Quick 5 questions for Melissa Hope with the Sierra Club

1 What is the Sierra Club?

The Sierra Club, founded in 1892, is America’s most effective advocate for the environment locally and globally. A volunteer organization, the club’s 65 chapters and more than 400 local groups nationwide possess the unique ability to empower people and influence public policy through community activism, public education, lobbying and litigation.

2 How does the Sierra Club help area communities in Missouri as well as

throughout the United States?

Sierra Club members work to protect Missouri communities utilizing grassroots activism and organizing public education activities, lobbying at the state legislature and when necessary, initiating public interest

litigation. We are your friends and neighbors working to influence public policy in our local communities and statewide concerning many environmental issues including clean air and energy, clean water and preserving wild places.

3 How can people become involved in conservation efforts?

As a member there are many opportunities to get involved with local groups, state chapter efforts or as part of the largest national network of environmental advocates. ...You can also check out Sierra Club’s main Web site, www.sierraclub.org, to find out about our national priorities and then check local group Web sites to see what is going on closer to home. In the Kansas City area, the Thomas Hart Benton Group is on the Web at www.missouri.sierraclub.org/thb.

4 What initiatives are the Sierra Club working on currently to help

the environment?

Sierra Club is working on three main conservation initiatives that are translated into local action all over the United States – Smart Energy Solutions, America’s Wild Legacy and Safe and Healthy Communities. In Missouri, volunteers are engaged across the state working on issues in their local community – water quality, clean air, climate change response, promoting clean and renewable energy, Missouri River flood plain protection, lead contamination issues, habitat and flood plain restoration, protecting Missouri forests and wild places, protecting he Ozark National Scenic Riverways, protecting water and air from factory farm pollution, etc. In the Kansas City area, the local group has adopted Hidden Valley Natural Area. The Group organizes work days and provides volunteers to work on projects to protect and restore the bio-diversity and unique character of this area.

5 What is the single most important practice people can engage in to help the conserve their environment?

Take the initiative – get involved. ...Taking the initiative to protect our health, our environment, our most cherished and beautiful places and the Earth for future generations can involve many small steps as well as a communitywide effort to value and protect that which we hold dear. The Sierra Club believes that the most pressing environmental issue of our time is global warming. And that nothing will influence the future of our planet, the security of our nation, our economic stability or the health of our air water and wildlands more than the way we produce and consume energy. So, given that it is vitally important that we all take steps to reduce our energy use, at home, at work in our communities, etc.