2017 ANNUAL REPORT “Our World Has Changed
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The country’s most respected training program for environmental organizers 2017 ANNUAL REPORT “Our world has changed. We have a new opportunity to make new decisions about how to live well. For the environmental movement, the fierce urgency of now rests in what Martin Luther King Jr. might have called the ‘unfolding conundrum’ of challenge and possibility.” YOU HELP MAKE IT POSSIBLE Today’s environmental movement must face our own version of what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the fierce urgency of now.” We contend with a president who favors fossil fuels over renewable power, mining and drilling over preserving wilderness, and unbridled economic growth over sensible regulation. We confront a planet in declining health, with an increasingly unstable climate, diminishing biodiversity, depleted soil and aquifers, and on and on. Yet we’re also living, and organizing, at a time of unprecedented opportunity. Today’s environmental debates still pit nature against progress. Fossil fuels, with all their attendant pollution, have powered prosperity. Massive consumption, with its attendant waste, has boosted economic growth. But now we produce more stuff than we need, we consume more stuff than makes us happy, and we dispose of more stuff than is necessary or wise. Our world has changed. We have a new opportunity to make new decisions about how to live well. For the environmental movement, the fierce urgency of now rests in what Dr. King might have called the “unfolding conundrum” of challenge and possibility. Good organizers strive to both expose and help society resolve this tension, to build an onslaught of pressure for action and to channel that pressure toward positive change. For 26 years, Green Corps has trained new organizers to fulfill this mission, not just for a year, but as a career. You help make it possible and for that, we thank you. Doug Phelps Chair, Green Corps Board MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR I’ve seen a lot of campaigns come and go over the last 11 years at Green Corps, but every time we launch a new campaign, I’m reminded how hungry people are for good organizing. Even in today’s polarized political climate, the environment is a unique issue that has the potential to unite people from all different walks of life— and it is often well-trained grassroots organizers who do the challenging and critical work of bringing them together. In 2017, our organizers ran environmental campaigns throughout the Midwest, down on the Gulf Coast, and across the Mountain West. They reached people in places where folks might not agree with us on everything, but where we absolutely need to build a movement that crosses party lines to protect our land, air, water and climate. I firmly believe that organizing everyday people to wield their collective power for progress is not only the most effective way to change the world, but it is the best way to make change. Organizing invigorates our democracy, strengthens our communities, and rebuilds the social trust we need to better this world together. Thanks to your support, Green Corps organizers were able to engage in that profound work this year, and make a difference on critical campaigns that you’ll read about on these pages. Thank you for your investment in our organizers and the difference they make for our planet. Onward, Annie Sanders Executive Director Green Corps Class of 2017 Staff YOUR SUPPORT HELPED ORGANIZERS PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS Recent polls show that most people in this Additionally, Congress moved quickly to att- country—from rural landscapes to urban mpt to roll back the Antiquities Act, the law centers, in red states and blue states, across that gives the president the ability to designate ideological divides—support protecting our new monuments. public lands. With so much on the line, The Wilderness What’s more, indiscriminately drilling, logging Society hired a team of four organizers from or selling off our public lands is not only un- Green Corps Campaigns to launch efforts in popular, but the main messenger for those ap- Tennessee, Ohio and West Virginia to show proaches—the fossil fuel lobby—sits among the key members of Congress the broad support most mistrusted special interests in the country. for these initiatives in their districts and states. So, although the beginning of 2017 saw fresh as- GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT saults on some of our nation’s bedrock conserva- Fresh off the training program supported by tion laws, it also brought a groundswell of public members like you, these organizers were ready support for America’s parks, rivers and forests. to make a difference. PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THREAT Emma Searson set off for Charleston, W.Va., Despite the widespread support for our pub- at the beginning of January to build a cam- lic lands, discussions began in