Wayne’s Sierra Club World
by Wayne Tanaka | Reading time: 2.75 minutes
As 2022 draws to a close, I am overflowing with gratitude for the amazing Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi staff, volunteers, members, and allies who have helped fill this year with absolutely historic victories and accomplishments.
Together, we helped gain significant ground against the U.S. Navy and its Red Hill nightmare, on all fronts; established meaningful protections for a dozen East Maui streams, for the first time in over a century; played a critical role in the passage of a county charter amendment to place the fate of Maui’s corporate-controlled waters back into the hands of the Maui community; and helped keep equity and justice at the forefront of our ever-developing renewable energy policy discussions.
We’ve also stopped a plethora of harmful legislation from becoming law; helped pass a city ordinance to better protect Oʻahu’s iwi kūpuna and historic sites; launched a legal intervention to save Kauaʻi’s Wailuanuiahōʻano from ill-planned resort redevelopment; and educated countless organizations, agencies, community groups, and classrooms about the most pressing environmental issues facing our islands, and our planet - among many other activities.
All this, while re-starting our outings and service projects that help residents and visitors connect more deeply with our islands’ incredibly special and unique natural and cultural spaces.
While our progress has been remarkable, the work ahead of us remains great, our future challenges formidable. Our Chapter executive committee, staff, and myself all know that we can - we must - strive to be more effective, more strategic, and constantly reflective in fulfilling our mission: protecting our home and building a livable, resilient future for our our children and future generations will require no less. Accordingly, with support from the National Sierra Club, we are embarking on a strategic planning journey with Huliau Aloha to define and refine our mission, goals, strengths, and priorities for the next three years.
However, we need your help! As members and supporters your perspectives will be invaluable to informing and shaping this effort. Accordingly, we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to answer the following questions:
If the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i was everything you wanted it to be, what would it look like in 10 years?
What are the top 3 strengths of the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i?
Opportunities exist outside of the organization. What are critical opportunities that the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i can take advantage of to maximize its strengths with resources outside of the organization?
What are the significant challenges the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i needs to overcome?
You can submit your thoughts and reflections using this Google Form here, or e-mail them to us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org.
As a final note - THANK YOU SO MUCH for all that you’ve done to support our work this year. We could not have done any of this without you, and for that I am so deeply grateful.
Wishing you a wonderful and safe holiday season!
Mahalo piha,
Wayne