The Planet

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- John Byrne Barry, managing editor, the Planet

Democracy Breaks Out
at Sierra Summit

Hope Surfaces in Katrina's Wake

Hurricane devastation affects Club members, communities they work to protect

by BECKY GILLETTE

I stayed at home in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, for Hurricane Katrina. I questioned the wisdom of this when the Gulf of Mexico came into my living room.

I was lucky. I had only a foot of flooding and a few thousand dollars in uninsured damages. I can still live in my home. Many of my neighbors weren’t so fortunate. FEMA estimates that 300,000 households in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama were displaced by Katrina. MORE

Snapshots from the Summit

'Democracy breaks out' at largest-ever Sierra Club gathering

Attendees of the Sierra Summit September 8-11, 2005 in San Francisco were treated to barnstorming speeches from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Al Gore, 50-odd program sessions, the direction-setting process, outings, and an exposition hall bursting with green products and ideas. Far too much was going on for us to offer anything more than a representative slice.

Political Will Is a Renewable Resource
Al Gore urges 'moral action' to address global warming

Taking Money from Criminals
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., calls for separation of corporation, media, and state

Democracy Breaks Out
Summit delegates choose 'New Energy Future' as grassroots top priority

[Click on images for more]

A Better Legacy

Sierra Club secures historic agreement in Legacy Highway battle

by TOM VALTIN

The Club scored a major victory on September 21 in its 8-year fight to find a better solution to Salt Lake City’s traffic woes than the $700 million Legacy Highway when Utah Governor John Huntsman, the Utah Department of Transportation, the Sierra Club, and Utahns for Better Transportation agreed to shelve the highway in favor of a Legacy Parkway & Preserve. All that remains is for the state legislature to OK the financial aspects of the deal. MORE