18 Mar 2013 Sierra Club

Posted at 21:50h in GroupSnoop by

Introduction

The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and largest environmental groups in the United States. The Sierra Club promotes anti-coal[1] , anti-natural gas[2]
and anti-oil[3] campaigns, under the theory that human activity is causing significant and dangerous global warming and promotes the strict regulation of government resources. The Sierra Club has a large membership that it keeps informed through a twice-monthly email newsletter,[4] its more than 12 blogs[5] and its Sierramagazine.[6]

History and Mission

John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892.[7] As of March 2013, the Sierra Club claimed a membership over 1.4 million.[8] On its website, the group states: “[s]ince 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.”[9]

Work

The Sierra Club works on six main programs: Beyond Coal, Beyond Oil, Beyond Natural Gas, Resilient Habitats, Protecting America’s Waters and Youth and Diversity.[10] The Sierra Club explains that the goal of these projects is “to reverse global warming and create a clean, renewable energy future. Working with some of the world’s top climate scientists, engineers, and energy experts, the Sierra Club has developed a Climate Recovery Agenda — a set of initiatives that will help cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create a clean-energy economy, and protect our natural heritage, communities, and country from the consequences of global warming.”[11]

Views on Technology

Former Sierra Club President David Bower once declared: “All technology should be assumed guilty until proven innocent.”[12] According to Discover the Networks, under Brower, “[t]he Sierra Club became a foe of development, portraying any new construction initiative as a greed-driven effort to exploit natural resources.”[13]

Litigation

The Sierra Club has used the legal system as a tool to achieve its goals.[14]

  • In March 2010, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit to halt the building of a shopping center in Lake County, California.[15] The elected officials of the County approved the project, but the Sierra Club objected and demanded an environmental impact study.[16]
  • According to Activist Cash, in 2000 and 2003, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity “sued the U.S. Department of the Interior to force ranching families out of the Mojave National Preserve. These ranchers actually owned grazing rights to the preserve; some families had been raising cattle there for over a century. No matter. Using the Endangered Species Act and citing the supposed loss of ‘endangered tortoise habitat,’ the Club was able to force the ranchers out.”[17]
  • As of March 2013, according to the Sierra Club, its legal efforts have “helped stop the construction of 150 proposed coal-fired power plants.”[18]

 

Funding

The Sierra Club has received funding from the following groups: the Pew Charitable Trusts,[19] the Joyce Foundation,[20] the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,[21] the Blue Moon Fund,[22] the David and Lucile Packard Foundation,[23] the Energy Foundation,[24] the Turner Foundation[25] and the Tides Foundation and Tides Center.[26]
In November 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that green-energy investor David Gelbaum has donated over $100 million to the Sierra Club in recent decades. [27] Additionally, in July 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s charity announced plans for a $50 million dollar donation to the Sierra Club’s “campaign to shut down coal-fired power plants.”[28]

In 2011, the Sierra Club had total revenues of $97,757,678.

Leadership Change and Internal Strife

In November 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope was stepping down amid internal discontent and dwindling membership.[29] Michael Brune, an activist who previously worked with Greenpeace and the Rainforest Action Network, replaced Pope. The Los Angeles Times reported, “[t]he departure of Carl Pope, 66, a member of the club for more than 40 years, comes as the nonprofit group faces declining membership, internal dissent, well-organized opponents, a weak economy and forces in Congress trying to take the teeth out of environmental regulations.”[30]

Leadership (as of March 2013)

Michael Brune, Executive Director (2011 Compensation, $208,066)
Robbie Cox, Board Member
Allison Chin, Board President
Aaron Mair, Board Member
Loius Barnes, CF Executive (2011 Compensation, $229,902)
Deborah Sorondo, Chief Operating Officer (2011 Compensation, $550,789)
Carl D. Pope, (former) Chairman (2011 Compensation $238,757)
Bruce Hamilton, Deputy Executive Director (2011 Compensation $211,055)
David Simon, Director of Information Technology, (2011 Compensation, $207,186)
Robert Sipchen, Director of Communications, (2011 Compensation, $222,278)

