May 6, 2004
This June, Sierra Club’s Hybrid Car Tours Will Drive Home the Need for Clean Energy Solutions
By Jill C. Miller
Conservation Organizer, Missouri Global Warming & Energy Program

This summer, the Sierra Club will embark on three multi-state hybrid evolution tours to raise attention for clean energy solutions, in coordination with the launch of our new clean energy website, IWillEvolve.org.

The Route 66, Atlantic Coast, and Pacific Coast hybrid evolution tours will all kick off on Memorial Day, May 31st. The tours will be accomplished through the efforts of many, including the Global Warming & Energy Program staff, Atlantic coast staff, national, state and local volunteers, coalition partners, and our media team. We want this to be a collaborative effort that strengthens local, state, and national clean energy efforts and puts these important issues in the spotlight.

The goal of each event along the tour is to illustrate a local or regional energy-related environmental problem and how it impacts that community, and point out clean energy solutions. Or we can show a positive environmental solution that has already been enacted thanks to strong environmental protections and citizen involvement. We will put local issues in the context of the broader national picture, to hit the Bush administration hard for weakening environmental protections, and for siding with big corporate polluters instead of protecting the environment and people's health.

Route 66 Hybrid Evolution Tour

Like the Bobby Troup song says, historic Route 66 starts in Chicago and "goes through St. Louie to Joplin, Missouri..." all the way to L.A. We will be making the trip in a 2004 Toyota Prius to illustrate the ability of modern technology to conserve gasoline, protect wild lands from drilling, lower our dependency on oil imports, and save consumers money at the gas pump. I am organizing and driving the Missouri leg of the tour.

MISSOURI TIMELINE:
Fri, June 4: St. Louis

*Tentative* places, times, and issues

Stop 1, 10:00am: Old Chain of Rocks Bridge (on Mississippi River with a beautiful view of downtown St. Louis...air quality permitting, that is)

Issue: St. Louisans are at risk from poor air quality. We rank 3rd worst in the nation for asthma, and keep receiving failing grades from the American Lung Association for high ground-ozone levels. Proposed projects such as Holcim cement facility in Ste. Genevieve County, the expansion of the Baldwin coal-fired power plant in St. Clair County, IL, and the proposed new Peabody coal-burning power plant in Washington Co., IL, will further worsen St. Louis-area air quality.
(From the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, different hybrids drive each leg of the Route 66 Loop around and through St. Louis.)

Stop 2, 1pm: Route 66 State Park, formerly the town of Times Beach, a Superfund site that was successfully cleaned up in the 1980s after it was discovered that the town was contaminated by dioxin.

Issue: Polluters, not citizen taxpayers, should pay to clean up their toxic messes. The story of Times Beach perfectly illustrates the devastating impact of toxic waste on a small community, and the results of a successful, corporate-funded cleanup. But the Bush administration and Congress let the polluter-funded mandate for "Superfund” lapse, leaving contaminated communities at risk.

Mon, June 7: Rolla or Lebanon (to be confirmed)

Tues, June 8: Springfield

Wed, June 9: Joplin

What do we do at the stops?
Set up tables to gather postcards, identify potential activists, do interviews with members of the press, recruit students, and highlight local energy issues that connect to national policy. We want to reach out  to the public about global warming and clean energy solutions in order to inspire more people to become actively involved supporters.

What do events look like?
Locations: Sites along or close to the route with easy accessibility and some environmental significance. Locations might include, for example, a place in view of an old coal-fired power plant, a windmill farm, or maybe a school where children struggle with asthma due to poor air quality. One thing that volunteers and staff can help provide is on-the-ground info that helps us determine what is the best local hook to link to national energy issues, and the best solution to connect it with.

Speakers: At each event we’ll need 2-3 speakers, such as an environmentally-supportive elected official (mayor, city councilperson), an doctor who specializes in pediatric asthma, a farmer with windmills on his land, a clergy member or labor organizer. The Sierra Club organizer driving the Prius will also speak.
Time: Media events in most cities will take place on a weekday between 10am and 2pm. Community events in the early evening may also be considered.

Materials: We have Sierra Club banners, clean energy signs and literature, IWillEvolve.org t-shirts and materials for events. Local organizers can bring materials on area issues.

What can local volunteers do to help?
Many things, large and small, go into making each and every one of these events a success. One of the simplest is coming out to the event to show your support. Other ways to help include:
Get the word out via email lists, phone calls, and word of mouth
-Suggest local leaders we should work with
-Recommend appropriate locations for the event
-Help secure the event location by calling parks dept, school, whatever
-Educate us on the local issue you’d like to highlight
-Be a speaker or suggest speakers
-Make an announcement at a meeting you plan to attend
-Encourage friends, family, and fellow environmental supporters to bring a friend
-Arrange and bring tables, chairs, local literature, signs, etc.
-Bring your hybrid car, or get other hybrid owners to bring theirs
-Get there early to help set up
-Suggest media outlets and known reporter contacts
-Play a role in the press conference
-After the event, write a letter to the editor

The press conference and follow up activities are where we will need the most assistance from folks on the ground. We can provide many written materials to help you, such as email announcement text, phone scripts, and draft letters to the editor. Just let us know what you need.

What’s the next step?
Contact Sierra Club organizer Jill Miller with your ideas and recommendations! Call (314) 645-2032 or email: jill.miller@sierraclub.org.
Let’s make the Route 66 Hybrid Evolution Tour a huge success!