On November 4, Fairfax voters overwhelmingly approved a $100 million transportation bond, most of which will fund sidewalk, trail, and bicycle improvements. This is a great step for expanding green, healthy transportation choices in the county.

 

The bond includes $77.5 million for 55 pedestrian improvements and $6.5 million for 14 bicycle projects. Most of the projects were identified through an extensive series of countywide meetings and other outreach activities that involved hundreds of citizens. Their input informed the county's six-year transportation priorities plan, which the Board of Supervisors approved earlier this year.

 

The county transportation plan contains $1.4 billion worth of projects, of which $203 million are bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Most sidewalks and bike facilities, unlike road projects, cannot easily be funded through federal, state, or regional programs. Part of the problem is that new state and regional transportation funds, as authorized in the 2013 Virginia transportation overhaul, do not prioritize walking, bicycling, or access to transit.

 

To their credit, the Fairfax Board of Supervisors stepped up to put the bond on the ballot, and many Supervisors actively advocated for the bond. The Great Falls Group vigorously organized support for the bond. Led by Northern Virginia organizer Ishmael Buckner, Sierra Club volunteers handed out thousands of flyers and talked to hundreds of voters at Metro stations and at the polls. In the end, more than 70 percent of Fairfax voters said "Yes" to the bond issue. This is a strong mandate for building more sidewalks, trails, and bicycle lanes and giving us more transportation options. 

 

By Douglas Stewart

 

Air pollution is still a major threat to children's well-being in the United States, according to Abby Nerlinger, M.D., of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE). Speaking to the Sierra Club Great Falls Group and the Herndon Environmental Network on September 11, Nerlinger stressed the importance of advocating for children's health when outdoor air pollution standards are being set. 

 

Nerlinger explained that children are particularly vulnerable to inhaled toxins, given their unique developmental stages and breathing patterns. Childhood asthma presents a significant burden via both direct health care costs and indirect costs through missed days of work and school. 

 

As Nerlinger pointed out, asthma is a leading causes of school absenteeism, accounting for an estimated 14.4 million lost days of school among children nationally in 2008. Sources such as power plants and motor vehicles create air pollutants that are known to trigger asthma, including particulates and components of ground-level ozone. 

 

The United States recognizes a large number of potential threats to respiratory health. For example, Nerlinger pointed out that the U.S. Clean Air Act sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards for six criteria air pollutants and 188 other hazardous air pollutants. Carbon-based air pollution in the form of carbon dioxide contributes to climate change and can indirectly make control of asthma more difficult through longer allergy seasons, higher production of environmental allergens, and warmer temperatures leading to higher ozone levels.

 

What You Can Do

 

There are many opportunities for communities to advocate for children's health and air quality on the local, state, federal, and international levels, Nerlinger said. Christine Elrod, co-President of Herndon Environmental Network, agreed, adding, "Both my children have asthma, and I feel it's my responsibility to be educated on the impact of climate change on asthma effects and to act to mitigate the risk for all children and individuals by advocating responsible, sustainable practices." 

 

Individuals can make small-scale changes that have large-scale effects, such as carpooling and using public transportation. They can also contact state and federal legislators about air-quality issues--for example, the fact that nonrenewable energy sources continue to comprise a large percentage of Virginia and U.S. energy production and consumption. 

 

In the interest of children's health, Nerlinger advocates that state and federal regulations aim to increase the use of renewable energy and lower production of criteria air pollutants and carbon pollution. The President's Climate Action Plan of 2013 highlights federal initiatives to address air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency recently released the Clean Power Plan Proposal to strengthen carbon emissions standards for existing power plants.

 

MACCHE is the Region 3 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, affiliated with Children's National Medical Center. Such units are found nationwide and offer educational and clinical resources for communities, parents, and physicians concerned about environmental exposures in childhood. To contact MACCHE, please visit the MACCHE website or email [email protected]. 

 

By Christine Elrod, Herndon Environmental Network

 

 

Why plant species native to northern Virginia?

• They're beautiful, with attractive foliage, flowers, and berries.
• They're easy to maintain, so can save you time and money. 
• They turbo-charge biodiversity by attracting many more native insects and other animals than nonnative species.

Native Plants for Northern Virginia echoes principles espoused by Dr. Douglas Tallamy, University of Delaware native plant expert and author of Bringing Nature Home. 

 

As Tallamy told The Durable Human website, plants that are native to a particular area are also "nutritionally available" to the local animal life, which tends to turn up their collective nose at species brought in from other places in the world.  By increasing healthy populations of insects, birds, and other wildlife, native species are crucial because, in his words, they are "the rivets holding the ecosystems that sustain us together."

 

A native oak, for instance, supports 532 species of native caterpillars, while the non-native butterfly bush supports only one.

 

There is a full-color image of every native plant featured in Native Plants for Northern Virginia along with information including soil type, height, sun requirements, and natural habitat.

 

While many of the native perennials, shrubs, grasses, ferns, and trees in the guide are found in a few local nurseries, the authors hope increased demand will encourage many more nurseries to grow and sell natives.

 

Native Plants for Northern Virginia can be downloaded for free on the Plant NoVa Natives website.

 

By Jenifer Joy Madden, Vienna

 

 

 

Members recently volunteered at several Great Falls Group activities this fall.

 

Merrifield Festival, October 18

 

Susan Weltz (left, in green shirt) and Peg Hausman (sitting) staffed the table and distributed helpful literature about all things Sierra Club at the Merrifield Festival in Fairfax County on October 18. Other Great Falls Group members who volunteered during the day-long festival were Linda Burchfiel, Davin Hutchins, Ileana Gonzalez, and Patricia Leslie.

