Wherever Reggie, the Republicans’ 80,000-pound voter-registration rig, goes, Heidi the Hybrid is on his tail. While Reggie’s staff
signs up new voters, Heidi’s Sierra Student Coalition "pit crew" (including Katya Hafich, 18, at right) points out that the gas-guzzling truck and the Bush
administration both foul the air.
What if you could vote more than once this November? You can’t stuff the ballot box, but you can increase your electoral power by spreading the word about the
candidates’ records on important environmental issues, and by encouraging your fellow environmentalists to go to the polls.
The Sierra Club’s Environmental Voter Education Campaign has been doing just that since 1996. This year’s program focuses on ten areas--the state of New
Hampshire; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tampa Bay, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas and
Reno, Nevada; and Portland, Oregon--where environmentalists’ votes can make the biggest difference in presidential and congressional races.
You don’t have to live in one of those places to have an impact. Local chapters and groups around the country will be organizing phone trees and mailing parties to
reach out to Sierra Club members and other like-minded potential voters in the targeted areas. You can even donate your cell-phone minutes to the cause. The truly
committed can travel to a nearby state during one of the Club’s volunteer-to-volunteer weekends (the first is scheduled for September 18 and 19) to talk to their
fellow citizens face-to-face. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of doors to knock on for everyone.
--Jennifer Hattam
Take Action: Learn more about the Club’s election activities by visiting www.sierraclubvotes.org. Then join the outreach effort by sending your name, address,
phone number, and e-mail address to road.somewhere@sierraclub.org. We’ll let you know where your help is needed the most.
Express Yourself: To make your voice count on environmental issues, we recommend that you write or call (rather than e-mail) your national elected officials at:
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
U.S. Capitol Switchboard
(202) 224-3121
Take action: Visit the Sierra Club’s Web site at www.sierraclub.org/takeaction, where you can sign up for the Take Action Network to send free messages to your elected
officials.
For the inside story about Club conservation campaigns and how you can help, ask for a free subscription to the bimonthly print newsletter the Planet. Send an
e-mail to activist.desk@sierraclub.org, or write to the Office of Volunteer and Activist Services, 85 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94105-3459.
Our Ears Are Burning
"The obstacle to achieving good environmental results is that the money that pays for political campaigns comes so overwhelmingly from industries that profit from
exploitation of public resources.
"The only answer is people power and lots of it, led perhaps by the Sierra Club or the League of Conservation Voters.
"I’d like to think that moderate Republicans can recapture control of the Grand Old Party and once again work in concert with Democrats, the Greens and everyone
else to save this old Earth before it’s too late." — former representative Pete McCloskey (R-Calif.), in an opinion piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 18, 2004.
"A former Cowlitz County commissioner who pushed for the study...expressed disappointment that lobbying by the Sierra Club appeared to have had ‘more
power than the state legislature.’ "
— Clark County (Wash.) Columbian, April 1, 2004. On March 31, Governor Gary Locke vetoed the additional economic study of a tabled plan to extend the
Spirit Lake Memorial Highway across the pumice plain of Mount St. Helens.
Spotlight Sierra Club activism in your area by writing to Reed McManus at Sierra, 85 Second St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-3459; e-mail
reed.mcmanus@sierraclub.org; fax (415) 977-5794.
Photo courtesy Sierra Student Coalition/Sierra Club Collection; all rights reserved.
Wherever Reggie, the Republicans’ 80,000-pound voter-registration rig, goes, Heidi the Hybrid is on his tail. While Reggie’s staff
signs up new voters, Heidi’s Sierra Student Coalition "pit crew" (including Katya Hafich, 18, at right) points out that the gas-guzzling truck and the Bush
administration both foul the air.