Fighting for Justice, Health, and Hawaiʻi’s Environment—Together
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s 2025 March Fund Appeal letters should be hitting your mailboxes soon. This season’s letter features an inspirational letter from Kristina Baehr, founder of Just Well Law, the firm representing families impacted by the 2021 Red Hill fuel leak.
If you just can’t wait for your mail to read what Kristina has to share, you can read her letter below.
Please consider making a one-time gift today or signing up as a monthly donor to support our ongoing grassroots work.
Aloha,
Like too many people, I have personally experienced the profound harms of toxic exposure caused by institutional negligence. With no consequences for the injuries they cause, institutions - whether they are the US military, corporate landlords, or industrial polluters - feel no need to change their behavior, resulting in even more widespread, multigenerational harms to people and the environment.
As a result, I founded a law firm that went on to represent thousands of clients impacted by the Red Hill fuel spill, as they fight to hold the US Navy accountable for the poisoning of military, civilian families, and environment. But you don’t need to start your own law firm to make a change, you can make a difference by supporting the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.
For the better part of a decade, the Sierra Club was the leading advocate for the Navy to defuse the ticking time bomb that was its massive underground Red Hill Fuel Facility, educating the community, litigating and pressuring key decisionmakers to stop the storage of toxic fuel directly above Oʻahu’s drinking water aquifer. Because of this work, when the facility finally leaked and contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system in 2021, impacted families knew they could turn to the Chapter for information, expertise, and even direct relief. Moreover, they also found a mobilized network of informed residents who fought - and continue to fight - to ensure their safety, hold government leaders accountable, and prevent an even greater disaster from befalling the entire island.
This is why I am proud to stand with the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and ask you to consider supporting their crucial work with a gift of any size today. This empowers the work Sierra Club of Hawai‘i does to hold even the most powerful entities accountable to the needs of people, the environment, and future generations.
The Sierra Club’s unwavering support of these efforts and the unlikely alliances that were forged - between Native Hawaiians and recent transplants, military families and peace activists, Democrats and Republicans - would lead to the military’s unprecedented legal concession of its own negligence, and a historic Pentagon decision to defuel and shut down the Red Hill Facility.
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s work on Red Hill exemplifies their approach: combining evidence-based analysis, legal action, and grassroots organizing to tackle Hawaiʻi’s greatest challenges. From addressing military-contaminated lands and restoring diverted watersheds to strengthening biosecurity, their efforts protect not just the environment but also our families, health, and future.
Please, consider making a meaningful gift to support this unique and absolutely crucial organization. Your support enables the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi to:
Provide technical, legal, and strategic expertise to communities fighting environmental injustices;
Mobilize quickly when new environmental hazards emerge;
Advocate for stronger environmental and community protections at all levels of government;
Support grassroots organizing in frontline communities; and
Protect our environment and people from the most powerful entities in the islands.
The momentum we've built together shows us what's possible when we combine community power with strong environmental advocacy. But that work isn't finished, and new threats emerge every day. Will you help the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi continue this crucial work with a gift today?
Every dollar you give helps us come together to protect both our environment and our communities. Together, we can make sure future generations of Hawaiʻi’s families have clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, and a healthy, thriving environment to call home.
With gratitude and determination,
Kristina Baehr
National Trial Attorney and Founder
Just Well Law
P.S. Your gift today helps the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi continue their crucial work protecting Hawaiʻi’s environment and human health. Please make your most generous contribution today!