 

Congressman Gerry Connolly stopped by and got an earful.

 

The Great Falls Group ordered up a beautiful day for the Merrifield Festival, where the club staffed a table, distributed literature, and discussed environmental concerns with the many who stopped by to discuss and ask questions. 

 

Thank you, all of our volunteers who helped spread the word!

  

 

 On National Make a Difference Day, October 25, the Great Falls Group of the Sierra Club hosted a clean-up of Scott's Run Stream Valley Park in Falls Church. Helping out were members of Barbara Brown's biology classes from George C. Marshall High School, Sierra Club members Patricia Leslie (far left) and Norbert Pink (far right); Providence District Supervisor Linda Q. Smyth (second from right); and club member Davin Hutchins, his wife, and son (next to Supervisor Smyth).

 

Supervisor Smyth welcomed volunteers and accepted Sierra Club calendars for herself and her staff member, Linda Byrne. Both were instrumental in the club's efforts to secure the cooperation of the Fairfax County Park Authority, which supplied trash bags for the project.

And they're off!

 

 

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Grassroots in Prince William County: Residents Fight Dominion Power 

I would encourage anyone who would like to get more informed on academic-based climate change information to explore two frees resources on the internet.

 

Coursera offers Massive Open Online Courses from some of the world's most prestigious universities. Locate the earth sciences section on Coursera's homepage, and you will find a variety of courses dealing with climate change, global warming, alternative energy, and sustainability, among others. Classes are available at various times of the year, and like any college course, they demand some time investment to fully appreciate. I personally took two courses on global warming--one offered by the University of Melbourne and the other by the University of Chicago--two outstanding schools from different parts of the globe that draw surprisingly similar conclusions. I now consider their information essential to my layman's understanding of global warming and would like to go through them a second time. 

 

The Earth League is an international group of preeminent global climate-change scientists. They publish a monthly newsletter on up-to-date climate information, including notice of important gatherings on the subject.

 

I believe both sources are about as free of corporate and political influence as one could hope for. Please let the Great Falls Group know if you have found Coursera and the Earth League useful to you in understanding how and why our climate is changing (see contact information at the end of this newsletter). In addition, let the group know if you have found other resources that may be of interest in achieving our goals.

 

The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club has recognized five Great Falls Group (GFG) leaders with Volunteer Awards. Many members deserve awards for the work they do on behalf of Virginia's environment. Our volunteers step up all the time to attend rallies, give testimony, write letters, and most recently, to serve as bus captains for the People's Climate March. Here are the awardees:

 

Norbert Pink, chair of GFG

In recognition of his outstanding work on volunteer engagement. 

Norbert has in abundance some of the most important qualities in a volunteer leader, especially persistence and resilience. He has recruited a lot of volunteers and is very dogged in figuring out how to plug them in to different roles. He provides a lot of the (clean) fuel that local chapters need for real grassroots engagement.

 

Susan Stillman

In recognition of her exceptional leadership of the Legislative Committee.

Susan Stillman has provided incredible (and always good natured) efforts on legislative, energy, and membership issues. She's known as the "Schmoozer in Chief" for her remarkable energy in networking. She is also the person who raises her hand for a new assignment when no one else will.

 Susan Bonney

(nominated by Linda Burchfiel)

In recognition of her exceptional grassroots leadership on climate change.

Besides managing monthly programs for GFG, Susan also spearheaded the Climate Action Network and has developed a set of good working relationships with other environmental groups, including Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, and especially 350 Loudoun and the Herndon Environmental Network. And every December she organizes the GFG Holiday Party. She also cheerfully organized three buses for the Climate March last September in New York City.

 

Linda Stevens

(nominated by Norbert Pink)

In recognition of her outstanding service to GFG. 

During the last seven years, Linda has demonstrated outstanding performance in maintaining the GFG website and Listserv and recently as publicity chair. She devotes a huge amount of time to keeping members informed. She learned website maintenance with no previous website experience and recently transitioned the GFG website to a new platform. This included integrating an events calendar, which she keeps up to date. During the time she has worked on the GFG Listserve, subscribers have increased from 50 to about 450.

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Did you know that membership in the Sierra Club also helps to support our campaigns right here in Virginia?

 

This holiday season, please consider rewarding yourself or that special someone with a membership to the Sierra Club.

 

Your membership dues stay in Virginia and support the work of both your state chapter and your local Sierra Club group!

 

In addition to helping the planet, your gift membership will also earn these exciting benefits:

• A free Sierra Club Field Messenger Bag (limited time only)
• One-year subscription to Sierra magazine
• Members-only eco-travel opportunities
• Automatic membership in your local chapter and group
• Discounts on Sierra Club calendars, books, and other merchandise

To join or renew online, visit www.vasierraclub.org/join.

Sierra Club Potomac Region Outings (SCPRO) is a special activities group of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. It organizes hikes and events year-round for the general public on behalf of the Sierra Club's chapter in Washington, DC, and the Maryland and Virginia Chapters' Washington-suburb groups. Volunteer leaders conduct the events, many of which include conservation, educational, or historical elements. For information about SCPRO and its upcoming events, visit the SCPRO Events website. To obtain a free calendar subscription, inquire about becoming a SCPRO outings leader, or get answers to other questions, write to [email protected].

Linda Brown, Editor
Sierra Club Great Falls Group, Virginia