In 2017, Sierra Club began a campaign to stop farmers in South Florida from burning sugar cane fields during harvest season. Sierra Clubs claims to want Florida farmers to ‘green harvest’ their sugar cane as an effort to improve air quality in the Glades. However, scientific data shows air quality in the glades in in fact BETTER that the air quality in nearby larger cities. So their air quality claim is a complete lie.
The truth is, Sierra Club is attempting to sue the sugar farming industry (with baseless claims) to turn a profit, even if it means having the industry completely shut down like they did in Hawaii.
Sierra Club’s ‘Stop the Burn. Go Green Harvest’ campaign in the Glades is being led by people who do not live, work, or spend any time in the Glades. They do not care about the thousands of families who rely on the South Florida sugar farming industry, they care only about making a profit. What once was an organization dedicated to conserving wilderness for future human enjoyment, has become an anti-growth, anti-technology, anti-energy group that puts its utopian environmentalist vision before the well-being of humans.
Sierra Club sues the EPA constantly to garner settlement money. In cases Sierra Club is successful in suing the EPA, the groups’ attorneys’ fees are paid by the federal government. Reports indicate that between 1995 and 2010, taxpayers reimbursed the Sierra Club to the tune of $966,687.
SIERRA CLUB’S ‘SUE FOR PROFIT’ BUSINESS MODEL
Sierra Club has a history of suing NOT for what is right, but instead, sues to simply make money. People industries, and sometimes the environment, suffer in the process.
Sierra Club is an “environmental’ group based in California who prides themselves at being the leader in environmental litigation
On average, the Sierra Clubs leads 250+ environmental lawsuits a year
In addition to suing private corporations, Sierra Club constantly sues the Environmental protection agency to thwart settlement money from the Federal Government (taxpayers dollars)
The Sierra Club regularly colludes with federal agencies in “sue and settle” lawsuits ie. Sierra Club sues the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), arguing that the agency is taking too long to issue a particular regulation or that the agency isn’t meeting a specific legal requirement. The EPA can then either defend itself in court or settle with the environmentalists. In several cases, the EPA issued a consent agreement to settle cases the very same day activists filed their lawsuits.
In many cases, if the environmentalists are successful in suing the EPA, the groups’ attorneys’ fees are paid by the federal government. According to a 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office, between 1995 and 2010, taxpayers reimbursed the Sierra Club to the tune of $966,687.*
Sierra Club accepted $26 million from Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest gas-drillers in the world and used the money for their Beyond Coal campaign to block new coal-fired power plants and close old ones.
Sierra Club claims to be pro-solar energy BUT in 2012 they sued to stop the development of a large-scale solar plant in California claiming the project could potentially harm protected animal species.
SIERRA CLUB’S HAS SHADY FINANCIALS AND SPECIAL-INTEREST DONORS
In 2012, Time magazine broke the news that the Sierra Club, had, for three years, accepted $26 million from Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest gas-drillers in the world. The Sierra Club used the Chesapeake Energy money for its Beyond Coal campaign to block new coal-fired power plants and close old ones.
In 2013, Washington Free Beacon uncovered that Klein Ltd., a company incorporated in Bermuda that exists solely on paper, donated millions of dollars to the Sea Change Foundation. Sea Change Foundation then passed a total of $5.45 million to Sierra Club (in 2012 alone). SeaChange also donates money to the Tides Foundation. In 2011 alone, Tides gave over $600,000 to the Sierra Club.
In 2014, the Energy and Environment Legal Institute filed a referral with the Internal Revenue Service pointing out that Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation were not paying income taxes from sales of solar panels for their partners across the US.
In 2015, the Environmental Policy Alliance, published claims that the Sierra Club received funding from groups with ties to Russia's state-owned oil company.
SIERRA CLUB’S ABUSE OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT & CLEAN AIR ACT HARMS COMMUNITIES
Sierra Club is a major advocate of solar energy, but sued in 2012 to stop the development of a large-scale solar plant in California because the project could potentially harm the desert tortoise, golden eagle, and other protected species.
