Greetings and Salutations! As we begin to wrap up the year and move into this month of thankfulness, I just want to start out by saying thank you to you! Without  our wonderful members and supporters, none of this would be possible. On that note, I would like to take a moment to invite everyone to our Open House at Sierra Club Connecticut’s office in Hartford on November 23. Come and mingle with Sierra Club Volunteers and staff from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Find out more about what we are doing and how you can help! If you plan to come, please RSVP here. 

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In October, I had the pleasure of giving an interview to “Progressive Soup” with host David Stevenson on Charter Cable Public Access. We had a great conversation about Sierra Club and our priorities here in Connecticut. The interview was a lot of fun, and if you can I hope you will tune in to the show in a few weeks. 

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Our Ready for 100 campaign is partnering with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to advocate for our shared vision of clean energy for all. And of course, for free ice cream!!! We have already had two events, one in West Hartford, one in New Haven. Look for more events as the campaign continues over the next few months. 

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In January, Sierra Club Connecticut will be hosting the Wild & Scenic Film Festival here in Connecticut. The event will be at the Bijou Theater in Bridgeport. We couldn’t be more excited for the fantastic opportunity to hold this festival. We have chosen some great films, topics ranging from climate art, to sustainable sushi, to wildlife protection, to climate activism. We hope you can join us and please look for more information as the event gets closer. 

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On the activism front, Sierra Club Connecticut, along with our staunchest allies, continue to fight against the new fracked gas power plant, slated to be built in Killingly. Governor Lamont has issued an executive order mandating Connecticut reach zero-carbon emissions by 2040, and unfortunately, we will not be on track to meet this goal if the state continues to build unneeded fossil fuel infrastructure. To this end, Sierra Club Connecticut strongly supports a just transition away from fossil fuels and their infrastructure. Let’s invest in our environment and our local economy with well-paying, local, union jobs in clean energy, climate resiliency, and energy efficiency, so we can move to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption. 

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Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to get more involved with Sierra Club Connecticut. We are always looking for more volunteers and leaders to help us keep up the good fight. Sierra Club Connecticut is almost all volunteer-driven. I am truly thankful every day that we have such great volunteers to make our chapter so strong and vibrant. It makes my job truly a pleasure. Til next month! 

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Ann Gadwah is Chapter Chair of Sierra Club Connecticut.