SEMG
Archive of Previous Programs
Programs are presented during SEMG's monthly
General membership meetings.
These meetings give members and non-members alike the opportunity
to socialize, make environment-related announcements, and
discuss SEMG business matters. Programs follow all this and
vary in topic from an in-depth look at some local environmental
issue to a guest speaker's adventures in the Alaskan wilderness.
General membership meetings now include a potluck
dinner prior to the business meeting and program. To
participate, simply bring a dish to pass and arrive by 6:30
pm. The business meeting will begin at 7:30 sharp.
Below is a description of previous SEMG programs. For a list
of upcoming programs, click here.
Previous
Programs
March 6, 2008
Film Presentation “A
Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash”
Al Gore presented us with “The Inconvenient Truth”
about global warming in 2006. Now comes “A Crude Awakening:
The Oil Crash” from the award-winning European journalists
and filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack. This film tells
the story of how our civilization’s addiction to oil
puts it on a collision course with geology. Compelling, intelligent
and highly entertaining, this documentary film interviews
the world’s top experts and comes to the startling,
but logical conclusion—our industrial society, built
on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-tooled
and re-imagined. After the film, please join us in a guided
discussion about peak oil and sustainable “local future”
strategies for metro Detroit.
June 7, 2007
Don’t Get Me Started!
Thoughts from a Victim and Defender of America’s Personal
Transportation Industry Mess
A Presentation by Dave Llewellyn, Sierra Club/SEMG
Hybrids, biofuel, flexible fuel, ethanol, CAFÉ standards,
global warming, national security, free trade, terrorism,
job security, prosperity. Add it all up in Southeastern Michigan
and you get one of the most severely impacted regions that
have been affected by the automotive industry’s crisis.
How did this happen? Who can we believe? What can we do? Dave
Llewellyn came to Michigan in the mid 1960’s to seek
his fortune in the auto industry. His early employment with
GM provided a draft deferment that kept him out of Vietnam
and launched him into an engineering career that he is still
determined to pursue. He rode the wave of prosperity that
was crafted by GM and the UAW, failing to notice, like many
others, that the wave was headed for a rocky beach.
Dave has been there and seen it all through the past 40 years.
Dave has strong feelings about the future of the auto industry
and its effect on our environment. Please join us!
May 3, 2007
Detroit is a River: A
History of the Straits
A Slide Presentation by Robert Burns, Detroit’s Riverkeeper,
Friends of the Detroit River
The Detroit River is a 32-mile long strait that connects
Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie. Rich in history, it provides
drinking water, jobs and recreation to more than 3 million
people from 2 countries. The Detroit Riverkeeper slide presentation
is a geographical, historical and ecological tour of the river
starting from the mouth of Lake St. Clair, down past the Cities
of Detroit and Windsor, through Detroit’s industrial
corridor and south through the many islands that make up the
lower river and which provide a diverse contrast between man-made
structures and natural settings. This presentation is a unique
mix of historical and present day depictions of life on the
river with a number of aerial photographs that give a perspective
of the river that few have seen.
April 5, 2007
Protecting Utah’s
Redrock Canyonlands: The Future Awaits
A Presentation by Clayton Daughenbaugh, Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance
Utah’s spectacular redrock canyonlands include the
largest remaining unprotected wildlands in the lower 48 states.
An exhaustive citizens’ inventory has identified 9.5
million acres that fall into this category. If you’ve
ever visited one of Utah’s five national parks, climbed
to the top of the slick rock and looked across the one hundred
mile view, it’s these lands that you are seeing. The
citizens’ proposal for Utah wilderness is embodied in
“America’s Redrock Wilderness Act” which
will be reintroduced into Congress in 2007. This may be the
year to push for positive protections. Utah’s wildlands
have been a favorite target of those who would exploit “America,
the Beautiful” for private profit. One of 2006’s
most egregious proposals to sell public lands and give the
resources to local development projects focused on the Zion/Mojave
area in southwestern Utah. In addition, the Bush administration
has tested many of its worst ideas on Utah’s wildlands
before spreading them nationwide. Will 2007 be a good year
or a bad year for Utah’s redrock wilderness? That’s
a question that calls for citizen across America to answer!
Please join us in learning what we can do together to protect
this special place.
March 1, 2007
Renewable Energy for the
Developing World: A Costa Rican Adventure
A Multi-Media Presentation by Peg Collins, Sierra Club/SEMG
In February 2004, longtime SEMG Sierra Club member Peg Collins
set out to attend a workshop entitled “Renewable Energy
for the Developing World” sponsored by Solar Energy
International and hosted by Rancho Mastatal in Puriscal, Coasta
Rica. Peg decided upon a week of travel through Costa Rica
before the workshop to enjoy the lush tropical surroundings
and warm weather. However, the transition by bus to her planned
destination of Rancho Mastatal proved to be challenging and
even included an unplanned overnight stay in a local villager’s
home. On this end of winter’s night of March 1st, join
us in her traveler’s tale from Costa Rica. It is sure
to prove an evening of rare beauty and frank discussion.