In 2007, Sierra Club v. Bosworth the court stopped the U.S. Forest Service program of cutting brush and thinning dead and dying trees to protect communities from catastrophic wildfires. Devastating fires have raged throughout California in recent years killing people, burning millions of acres, and forcing the evacuations of hundreds of thousands of residents.
All data shows the air quality in the Glades community is categorized as “good”, the highest ranking in air quality standards
Data from monitoring stations show Glades community’s air is safer, cleaner, and of better quality compared to the West Palm Beach area.
In 2020, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) announced the “cleanest air on record” and that Florida meets “all ambient air quality standards.”
The data show the air quality in the Glades community is categorized as “good” and, on average, falls well within the required air quality range set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
During the 2019/2020 harvest season, there were no verified complaints as a result of controlled pre-harvest burning reported by the Florida Forest Service.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2020 report continues to show that air quality in the Glades community is better than other areas of the state; particularly
Sincee the start of 2019-2020 Harvest Season, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has introduced two rounds of improvements to pre-harvest sugarcane burns that codified many of the practices U.S. Sugar already had implemented; the most recent round included updated local zones based on community population growth and certification of all burn managers to ensure that sugarcane burning remains a safe, controlled procedure for the industry workers and nearby communities.
THE STANDARDS
Current NAAQS standards were used when generating the comparisons between monitoring locations and NAAQS. The EPA has set the following standards for particulate matter:
The air in the Glades is safer & cleaner compared to West Palm Beach
Average levels of PM2.5 are consistently higher in the West Palm Beach area compared to the Glades communities (Figure 1); the EPA defines particles in the air as particulate matter (PM) and PM2.5 describes fine, inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.
The data show the air quality throughout the Glades communities is safe, meeting all NAAQS and EPA standards for air quality.
The comparisons were drawn from the average of the daily values reported by the FDEP to calculate monthly averages. The monthly average levels of PM2.5 were always less in Belle Glade than in West Palm Beach (Figure 2 below).
In addition to having cleaner air than the West Palm Beach area, the monitoring data from the Belle Glade monitoring station shows that the air quality in the Glades communities never exceeded the primary standard for PM2.5, meaning the air quality was always categorized “good.” This means the Glades’ air is consistently safe for sensitive populations (see “Standards” section). Between the two monitoring stations, West Palm Beach area saw the highest monthly average spike over the previous calendar year, rising well above the primary standard.
AIR QUALITY IN THE GLADES IS “GOOD” EVEN DURING HARVEST (CANE BURNING) SEASON
In addition to having cleaner air than the West Palm Beach area, the monitoring data from the Belle Glade monitoring station shows that the air quality in the Glades communities never exceeded the primary standard for PM2.5, meaning the air quality was always categorized “good.” This means the Glades’ air is consistently safe for sensitive populations (see “Standards” section). Between the two monitoring stations, West Palm Beach area saw the highest monthly average spike over the previous calendar year, rising well above the primary standard.
— Pat Dobbins, Former Director of Glades and Hendry County Health Department
PRE-HARVEST SUGARCANE BURNING
Controlled sugar cane burning is a long-standing and critical farming practice necessary to burn off leaves and prepare sugarcane for harvest. The practice is done via permitting issued by the Florida Forestry Service.
With a prescribed field burn, smoke will typically rise well above ground level (usually 4,000 feet) and dissipate
The breathing zone for smoke inhalation is zero to 20 feet therefore, prescribed field burns leave breathing smoke if you are not exposed to it
Many studies have been done on the safeness of pre-harvest cane burning
‘GREEN’ HARVESTING
The 'green' harvesting data Sierra Club refers to is based on ONE study done in Brazil, and far from scientifically proven to be ideal.
“Green Harvesting” actually creates uncontrolled fire hazards, is extremely expensive, requires more equipment and fossil fuels to be used, causes drainage issues, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and promotes the growth of fungus, disease and mold (see figure 4)
‘Green Harvesting’ of cane is not ideal, and could be potentially dangerous, for South Florida farms
Figure 4.
