SA Winter 2021

 

The terrible ravages of the Covid pandemic and the threats to our democracy may leave us feeling overwhelmed and fractured in our daily focus and actions. 

 

There are cards on my refrigerator that I look at often but not often enough.

 

Wetlands are key coastal ecosystems that provide habitat for valued and protected wildlife. They also afford vital ecosystem services to humans, such as protection from storm surge, sea level rise and other effects of climate change. They absorb CO2 and other pollutants.

 

These benefits are particularly important for the Environmental Justice (EJ) community in Graniteville, Staten Island, which is adjacent to the Graniteville Wetland and Forest.

 

 

Sierra Atlantic readers are among the 3.8 million Sierra Club members and supporters whose dues and donations help to protect national monuments and national parks, defend the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, and put hundreds of coal-burning power plants on the path to replacement with clean energy, among other campaigns. Nationally, these projects have been combined with prioritizing environmental justice at all levels and actively pursuing anti-racism.

 

Our state and our nation are now linked in a common goal to forcefully struggle against climate change. Full electrification through renewable energy of all sectors — electric, transportation, heating and cooling of our buildings, and industry — will do much to counter global warming. The switch to renewables and energy efficiency will also improve public health and the environment.