July 2020 Great Falls Group Cascade
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Message From the Chair
In this
Cascade
issue we have included a polling feature which, with your participation, will make future issues more relevant to you.
Also, we added a permanent “Useful Links” section. Just before that section, at the end, p
lease give us your feedback to the polling so we can improve the Cascade for you.
Would you like to know what your other fellow members have been doing for the last 3 months? Then read a summary of our GFG activities below. We can always use more volunteers to help us with future activities.
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Significant Events Calendar
July 1 -
Robeson Rises
: Virtual Film Screening and Panel Discussion (pipelines)
July 16
-
Koch at George Mason University: A Community Response
Aug.11
- Virtual Offshore Wind Lunch & Learn
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Source: Dave Parrish photography
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Debra Jacobson Accepts Award
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Debra Jacobson, J.D., received a Sustainability Champions award from Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions
on
June 4 for her excellent clean energy advocacy
. Here are Debra’s
remarks
and the award ceremony
link
.
The
June Cascade
contained an article about the awards ceremony.
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Debra Jacobson, Great Falls Group
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The Great Falls Group May Be Reorganizing
The Sierra Club Great Falls Group (GFG), is considering reorganizing and renaming itself. What this means for you is that there are opportunities for you to get involved, use your skills, and make your voice heard in your local and regional area.
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Are you interested in participating in the reorganization?
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Koch at George Mason University: A Community Response
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WHEN:
Thursday, July 16, 7- 8:30 pm
WHERE:
RSVP
for this
online event.
DETAILS: George Mason University hosts three Koch-funded research institutes that many feel are destroying our democracy. From leading the charge against Medicare for All and promoting inaction on climate change to training judges to issue longer prison sentences and overturn regulations protecting workers and the environment, these programs are harming our communities.
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Virtual Offshore Wind Lunch & Learn
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WHEN: Tuesday, Aug.11; 12 noon
WHERE:
RSVP
for this
online event.
DETAILS: Want to learn about the relationship between clean energy and climate change? Want to learn about offshore wind generally? This is the meeting for you! Learn about the offshore wind farm that will be built off the coast of Virginia Beach, what wind turbines are, and why wind energy is important. Join us for entry-level information to introduce you to these exciting developments!
SPONSOR: Sierra Club/Virginia Chapter
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Source: Sierra Club Virginia Chapter
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Power for the People Virginia
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Ivy Main, Conservation Co-Chair & Renewable Energy Chair
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Recent posts from Ivy Main's blog on energy-related matters in Virginia.
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Is this blog interesting to you?
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There were encouraging responses to the survey sent out by the Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Group (CECAP). The responses showed strong support for an aggressive "green" agenda for Fairfax County, with target goals to be met every five years. The next (virtual) meeting will be the evening of July 29.
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Voter Turnout Drive
Sierra Independent Action is running a massive voter contact program focusing on the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Through its vast network, the Sierra Club has identified 1.3 million voters in those states who care about the environment, but who are either undecided or vote infrequently. The Sierra Club needs your help to get these voters motivated!
Find out how you can reach voters by writing letters, making phone calls, or sending text messages.
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Do you want to get involved by writing, calling, or texting members?
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Absentee Voting
Virginia Conservation Network's Victoria Higgins, Field Manager, provided information on absentee voting. The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the November 3 general election is 5pm on Friday, October 23.
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We should be seeing construction starting on the “new” Gabrielson Bridge -- a project strongly advocated for by Sierra Club members -- around the July time frame! Final permitting, fabricating and delivery of the bridge can take some time - two to three months is a fair estimate - so FCPA projects completion in the October/November timeframe.
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Gabrielson Bridge will be similar to the Canterbury Woods Bridge
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Robeson Rises
: Virtual Film Screening and Panel Discussion
WHEN: Wednesday, July 1; 6:30-8:00 pm
WHERE:
RSVP
for webinar link
DETAILS: Join the Sierra Club/Virginia Chapter for a free film screening of
Robeson Rises.
It will be followed by a group discussion from panelists fighting pipelines across VA, NC and WV, with a Q&A period afterwards. The film, by Michael Pogoloff, is a project of EcoRobeson, Appalachian Voices and Green Hero Films. We are honored to have as panelists: Donna Chavis of Lumberton, NC (Atlantic Coast Pipeline); Alma White of Chesapeake, VA (Southside Connector); La'Veesha Allen Rollins of Charles City County (Header Improvement Project, C4GT, Chickahominy Gas Plants); Lynn Wilson of Mechanicsille, VA (Header Improvement Project); Chad Oba of Buckingham, VA (Atlantic Coast Pipeline); and Maury Johnson of Monroe, WV (Mountain Valley Pipeline).
SPONSOR: Hosted by Sierra Club/Virginia Chapter and Working Films
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Letters to the Editor Zoom Parties
Letters to the editor (LTEs) raise public awareness on issues. Often the editorial page, with its LTEs, is the most read section of the paper. Elected officials ask their staff to read LTEs to learn what issues are important to their constituents. Learn about upcoming monthly LTE Zoom parties and more on writing LTEs.
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Focus on Plastics: Opportunities to Learn and Engage
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Two recent programs/series about the ongoing plastics problems and the challenges and strategies to address them have been released for viewing:
The Story of Plastic
and
Tackling the A-Z Impacts of Plastic Digital Series.
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Is this plastics article interesting to you?
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Michael Moore:
Planet of the Humans
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Here are two takes on the film,
Planet of the Humans, which has caused some controversy in its depiction of the environmental movement, its activists, and renewable energy.
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Did you enjoy reading about Planet of the Humans?
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The Doomsday Report: ‘Collapse of Civilization is the Most likely Outcome’: Top Climate Scientists
An article by Asher Moses, June 8, 2020, summarizes the view espoused by an increasing number of climate scientists that the risk of catastrophic, irreversible climate disaster is rising precipitously. According to experts, we are rapidly reaching the point where we could see a tipping point, pushing the Earth’s system onto a “hothouse” pathway that humans would have no further power to prevent. Humans may survive but we will destroy much of what we have built up over the past 2000 years. Drastic action, including a shifting of our entire economic system away from the capitalist model, is necessary to avoid the worst outcome. The article concludes that "technology and economics win, not environmentalism." The article makes for important reading and can be found
here
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DId you find the Doomsday Report informative?
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Your response to the polling
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Did you find the polling feature helpful to give us feedback?
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COVID-19
As we all deal with a global pandemic with COVID-19, we wanted to let you know
how the Sierra Club is adapting and responding
so we can keep doing the important work of helping our communities, protecting our natural environment and fighting for a just, clean energy future.
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Ways to Stay in Touch with GFG
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Send comments or questions to the
editor
.
Thank you!
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