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The Sierra Club

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The Sierra Club
POL 310
Prof. Troy Tureau
June 4, 2011

The Sierra Club is one of the largest, and most influential, grassroots environmental organizations in existence today. The Club was founded on May 24, 1892, in San Francisco, CA, by John Muir, who went on to become the Club’s first president. The Sierra Club has been committed to protecting wildlife, communities and, most importantly, this planet since its creation. The Sierra Club’s mission statement is: “To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives”. The Sierra Club boasts hundreds of thousands of members in chapters located throughout the United States. The Board of Directors is made up of fifteen volunteer members, who are all also club members. Each year, five members are elected to three-year terms and every club member is eligible to vote. The president is elected annually and receives a small stipend. Generally, chapters are located state-wide except California, which has fourteen chapters. Membership in the club has different prices based on the level of membership chosen. Membership levels vary from basic, which costs fifteen dollars, to life membership, which is also broken up into two levels. The single life membership is $1000.00, while a joint life membership costs $1250.00. Most Sierra Club members serve as volunteers, but there are about 500 members who do receive compensation. Many of the paid staff members work at the national headquarters in San Francisco, while others work in the lobbying office in Washington, D.C. and in numerous state and regional offices. The Sierra Club deals with numerous environmental issues and has official policies that can be grouped into the following seventeen categories: agriculture, biotechnology, energy, environmental justice, forest and wilderness management, global issues, government and political issues, land management, military issues, nuclear issues, oceans, pollution and waste management, precautionary principle, transportation, urban and land use policies, water resources, and wildlife conservation. Currently, the Sierra Club is working towards reversing global warming and creating a clean, renewable energy future. The issue of global warming has been a hot button issue for the Sierra Club since its creation. The Club has worked with the world’s foremost climate scientists, engineers, and energy experts to develop the Climate Recovery Agenda. The Climate Recovery Agenda is “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”. The Sierra Club definitely has what is needed to be successful in the public policy arena. The Club is dedicated to ensuring that our planet and its resources are protected and preserved. The Sierra Club is a very well-known and well-established interest group and serves as a great representation of the community, with its impressive amount of volunteers. The Sierra Club has an impressive track record lobbying for environmental change. The Sierra Club has made great progress in the past 118 years and should have no problem continuing its excellent work over the next 100 years.

References Smith, Z.A. (2009). The Environmental Policy Paradox (5th ed.) Pearson-Prentice Hall The Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/

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