Contact Information
Sierra ClubNational Headquarters85 Second Street, 2nd FloorSan Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415-977-5500
Fax: 415-977-5799
Website: http://www.sierraclub.org/

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  1. ^ “Beyond Coal,” Sierra Club, available at http://beyondcoal.org/ as of March 18, 2013.
  2. ^ “Beyond Natural Gas,” Sierra Club, available at http://content.sierraclub.org/naturalgas/ as of March 18, 2013.
  3. ^ “Beyond Oil,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/oil/ as of March 18, 2013.
  4. ^ “Our Flagship Newsletter,” Sierra Club, available at http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Signup_Insider as of March 18, 2013.
  5. ^ “Sierra Club Blogs,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/blogs/ as of March 18, 2013.
  6. ^ “Sierra,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ as of March 18, 2013.
  7. ^ “Who Was John Muir?,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/about/ as of March 18, 2013.
  8. ^ “Welcome Center,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/welcome/ as of March 18, 2013.
  9. ^ Sierra Club (North Carolina Chapter Home), available at http://nc.sierraclub.org/whatwedo.html as of March 18, 2013.
  10. ^ “The Goals of the Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Partnership,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/goals/ as of March 18, 2013.
  11. ^ “The Goals of the Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Partnership,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/goals/ as of March 18, 2013.
  12. ^ “Sierra Club,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/194-sierra-club as of March 18, 2013.
  13. ^ “Sierra Club,” Discover the Networks, available at http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6930 as of March 18, 2013.
  14. ^ For a list of current and archived Sierra Club lawsuits, see, “Sierra Club Lawsuits,” available at http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/lawsuits/ as of March 18, 2013.
  15. ^ Elizabeth Larson, “Sierra Club Files Lawsuit over Lowe’s Project,” Lake County News, March 26, 2010, available at http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13224:sierra-club-files-lawsuit-over-lowes-project&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197 as of March 18, 2013.
  16. ^ Elizabeth Larson, “Sierra Club Files Lawsuit over Lowe’s Project,” Lake County News, March 26, 2010, available at http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13224:sierra-club-files-lawsuit-over-lowes-project&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197 as of March 18, 2013.
  17. ^ “Sierra Club,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/194-sierra-club as of March 18, 2013.
  18. ^ “Stopping the Coal Rush,” Sierra Club, available at http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/lawsuits/coal-rush.aspx as of March 18, 2013.
  19. ^ “Pew Charitable Trusts,” Activist Cash, available at http://www.activistcash.com/foundation.cfm?did=153 as of March 18, 2013.
  20. ^ “Joyce Foundation,” Activist Cash, available at http://www.activistcash.com/foundation.cfm?did=139 as of March 18, 2013
  21. ^ “Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/foundation/71-CharlesStewartMottFoundation/ as of March 18, 2013.
  22. ^ “Blue Moon Fund,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/foundation/41-BlueMoonFund/ as of March 18, 2013.
  23. ^ “David & Lucile Packard Foundation,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/foundation/80-DavidLucilePackardFoundation/ as of March 18, 2013.
  24. ^ “Energy Foundation,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/foundation/88-EnergyFoundation/ as of March 18, 2013.
  25. ^ “Turner Foundation,” Activist Cash, available at http://activistcash.com/foundation/99-TurnerFoundation/ as of March 18, 2013.
  26. ^ “Tides Foundation and Tides Center,” Discover the Networks, available at http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5184 as of March 18, 2013.
  27. ^ Louis Sahagun, “Sierra Club Leader Departs Amid Discontent over Group’s Direction,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2011, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-sierra-club-20111119,0,2052409.story as of March 18, 2013.
  28. ^ Louis Sahagun, “Sierra Club Leader Departs Amid Discontent over Group’s Direction,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2011, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-sierra-club-20111119,0,2052409.story as of March 18, 2013.
  29. ^ Louis Sahagun, “Sierra Club Leader Departs Amid Discontent over Group’s Direction,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2011, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-sierra-club-20111119,0,2052409.story as of March 18, 2013.
  30. ^ Louis Sahagun, “Sierra Club Leader Departs Amid Discontent over Group’s Direction,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2011, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-sierra-club-20111119,0,2052409.story as of March 18, 2013.


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