--- Carl Pope <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Date:         Thu, 20 Mar 2003 18:01:56 -0800
> From:         Carl Pope <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Our Role in a Time of War
> To:           [log in to unmask]
>
>
***************************GlobalMessage*************************************
> THIS MESSAGE IS AN INFORMATIONAL MESSAGE BEING SENT
> TO ALL SIERRA CLUB STAFF,
> THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ALL GOVERNANCE COMMITTEES,
> CHAPTER CHAIRS, CHAPTER
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>
*****************************************************************************
>
> To: Sierra Club leaders and staff
> Fr:  Carl Pope, Executive Director
>
>
> We are at war, and Americans will be paying
> attention to little else for
> at least the next two weeks.  It is a serious time
> for our nation.
> Americans
> are putting their lives on the line, and nightly
> news will reveal the daily
> destruction and death toll on both sides.  These
> tragic events will
> preoccupy the hearts
> and minds of the American people.
>
> But as this war proceeds, the rest of the world will
> not stand still.
> The Congress and state legislatures will still meet
> and cast votes on
> critical  environmental issues. Corporations,
> federal and state officials,
> and judges will still make decisions that will
> impact the environment.
> Some
> will  cynically use the distraction of the war as an
> excuse to step up
> efforts to  reduce environmental protection. And the
> American people have a
> job
> to do on the home front -- taking care of America
> the Beautiful.
>
> Our communications work will need to be reflective
> of this complicated set
> of circumstances. We will monitor the situation
> daily and make  necessary
> adjustments along the way.  But for the remainder of
> March, we will:
>
> Speak out on the need for peace. We have released
> the Sierra Club's
> statement opposing the war; we continue to respond
> to press inquiries.  We
> will also participate in appropriate anti-war
> activities and  statements
> that reflect the policy and tone of respectful
> dissent set by the Board.
>
> Stand up for what we believe. The environmental
> agenda, like the rest of
> the domestic agenda, is important. Those who would
> dash our dreams and
> lower our expectations will try to take advantage
> the window of war, as the
> Administration and the Alaska Congressional
> delegation did this week in
> trying to sneak through authorization to turn the
> Arctic National Wildife
> Refuge over to the oil industry. We must speak out
> respectfully, but
> firmly. We must not let them profiteer
> environmentally during this war.
>
> Lobby -- Congress and state legislatures are still
> in session and
> continuing to work.  We need to remain fully engaged
> as key decisions are
> being made.  Because it will be difficult to reach
> the general public
> through the
> media, it will be more important than ever that our
> members and supporters
> let our leaders and decision makers know that we
> need to move forward with
> protecting the environment of this land we love.
>
>
> Reach the public at the local level -- While we
> believe the national news
> coverage  will be dominated by war coverage, there's
> been a real uptick in
> local coverage  in the past two week -- perhaps
> because, the more global is
> at threat, the more dear the local, the near become.
>
> Look further into the future, lengthen our time
> horizons.  Use this time to
> talk to magazines, newsletters, communications
> outlets with longer lead
> times. This lays the groundwork for coming back even
> stronger when the
> media again begin paying more attention to domestic
> issues and messages.
>
> Be sensitive.  Be respectful of each other's
> opinions and fears.  Now is
> not  the time for harsh partisan or personal
> critiques.   Avoid the use of
> war metaphors and rhetoric. Indeed, now is the time
> for messages of hope,
> for vision, for inspiration.  However dark the
> threat our response should
> be couched in high moral purpose and infused with
> deep human compassion.
> The anti-war messages delivered in the past few
> months by Wendell Berry and
> Senator Robert Byrd can serve as message models for
> us.
>
>
> Be proud. We are working for environmental justice,
> freedom from
> pollution,  and the protection of the wild lands we
> all love.
>
> Remind people of the healing power, spiritual
> renewal and comfort nature
> provides in these troubled  times.  In that  spirit,
> we share these words
> from Wendell Berry:
>
>  "In the Peace of Wild Things"
>
>  When despair for the world grows in me
>  and I wake in the night at the least sound
>  in fear of what my life and my children's lives may
> be,
>  I go and lie down where the wood drake
>  rests in his beauty on the water, and the great
> heron feeds.
>  I come into the peace of wild things
>  who do not take their lives with forethought
>  of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
>  And I feel above me the day-blind stars
>  waiting with their light. For a time
>  I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
>
> See the hyperlink to Senator Byrd's latest comments
> at
> http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15432
>
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