the trees, we can't defend the environment by shutting ourselves up in a big, green box labeled environmental issues."

Editor’s Note: An epiphyte is a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic, such as the numerous ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids growing on tree trunks in tropical rainforests. You can find the current issue of Sierra and past issues at this

link: https://sierraclub.org/sierra then click on Magazine.

15



Jeff Orlowski directed a new film called Chasing Coral soon to be released. In 2012 he released his documentary film, Chasing Ice. This new film tells the story of a three year effort to capture the loss of the world’s coral reefs through time-lapse, underwater photography and focuses on the process called coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is happening more often as climate change raises the temperature of oceans, which have absorbed more than 90 percent of the heat created by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

When ocean water becomes too warm, corals become stressed and expel the algae living in their tissue causing the coral to turn completely white. What you see is the skeleton underneath. In 2016, we lost 29 percent of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

So 29 percent of the Great Barrier Reef died in a single year, because the water was hot. While that is a scary estimation, close to half of the corals on the Great Barrier Reef have died in a period of about 18 months says Terry Hughes, director of the

Coral Reef Center at James Cook University in Townsville. "This is the new normal."

Many think of vibrantly colored coral as an example of natural beauty. But in fact, these are early signs that the coral is dying. It turns out a reef filled with neon coral is not normal. Healthy coral is usually earth-toned. The bright pinks, blues and yellows these tourists see in their dives along the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef are the first signs that coral is dying.

Photos: White Coral - Chelsea Malayny/NPR Red Coral - Kyle Taylor/Flickr

16



Stockton, Modesto and Sonora Sierra Club Find us at: http://www.meetup.com/S-M-S-SierraClub

We have been in operation since October 2011 and we now have 1342 members. You can find our local Sierra Club activities posted there.

17

Executive Committee with Email Addresses Chair - Margo Praus [email protected] Cell: 209-670-4442 Vice Chair & Membership Chair: Paul Plathe [email protected] Secretary & Program Chair: Margo Praus [email protected] Treasurer & Chapter Delegate: Richard R Abood [email protected] Conservation Chair - Open Alternate Chapter Delegate: Margo Praus [email protected] Executive Member: Knute Momberg [email protected] Newsletter: Robert Evans [email protected] Your name could be here! We need your help! You can see some of us are filling too many spots! Contact any one of us to learn more.



18

DELTA-SIERRA GROUP P.O. BOX 9258 STOCKTON, CA 95208


The human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive. Steven Hawking

Please recycle the Peatduster by sending an email copy to your friends.

THE LAST PAGE

Documents

1 PEATDUSTER - Sierra Club€¦ · 1 PEATDUSTER Volume 48 Number 3 P-1 Printed on Recycled Electrons August & September 2017 ... this event and we hope you will come to our booth