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Board election divides Sierra Club - Environmentalists renew bitter fight over controlling U.S. immigrationBy Glen Martin, San Francisco Chronicle Environment Writer,
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 San Francisco Chronicle Excerpts: A not-so-civil war has erupted at the Sierra Club, the country's oldest and largest environmental group, and its leaders say the heart and soul of the venerable, San Francisco-based organization are at stake... On Tuesday, insurgent candidates filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging that the club's leaders are illegally manipulating the elections... "This election would shame Tammany Hall," said former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, a board candidate on the anti-immigration slate. "I have been watching elections for 40 years, but I have never seen an election less just, less objective or less democratic."... Immigration has become an increasingly divisive issue in the environmental community in recent years. Some favor strict immigration controls as a way to hold down U.S. population, which they view as the country's single most pressing environmental problem. Douglas LaFollette, a board member elected in 2002 who is the secretary of state for Wisconsin, opposes liberal immigration quotas. He said the Sierra Club's official neutral position on immigration is a relatively recent development... "Until 10 years ago or so, the club's position was that the stabilization and reduction of the U.S. population was a priority, and that both fertility and immigration should be considered in meeting that goal," said LaFollette, a former University of Wisconsin chemistry professor who helped found the first Earth Day... ... the insurgents say they are being smeared by the club's establishment simply because their views don't jibe with those of the current leadership. Especially invidious, they say, are claims that the anti-immigration candidates themselves are racist... "If it wasn't so sad, it'd be comical," said Frank Morris, a board candidate and retired college professor who lives in Texas. "I'm African American. I'm a past president of an NAACP chapter, and I was executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation from 1983 to 1986. And yet, they just hammer us with these absurd, ad hominen attacks."... Morris said that immigration is one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the nation today, and that it must be addressed by the club if the organization is to retain any credibility. Read the complete article |