Chatter from the Chair

 By Connie Schmidt

Summertime is ending. It sure has been one for the books! From this photo you can see a good part of what drives my activism in Sierra Club; my three grandchildren and a tiny bit of my hubby peaking on the side of the shot.  (Yeah, we are not too good with the art of taking a selfie.) With evidence of climate change impacting us here in the Midwest through heat and drought, activism seems more important than ever. In this newsletter we will share some of the work that the River Prairie Group is doing here in DuPage to help mitigate this issue. 

Clean energy is an essential piece of cleaning the air we breathe. We need to switch to electric appliances, so we are not reliant on dirty gas infiltrating our homes. Read Jeff’s article on our upcoming September program with a presentation from Citizen’s Utility Board (CUB) and how we can clean up our home from fossil fuels. In addition, there is an article about members of our RPG leadership who are working to encourage our local school officials to adopt electric vehicles for their fleets. A fact sheet is featured which you are welcome to copy and share.

Habitat is drastically impacted by Climate Change as well.  Biodiversity and healthy native ecosystems are essential for species survival. Check out the article that encourages you to register your monarch friendly habitat to be counted as part of the solution. We feature the Monarch as our colorful flagship but realize that in saving it, we are supporting species such as native bees, birds and the many plants that support them as well. This article shows how we here in DuPage can be counted with the statewide and national effort to help our neighborhood ecosystems.

Lastly, please consider getting out to enjoy the wild spaces in our area. We present outings on our calendar which you can find on the RPG website. One upcoming special one is featured in an article included here. Check out how you can take a “Hike with a Representative” and chat about concerns and hear about her work in Springfield. As you walk, paddle, or bike in nature, your spirit is revived. For me as I get out in nature, I gain strength to work more to protect the environment so my family members will have the benefit of these beautiful experiences as they grow older as well.