Fighting for Justice, Health, and Hawaiʻi’s Environment—Together
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s 2025 March Fund Appeal letters are hitting mailboxes! 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’ve personally experienced the profound harm of toxic exposure caused by institutional negligence. When there are no consequences for the damage they cause, institutions—whether it’s the US military, corporate landlords, or industrial polluters—feel no pressure to change. The result is widespread, multigenerational harm to both people and the environment.
My name is Kristina Baehr. I’m the founder of a law firm representing thousands of clients impacted by the Red Hill fuel spill. These families—both military and civilian— are fighting to hold the US Navy accountable for poisoning their water, their health, and their lives. Together, we’re working to ensure the Department of Defense recognizes its fundamental duties: to protect its employees, their families, the civilians it serves, and the environment that underpins our true security.
I started this law practice because my own family was harmed by toxic exposure. In that painful time, I saw firsthand how victims of institutional negligence often have nowhere to turn—for legal support, healing, or justice. Through our firm, we’re helping others seek justice and building a movement of families rising up against the institutions that hurt them.
There is something profound that happens when communities unite to challenge institutions wreaking havoc on their health and environment. When we began working with families affected by the Navy’s negligence at Red Hill, we quickly learned who had already stepped up: the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi. It was the Sierra Club that had gathered resources, spoken the truth, raised awareness, and lent both literal and figurative support to a community in crisis. Because of their work, families felt seen, heard, and empowered.
That’s why I’m asking you to support the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi for their courageous and critical work. This organization has long held powerful entities accountable to the needs of people, the environment, and future generations. For nearly a decade, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi led the call to defuse the ticking time bomb that was the Navy’s massive underground Red Hill fuel facility. They educated the public, litigated in court, and pressured decision-makers to stop the storage of toxic fuel above Oʻahu’s primary drinking water aquifer.
When the facility leaked in November 2021, contaminating the Navy’s water system, many families already knew where to turn—for information, support, and direct relief. They also found a growing, organized network of Hawaiʻi residents who were ready to fight for their safety, demand accountability, and prevent an even larger catastrophe.
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s steadfast support was a turning point. Unlikely alliances were forged—between Native Hawaiians and recent transplants, military families and peace activists, Democrats and Republicans. These partnerships helped lead to an unprecedented legal concession of negligence by the military and a historic Pentagon decision to defuel and shut down Red Hill.
But Red Hill is just one example of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s impact. Across the islands, they combine evidence-based analyses and technical expertise, strategic legal action, and grassroots organizing to tackle our most urgent environmental challenges. Whether it’s restoring watersheds long impaired by corporate stream diversions, securing stronger biosecurity protections, or addressing military-contaminated lands and drinking water sources, they understand that protecting the environment isn’t just about saving natural spaces—it’s about safeguarding our families, our health, and our 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 what's possible when community power meets strong environmental advocacy. But the work isn't done—and new threats emerge every day.
Will you help the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi continue this critical work with a gift of $25, $50, $100, or whatever you can contribute today?
Every dollar helps protect Hawaiʻi’s people and places. Together, we can ensure future generations have clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, and a healthy 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!