The Building Environmental Communities (BEC) component of the Sierra Club is off and running and working on some exciting new projects! We scored a major victory in February when Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus agreed to sign on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, making Columbus a “Cool City”. (See article) We continue to work closely with the City to implement energy-saving changes – and things are already moving forward! Columbus has already changed more than 90% of street lights to the LED kind and they are soon to conduct a major energy audit of all government buildings. Now, our goal is to make even more areas of Central Ohio “Cool Cities” and we are working hard in Upper Arlington, Westerville, Dublin and Bexley to pass these initiatives. We have a wonderful Campaign Chair in Upper Arlington making a lot of progress there and we are excited about our new volunteer leadership all across Central Ohio.

The BEC is also involved with Earth Day 2007: A Year in a Day – one of the largest Earth Day celebrations in Central Ohio history! We are working with a strong coalition of environmental and progressive groups and have organized more than forty worksites across Central Ohio on the morning of April 21. We have several hundred volunteers already signed up! A Year in a Day’s goal is to get 500 volunteers to work 4 hours that morning, which would be the equivalent of one person working for a year. That afternoon, we’ll participate in a festival of music, food and fun at Goodale Park with Mayor Coleman; Greg Haegle, Sierra Club’s National Conservation Director; and others!

We are proud to announce that the BEC has two new co-chairs – Matt Baker and Daniele Rickert—who have both been involved with the program for several years, and bring continued commitment and a passion for building environmental communities to the Sierra Club. With Matt and Dani leading our steering committee of more than ten dedicated leaders, we are making major strides every day with the program! But in order to do even more, we need your help! Whether it’s coming into the office to help out once a week, attending our bi-monthly Action Nights, or agreeing to do an hour’s worth of work from your home once a month, contact us and let us know how you can help. You can always reach me at 614/461-0734 x 305 or and thank you for all that you do!