While I'm a member, I've had my doubts about the Sierra Club for a while. Their glossy magazine often features articles on fuel-guzzling adventures to Nepal or Siberia, and at one of our local group meetings a member described his recent kayak trip in Greenland. He flew to Iceland and hired a pilot to fly him to Nowhere Fjord on the edge of Nothing province in frigging Greenland. I saw his slides: there is NOTHING in Greenland, and he wasted a lot of fuel to confirm it. The Sierra Club continually compromises on important environmental issues, taking a "moderate" stance against radical right-wing corporations and government officials. The result is that the environment gets ruined ever so slightly slower than it would have without Sierra Club input. If we're lucky. Now, the Sierra Club is threatening to kick out its Utah chapter for taking a stance opposed to war in Iraq!

I get letters asking me to join liberal/humanitarian/environmental groups and/or contribute money daily. I give money to lots of them, but I think the Sierra Club will be left out next time. No group can say it is protecting the environment if it doesn't oppose war. Thanks to Polizeros for the link.