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Sierra Club

An annoying bunch of tree-huggers that won’t go away to many of their opponents, the members of the Sierra Club bill themselves “the largest grass-roots environmental group in the nation” (Sierra 1). With more than 660,000 members with considerable political clout, the Sierra Club has been instrumental in pushing environmental legislation through Congress (Sierra 1). The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 by naturalist John Muir. In 1952, one of its most controversial directors, David Brower, took charge of the conservation organization with a membership of 7,000 and an annual budget of $75,000 (Severo 22). By the time Brower stepped down in 1969, in part from pressure by members who opposed his often militant and aggressive tactics, membership had risen to 77,000 members with assets of $3 million, and the Sierra Club had blocked or delayed construction to the tune of at least $7 billion (Severo 22).

If we look at two periods of Sierra Club activism (1986-1990) and (1996-2000) and one issue on their agenda from each, we see a demonstration of how Sierra Club activism leads to the conservation of the environment through legislation enacted as a result of the group’s considerable lobbying power. The first issue involves the Sierra Club’s failure to secure legislation that blocked the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor from being built in California. While the organization did attain a large measure of success in delaying the project and increasing its costs considerably in large part due to conservation measures, the reactor began operating in 1986. The second issue concerns the period from 1996-2000, and pertains to the Sierra Club’s position on immigration and population policies. This issue is important because it demonstrates how as the Sierra Club has tried to change its stance on immigration and population controls, it has alienated membership and threatens to undermine the organization in the public’s mind. In a ...

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Sierra Club. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:43, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1686302.html