earnest at the paign aiming to convince West Virginia leg- beginning of 2017 to repeal newly created na- islators to support strong conservation laws tional monuments like Bears Ears in Utah, and and vote against attacks on our wild and open Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine. spaces. Chad Carpenter Sam Fulbright YOUR SUPPORT HELPED ORGANIZERS Katie Chamberlain and Emma Gleeman tack- the campaign. Katie worked with the Tennes- PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS led Tennessee, hitting the streets in Nashville see chapter of the Sierra Club to get an op-ed and Chattanooga to make sure Tennessee law- published in the Times Free Press, and Emma makers got the message loud and clear, while Gleeman’s volunteers generated more than 100 Renee Wellman landed in Columbus, Ohio, to phone calls into Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker grab the attention of Sen. Rob Portman on the and Lamar Alexander’s offices. issue of protecting public lands. By the end of the campaign, our organizers A POWERFUL COALITION had trained and developed more than 40 com- mitted volunteers, forming core groups in each Just over three weeks into their campaigns, state ready to take ongoing action. Shortly be- Emma, Katie, Emma and Renee turned out fore they left their campaign cities, the orga- a total of 226 community members to four nizers held rallies for public lands that turned kickoff meetings in their respective cities. out more than 360 attendees in total and gar- nered 13 media hits. With the help of her volunteers, Renee re- cruited 42 signers for the Columbus coalition A FOUNDATION TO BUILD ON of organizations, local business owners, hunt- ers and outdoors enthusiasts, and her volun- After these organizers moved on to their next teers held “hiking with Rob” events where campaigns, The Wilderness Society hired its they went on hikes with a giant cut-out of own organizers to continue working with the Sen. Portman’s face. volunteers that Green Corps Campaigns re- cruited, meaning the critical work started by Emma Searson built a strong relationship with our organizers, and made possible by support- the local wilderness coalition in West Virgin- ers like you, will continue in the months and ia, and worked closely with them to pull off years to come. successful rallies and media events throughout POWER FROM THE GRASSROOTS (Left) Volunteers pose in Chattanooga, Tenn., at Green Corps Campaigns organizer Katie Chamberlain’s Rally for Public Lands in March 2017. (Middle) Green Corps organizer Emma Searson speaks to a Graeme Churchyard via FlickrGraeme Churchyard BY 2.0) (CC crowd of more than 80 people on the steps of West Virginia’s state Capitol at the Charleston Rally for Public Lands. (Right) Canyons of the Ancients National Monument was among the public lands at risk of losing their protected status. Ultimately, it escaped repeal. Chad Carpenter YOU HELPED OUR ORGANIZERS STAND UP FOR THE EPA By nominating climate skeptic Scott Pruitt In Scranton, Pa., Stephanie Miles turned out to run the Environmental Protection Agen- 109 people to her Environmental Advocacy Fo- cy (EPA) and making moves to cut the EPA’s rum. Over in Illinois, Amanda Tracy collected funding, the new administration raced out of the more than 700 petitions in one day at the local gates in 2017 with a vision that would greatly Women’s March. impede environmental protection nationwide. After Administrator Pruitt’s confirmation, orga- Organizers from Green Corps Campaigns nizers shifted toward building support in Con- partnered with Food & Water Watch to con- gress to defend the EPA from further attacks. vince key senators in three states to push back Our organizers drew huge crowds to pro-EPA on that vision and safeguard the EPA’s abil- rallies, turning out 622 people versus a goal of ity to protect our environment. They hit the 300. ground running, holding six rallies that turned out nearly 300 people in the first three weeks of They ended the campaign by hosting trainings the campaign, and generating 534 phone calls to for dozens of local organizations, providing di- senators’ offices. rection and strategy to the many groups that had emerged since President Trump was elected. Just a few weeks after arriving in Doylestown, Pa., Green Corps Campaigns organizer Ethan Food & Water Watch and other groups will Wampler drew 104 people to a rally to block keep the pressure up to protect the EPA, and Scott Pruitt’s nomination and then turned out the coalition is now much stronger thanks to the nearly 200 people to a rally over the Delaware work of Green Corps Campaigns—work that River to defend the EPA. wouldn’t have been possible without you.. Scott Seraydarian Scott Seraydarian OUR ORGANIZERS LED THE WAY TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM The meat industry is a driving cause of many of concern, especially from people in places near our most urgent environmental challenges, from their headquarters and facilities, organizers from clearing tropical forests.