Social Dinner
November's social dinner will be at Uptown Café, 1624 Bardstown Road at 7 PM, on Friday, November 20. Join us for food and fellowship!  Please RSVP to Joan Lindop, 502-228-0016, so we know how many are coming.

Vote in Cumberland Election

Ballots are in this month's issue of the Cumberland. The deadline for mailing them in is November 30, 2009.  Here are the candidate statements from Wallace and Leslie:

Wallace McMullen     
I have been interested in environmental issues for the last 25 years, and have been an active Sierra Club member for the past 13 years. I am passionate about fighting global warming, stopping new coal plants, promoting energy conservation, and promoting renewable energy. We need to save our planet, a struggle which needs the best efforts of all of us.

I am presently on the Cumberland Chapter Executive Committee (Excom). I am also on the National Sierra Club Energy Chairs Activist Network Team, and chair the Sierra Club’s Midwest New Energy Future Project, both of which promote a clean energy future and moving away from coal fired power plants. 

I also serve as the Chapter’s Energy Committee chair. I have been very active with the Club, both nationally and regionally, and have also been to two national Clean Air conferences in Washington. I regularly submit written comments on Clean Air and energy issues for the Cumberland Chapter and the Louisville group. I have also attended meetings by  entities such as the Army Corps of Engineers and have testified against mountaintop removal.

As Sierra Club members we must fight to protect clean air, clean water, and valuable wilderness areas, to preserve the livability of the planet, and to combat urban sprawl.  If elected, I will further the work of the Cumberland Chapter in pursuing these goals. I will be honored to continue serving on the Executive Committee.

Leslie Barras
I ask for your vote for me for the Executive Committee of the state (Cumberland) Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Chapter has many dedicated volunteers from throughout the state who bring a variety of skills and interests to our work of protecting the natural beauty and historic places of the Commonwealth. The particular skills I bring to this effort are my knowledge of environmental law and industry and my organizational skills. Please support me in another term where I can apply these skills for the benefit of our state and the natural places you love.

All the candidates' statements can be read in the November Cumberland, on page 6.

Outings News
Ever hike the Knobstone Trail?  Have you seen the Jefferson County Memorial Forest close up? Sierra Club outings will explore these areas, and many more.

For this month's outings info, click over to http://kentucky.sierraclub.org/outings/09nov.asp.  Also see Inner City Outings.

Red River Gorge, Kentucky
(More lovely pictures at the Outings page).

Stay informed About Louisville Events!
Sign up to receive our monthly Louisville Group E-Newsletter. Just click on the link - it is quite easy.

Urban Garden 
Did you know your Club is working with the Center for Women & Families to install & maintain raised planting beds for vegetables & herbs?  Installation has occurred & will be ready for Spring planting. If you would like to “sponsor” a bed with cash or labor or plants, email Ken Matheis, _kenmatheis@insightbb.com or see him at the next Group meeting.

Climate Change Report
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released a report recently that summarizes the science and the impact of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. It discusses climate change impacts in different regions of the U.S. and the effect on various aspects of society and the economy such as energy, water, agriculture, and health.  Here is a link to the full report: http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf. 

You can also browse around on their website to check out different pieces of the report here: http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts   www.theclimateproject.org

Become an Outings Leader! If you are willing to lead a walk/hike of one hour, all-day or overnight in 2009 please talk to Panaena or Joe Bina.

Outings Leader Training sessions are held twice a year. Contact Panaena and Joe at sc.outings@gmail.com

Join up and help out
WANT TO HELP the environment, meet great people, and enjoy the outdoors? If your zip code begins with 400, 401, and 402, then you're in the Greater Louisville Group area. Join us. For information about groups outside this area, click here. For monthly e-mail updates, e-mail Mark Atwell.

Volunteers Needed to Attend APCD Meetings
APCD (Air Pollution Control District) meets every third Wednesday of each month. If you can get to these meetings, please do. The environmental interests are seldom represented! Contact Joseph.Schweinhart@louisvilleky.gov for more information.

Grass roots OUTRAGE can clean up our air. Each member of Metro Council individually needs to hear our concerns. And the Air Pollution Control District (City Agency) has stakeholder committees. Will you help?

Volunteers are also needed to attend:

• West End Task Force meetings (every third Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the NIA Bldg)
• Planning Commission meetings (Thursday afternoons at Jefferson & 6th)

Changing 5 conventional light bulbs in your kitchen/living area to the more efficient compact fluorescent type would make a noticeable difference in your energy bill. According to EPA if every US home changed 5 bulbs in high traffic areas, it would prevent enough emissions to equal tailpipe gases from 8 million cars!