Getting the Local San Francisco chapter of the Sierra Club Back on Track

Renters Federation asks “What Would John Muir Do?” Join the Sierra Club by the deadline today (10/6) and vote for what you think is best in their upcoming local chapter election.

Earlier this year, some of the members of our group started to notice that a lot of much needed housing in San Francisco was opposed by “The Sierra Club”. If I remember correctly, the first time I personally noticed the endorsement was on a flyer from an anti-housing group called “Grow Potrero Responsibly”, who want to block a 4-story building (”too large”). If you look around, though, you can see it all over, including the group’s endorsement of the Housing Moratorium ballot measure.

At first, we couldn’t understand why they had come out against buildings that were going to go on parking lots and old warehouses. On closer inspection, we realized that these endorsements against infill projects were actually misleading. The Sierra Club had not, in fact come out against the housing development in question. The LOCAL CHAPTER’s San Francisco working group had. Groups are supposed to make that clear on their endorsements lists, but they often don’t.

Frankly, as housing activists and environmentalists, we felt a little betrayed. None of it had anything to do with saving forests or wildlife. In fact, opposing sensible infill development only encourages sprawl somewhere else. People don’t disappear just because you don’t build for them, and in those locations, they will use more gas, more water, more natural resources in general, than if they had lived in the City. This kind of Not In My Back Yard thinking is exactly what SFBARF was formed to fight. We believe we can continue to grow our great city and region while still protecting Nature. The two are not antithetical.



And that is how our now famous campaign started. Once members of our group started going to meetings and realized that there were already local Sierra Club members who agreed with us, and that some of them were planning to run for positions in the organization, the path was clear. They needed our help.

Judging by the reaction in the NIMBY-run 48 Hills blog today, you would think that SFBARF is the number one enemy of the environmental movement in California, but our position basically lines up with the Nature Conservancy’s, and even the National Sierra Club’s. It is mostly a generational issue. A lot of older environmentalists got so used to opposing anything associated with developers in the 60′s and 70′s that they reflexively oppose almost all construction. At a time when not building housing is making prices rise at astronomical rates, this simply isn’t the best way forward. Instead of adapting to the current needs of the city and Nature, many have chosen to characterize us as “shills of developers” etc. – criticisms we have heard many times before, which don’t carry much weight.

In fact, characterizing SFBARF as against the Sierra Club, or trying to hurt it isn’t correct at all. One of our members works for the US Forest Service. Another actually works for the National Sierra Club. Many of us have considered ourselves environmentalists our whole lives, and have participated and donated to other environmental organizations over the years.

We raised over $3000 for the Sierra Club – just from the people we convinced to sign up for new memberships at $15 each. The backlash has been huge, and many NIMBY groups have also been emailing their members to join and oppose us in the election. Considering that, the actual amount raised is probably much higher.

We couldn’t be happier.

You see, when you donate, the money goes to the National organization, which we think does a lot of good work.

So, whether you are for us, or against us, please join by the deadline TODAY OCTOBER 6th (update: it passed).

AND THEN… if you want to stop the local NIMBYs who have packed the SF Sierra Club and vociferously opposed everything from 4-story developments in Potrero Hill to affordable housing in the Tenderloin, go to this page and enter your information. We will keep you updated about how to vote in club elections in late November. 4/5 of the candidates we are supporting are long time members of the Sierra Club, not affiliated with SFBARF, who have been trying to change the Club from the inside for ages. We are just lending our voice to theirs.

And if you are still on the fence, and you want more info about SFBARF and our work the last several months to reform the SF Sierra Club, read the archives of our mailing list or just read this one thread and decide who you agree with.

– written by Jon Schwark

@vjon on twitter