haring-economy services like Lyft, Uber, and Airbnb are often touted as being good for the environment, but it's tough to find actual data to back up those claims.
No More Offshore Drilling
The Obama administration has withdrawn its plan to allow drilling off our Atlantic coast, but it has yet to decide whether oil and gas drilling will be allowed in the Arctic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico between 2017 and 2022. The decision will have far-reaching consequences for years to come.
Tell the Obama administration that you oppose any new offshore oil and gas drilling.
Let the NPS Celebration Begin
Join the Sierra Club as we kick off 100 outings during the month of April to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. From birding in Big Bend National Park in Texas to bike riding in Los Angeles or learning about national park photography in Atlanta, we've pulled together a wealth of ways to get outside this Earth Month. And as part of our effort to encourage everyone to find their park, the Sierra Club is also launching a national parks sweepstakes.
Follow @sierraclub on Instagram and post a photo of your favorite park or outdoor space with the hashtags #FindYourPark and #SierraOutside for a chance to win outdoor gear and other prizes.
Learn more about our sweepstakes, prizes, and how to enter!
How Green Is My Uber?
Sharing-economy services like Lyft, Uber, and Airbnb are often touted as being good for the environment, but it's tough to find actual data to back up those claims. In fact, it appears the opposite may be true. Could they actually be increasing consumption, congestion, and carbon emissions?
Sierra magazine reports.
A Life Well Lived
Glen Dawson joined the Sierra Club in 1921 and remained an active member up until his death last month in Pasadena, California, at age 103. An accomplished rock climber and mountaineer and an antiquarian bookseller and publisher by trade, Dawson was considered the leading Southern California rock climber of the 1930s. He participated in many first ascents, including the East Face of Mt. Whitney in 1931, and like many Sierra Club climbers, he served in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II. Dawson served on the Club's board of directors for 14 years, between 1937 and 1951.
Read more and see photos of this Sierra Club mountaineering legend in action.
Glen Dawson at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, in 1930. Photo by Ansel Adams
Hundreds of Action-Packed Outings
Summer may still be a ways off, but we've got plenty of active adventures to keep your blood pumping. With hundreds of options to choose from -- including Alaska, Hawaii, the Lower 48, and beyond -- there's something here to satisfy just about everyone. Here are a few ideas to whet your appetite:
- Enjoy family activities on scenic Cape Cod, Massachusetts
- Scuba dive and collect scientific data in California's Monterey Bay
- Explore culture and history on a hiking tour of the Greek Islands
- Cruise, kayak, and view glaciers in Alaska’s Prince William Sound
Photo by Velma Matuszewski
Inspiring Connections
Debra Asher, one of the Sierra Club's longest-serving staffers and manager of the Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) program for 28 years, retired last month. ICO (formerly known as Inner City Outings) helps thousands of young people who might not have easy access to outdoor experiences connect with nature. When Asher was hired as the first full-time support staffer for the program, there were fewer than a dozen ICO groups. Today there are more than 50 in 26 states and in Washington, D.C.
We spoke with Debra about her personal journey and the importance of the ICO program to young people.
3 Books to Help You Spring Into Gardening
With spring in full flower, it's time to roll up your sleeves, grab a trowel, and do some reading to help you choose the best plants for your climate and lifestyle. Sierra magazine has reviewed three books for gardeners of all stripes, from total novices to green-thumbed experts -- including one on rooftop gardening.
Read on and reboot your garden.
Recognize History With a National Monument
America's national monuments include both natural and historical landmarks, and as the National Park Service turns 100, it wants to be even more inclusive with the stories it tells. There's a great opportunity to do that right now at New York City's Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.
Urge President Obama to secure an everlasting legacy for this landmark by creating a Stonewall National Monument.
Restoring Arid Lands
Even in the driest lands on earth, plant life manages to take root and thrive, though it can take decades or even centuries for "biocrust" to regrow if hikers ignore the warning to not "bust the crust." Environmental and science writer Katherine Mast explains the mechanics of biocrust and cyanobacteria that live in the desert Southwest, and interviews scientists who are researching ways to restore this indispensable element of desert ecosystems.
Find out more -- it's anything but dry reading.
Healthy biocrusts cover this plot of earth in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. | Photo courtesy of Bill Bowman (University of Colorado) and Scott Ferrenberg (USGS Moab)
A Special Herd
Cownose rays are found in Atlantic waters from New England to Brazil. When photographer Sandra Critelli encountered a migration off the coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, "It was like watching millions of fall leaves moving with the wind."
See the image she captured for Sierra magazine's "Last Words."
"Squeaky Clean" Air Travel
The best way to never worry about your carbon emissions from air travel is to never travel by air. For most folks, though, that's not practical. So here's the next best way: Follow Mr. Green's simple formula for making sure you really offset your air-travel miles (that's because most carbon-offset calculators underestimate flight emissions).
Get the secret to "squeaky clean" flying here.
Illustration by Little Friends of Printmaking
Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline
According to a report released last week by the Sierra Club, CoalSwarm, and Greenpeace, building all currently proposed coal plants worldwide would cost nearly a trillion dollars -- more than one-and-a-half times what the International Energy Agency estimates it would cost to provide electricity to the 1.2 billion people worldwide who lack it. Although coal use has been declining around the world for the past two years, the coal industry continues to ignore the trend and propose new coal plants.
Read our blog post about the report.
Taking the Climate Fight to Washington
Volunteers and staff with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign convened in Washington, D.C., last month for in-person meetings with members of Congress, urging them to support strong EPA pollution standards and climate protections. Beyond Coal director Mary Anne Hitt was among the activists asking their U.S. representative and senators to fully fund the agency and support workers and communities making the transition to a clean energy economy.
Read Hitt's account of what went down.
Photo by Jim Dougherty
Protect Florida's Manatees
In the last five years, nearly 3,000 endangered manatees have died in Florida's waters. That’s an average of more than one manatee a day, and there are only about 5,000 Florida manatees left in the wild. Many commercial and boating interests claim that the restrictions and policies put in place to protect the manatees, such as slow speed zones, "are too strict," so they continue to exert legal pressure to remove them.
Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stand up for Florida’s manatees.
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