September NAC Group Events

OK, I know I've been kinda lazy not posting anything here for a month. Somebody asked me for vacation pictures. Check them here on flickr. I will maybe write a little diary of the trip sometime later (would appreciate if you emailed me and asked :-) )

In any case, I have another agenda, and that is keeping the local Sierra Club group calendar! Yay! Here are the events coming up in September.

Sat., September 8th, 10-5 - Grassroots Organizing Workshop
Sierra Club Bay Chapter Office - 2530 San Pablo Avenue , Suite I, Berkeley
Learn more about grassroots organizing. Sessions include: How to Lobby Effectively, Working with the Media, Campaigning to Elect Environmentalists, How to Build an Effective Community Organization, Why you Should Run for City Council, and Becoming a Leader in the Sierra Club. Local elected Sierra Club leaders will be featured speakers. Contact : Anna Wagner, Chapter
Office, 848-0800 x307

Sunday, Sept. 9th, 9-4.30 – 33rd Annual, 2007 Solano Stroll: "Going Green -- It's Easy!"
Solano Ave., North Berkeley
You're invited to join Mayor Bates and the Berkeley Climate Action Team in the Solano Stroll theme parade. Walk with us! This year's theme is "Going Green--It's Easy." Join us as we march down the parade route under the Berkeley Climate Action banner. If you're interested in joining our group of paraders, send us an email at MeasureG at ci.berkeley.ca.us. Sierra Club will also be hosting a table along the route (various members of the NAC – come meet us!).

Friday, Sept. 14, 9-4 - "Coordinating Land Use and Transportation in Oakland"
Oakland City Hall
You are cordially invited to attend a charrette on Land Use and Transportation issues conducted by the citizen / activist members of the Oakland Oil Independence Task Force. Watch and listen to environmental heavyweights Richard Heinberg (author of "Power Down" and "Peak Everything"), Jane Seleznow (former Sierra Club Bay Chapter chair) Ian Kim ( Ella Baker Center ), and Richard Register (Eco-City Builders, Berkeley) give their input on solutions to solve our area's dependence on imported fossil energy. Also, planners from the city of Oakland , AC Transit, and BART are expected to attend. For more information on this event, call or email Alice Glasner, Legislative Analyst, Public Works Committee, Oakland City Council at 510.238.4991. The agenda will be available soon. For more information about the Task Force, please visit: http://www.oaklandnet.com/Oil/default.html.

Wed., Sept. 19 - 6:30 - 9 p.m. - A Forum on the Health of the San Francisco Bay
Rosa Parks Elementary School - 920 Allston Way , Berkeley
Hosted by Loni Hancock. Around the San Francisco Bay , three pieces of litter line every foot of local creeks and streams. Thousands of animals are entangled in trash each year. In parts of the Pacific Ocean , plastic outnumbers plankton six to one. The problems are powerful, but so are the solutions. Come learn about legislation and other steps being taken to protect and restore the Bay and how you can get involved in the conservation effort.

Wed., Sept. 19 - 6 - 8:30pm - Bay Area Airports- Protect our Environment!
Joseph Bort Metrocenter - 101 8th Street , Oakland (near Lake Merritt BART).
In response to growing air travel and delays at the Bay Area's three primary airports ( San Francisco , Oakland and San Jose ), a multiagency panel reviewed a range of strategies to increase overall runway capacity. The new plan, called the "Regional Airport System Plan," updates the Airport Element of MTC's Regional Transportation Plan and will be used by the BCDC in considering possible proposals to extend existing runways or construct new runways in the Bay. At this meeting, a presentation will be made, and public comment will be solicited. From the Sierra Club's perspective, we need to make sure that the Bay, wetlands, and air quality are protected with any proposed expansion of aviation in our region.

For more information on the Regional Airport System Plan update, please visit the following websites: http://www.bcdc.ca.gov ("RegionalAirport Planning"), http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/air_plan, or http://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/rapc

Wed., Sept. 26th - 6.30 - 8.30 p.m. - Community Choice Energy Workshop
Bay Area Academy - 2201 Broadway, Oakland (22nd and Broadway)
Help support renewable energy! The Sierra Club is co-sponsoring an exciting workshop on the topic of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). This is an exciting plan for increasing the supply of renewable energy at the municipal level. At the workshop, you will learn how CCA works, and how you can make a difference helping to support efforts to implement CCA in the East Bay . For more information, please contact group chair Kent Lewandowski at kentlewan at yahoo do com or Anna Wagner at the Chapter Office. Please download the flyer here.