February 1, 2007
Appalachian Mountaintop
Removal Road Show
Slide Show & Presentation by Dave Cooper, Kentucky Chapter
Sierra Club
In West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, coal companies now
blast as much as 600 feet off the top of the mountains, then
dump the rock and debris into mountain streams. Over 300,000
acres of the most beautiful and productive hardwood forests
in America have already been turned into barren grasslands.
Mountaintop removal mining increases flooding, contaminates
drinking water supplies, cracks foundations of nearby homes,
and showers towns with dust and noise from blasting. The Mountaintop
Removal Road Show includes a stunning slide show about the
impacts of mountaintop removal on coalfield communities featuring
traditional Appalachian mountain music and shocking aerial
photos of decapitated Appalachian mountains.
December 7, 2006
SEMG Annual Merry Meet
& Merry Greet Holiday Party, Silent Auction & Members’
Slide Show
a
Yes, it’s that time
of the year again…a time to celebrate the season of
light with SEMG! Members are encouraged to bring 35mm slides
(10-20) to share with the group that highlight a special trip,
outdoor adventure, or simply your point of view about the
environment. As well, new or “gently used” items
to donate for our annual silent auction are appreciated. And
don’t forget to bring a festive dish to pass for our
ever-popular holiday feast! It ain’t easy being green…that’s
why it’s even more important to celebrate all
that we do & be together as SEMG! Please join us!
November 2, 2006
SEMG Annual Meeting with
Anne Woiwode, Executive Director, Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter
Making a rare appearance in Southeast Michigan, our very own
Michigan Chapter Executive Director, Anne Woiwode, will present
the keynote lecture at our first official SEMG Annual Meeting.
Anne became a Sierra Club volunteer in 1980 when she first
moved to Michigan with her husband and 2 young children. Five
years later she became staff and now works with both the state
legislative program and the National Sierra Club Environmental
Protection Education Campaign. Over the years, Anne has worked
on a wide range of issues including forests, sprawl, and more
recently, CAFO’s in Michigan. In coordination with Sierra
Club’s Environmental Law Program, the chapter has settled
4 lawsuits that have forced factory farms to pay fines and
implement improvements at preventing unlawful pollution of
Michigan’s waterways. Through her tireless efforts,
Michigan has gone from being one of the most backward in the
United States to being one of the more aggressive in working
to protect communities from factory farm pollution. Anne has
promised to share her insights gained over the past 25+ years,
her vision for the future of Michigan’s environmental
movement, and the Sierra Club’s role in all of this.
In addition to Anne’s keynote address, SEMG will conduct
a brief, formal presentation from each of our local committees
summing up the year’s activities. As well, you will
have a chance to cast your ballot for the upcoming Board of
Directors.
October 5, 2006
Getting to the Rock Bottom
of Things: The Geology of Michigan
A Presentation by John Zawiskie, Cranbrook Institute of Science/WSU
Dept of Geology
In a lively & intellectually stimulating approach, geologist
John Zawiskie will unlock the secrets to Michigan’s
past…and by that, I mean the geologic past as revealed
in the rock & fossil record. As becomes evidently clear
in the course of his presentation, Michigan and the Great
Lakes have seen it all—from warm, tropical oceans to
the frozen glaciers of the Ice Ages. Professor Zawiskie will
also share with us the findings of his latest research project
concerning an ancient submerged conifer forest in Lake Huron
and the implications of climate change and fluctuating lake
levels. It is guaranteed you will walk away from this meeting
with a newfound awe and appreciation of our Great Lakes and
the State of Michigan.
September 7, 2006
Living a Nightmare: Animal
Factories in Michigan
Video & Discussion with Gayle Miller, Legislative Director,
Sierra Club, MI Chapter
What’s all the ruckus about CAFO’s, you ask? First
of all, what is a CAFO? Well, it’s short for “Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operation” (spell that industrial-scale
feed lots). Simply put, the CAFO phenomenon is an unregulated
nightmare of air & water pollution that has found the
State of Michigan pitted in the difficult position of deciding
between economic growth and environmental protection. If it
sounds like the same old story, it is…plus the fact
that CAFO’s present a huge environmental justice issue
for anyone living in the near vicinity of these monsters.
What’s it like to live in a community literally swimming
in the feces and urine of 12 polluting animal factories? Meet
the residents of Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties—people
whose lives are being destroyed by poisoned air, contaminated
water, and plummeting property values. Released in March 2006,
this 22 minute documentary produced by the Sierra Club, tells
their story. Gayle Miller, our MI Chapter Legislative Director,
will update us on the latest strategies in Lansing to regulate
these factory farms and what we, as citizens of Southeast
MI, can do to help. Gayle will outline the details for the
Fall Lobby Day in October as well. Please join us!
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