Current Campaigns
Blue Green Alliance
The Minnesota Blue Green Alliance (BGA) works to create policies that put tens of thousands of Minnesotans back to work in good, green jobs. Launched nationally in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, this strategic labor-environmental collaboration has grown to include the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA).
Clean Air and Renewable Energy
The Clean Air and Renewable Energy Committee is a group of volunteers of all experience levels who care about achieving better air quality, addressing global warming, and building a clean, renewable energy future for all people.
Environmental Justice
The Sierra Club provides resources to low-income and communities of color who are organizing to ensure that all people have equal access to clean air, land, and water, and to promote a just transition to a new, green economy. In Minnesota we partner with the Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota.
Forest and Wilderness Protection
The Forest Protection campaign is working to make sure future generations have places to enjoy wild, natural forests. But logging, motorized recreation, and development are making those places scarce in Minnesota's forests. These things threaten our economy and wildlife, ruin recreational opportunities, and spoil the north woods our children will inherit. We are getting Minnesotans involved in public lands management to ensure Minnesota will always have the diversity of wildlife and natural places that we treasure today.
Global Population
The Sierra Club's Global Population and Environment Program seeks to protect the global environment and preserve natural resources for future generations by slowing population growth and reducing wasteful consumption.
The program seeks to accomplish this mission by:
- Promoting voluntary domestic and international family planning programs and reproductive health services
- Encouraging the public to support providing women and girls access to basic rights, including healthcare and education
- Encouraging people to reduce excessive consumption and live in ways that have less impact on the earth's resources
Land Use & Open Space
Over the next 30 years, the Twin Cities will grow by over one million new residents. This growth, if poorly planned, will lead to increased traffic, pollution, and loss of wetlands, parklands and open spaces. We have an opportunity to plan now for a better future. This campaign is helping communities protect the region's valuable open space assets, and make better decisions about what, where and how to build next.
We pursue a broad range of land use issues through public education, community organization and community research including:
- The Citizens' Guide to Local Land Use Planning
- An Activist's Guide to Land Use Planning (pdf, 611k)
- The Tour de Sprawl
- Twin Cities Open Space Preservation Workshops
Legislation & Politics
The North Star Chapter works hard to ensure the health of all Minnesotans and the environment we depend upon. Visit our legislative website to learn more about the issues we are working on and how you can get involved.
Mining
Dangerous types of mining and mineral processing new to Minnesota are proposed in the Superior National Forest south of Ely. They'll spew acid, toxic metals and mercury into our clean air and waters. At risk are thousands of acres of wetlands vital to fishing, hunting, Duluth's water supply and Lake Superior fisheries. Sierra Club members are working together to protect the people at risk of pollution-caused sickness and the wild places we love by asking the government and companies for Mining without harm.
Transportation
Each day, millions of Americans have no choice but to hop in their car to work, school, or any other daily need. While the average American commuter spends hundreds of hours a year behind the wheel, our air has become choked with pollutants, our cities are jammed with traffic and our lands and natural resources are transformed in an ever-expanding sprawl of concrete.
Over the next 30 years, the Twin Cities will grow by over one million new residents. Our communities need safe, reliable transportation choices for all of us, not just some of us. We pursue a broad range of transportation choices including:
- Twin Cities Transitways
- The North Star Rail Corridor
- The Hiawatha Line
- Bike paths and bike lanes and pedestrian friendly communities
- Commuter bus corridors and metro bus services
- Transit to green space