Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:47:54.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Sierra Club and Immigration Policy: A Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Alice L. Clarke*
Affiliation:
Florida International University, USA
Get access

Abstract

In 1998, the Sierra Club membership voted in a contentious referendum to refrain from including restriction of U.S. immigration as part of its official club population policy. Club proponents of immigration reduction had declared the problem was simply the environmental impact of greater numbers of people; however, they failed to distinguish themselves from groups with much broader immigration-reduction agendas, leaving themselves open to charges of racism. The club faction calling for the exclusion of immigration issues from the policy, on the other hand, failed to acknowledge the demographic reality of the contribution of immigration (30%) to the growth of the U.S. population. As a result, current club policy is not credible, as it calls for a reduction in the U.S. population but ignores immigration. The Sierra Club's complex organizational structure and open, democratic political process make it particularly vulnerable to internal conflict during periods of changing perspectives within the organization.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abernethy, V. (2000). “Rejoinder to Macunovich.” Population and Environment 21:469–72.Google Scholar
Adamson, D., Belden, N., DaVanzo, J., and Patterson, S. (2000). How Americans View World Population Issues: A Survey of Public Opinion. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Associated Press (1998). “Sierra Club Won't Urge Immigration Curbs.” The Miami Herald (April 26):6A.Google Scholar
Berry, J. (1997). The Interest Group Society. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Berry, J. (1999). The New Liberalism: The Rising Power of Citizen Groups. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Clark, T., and Reading, R. (1994). “A Professional Perspective: Improving Problem Solving, Communication, and Effectiveness.” In Clark, T., Reading, R., and Clarke, A. (eds.), Endangered Species Recovery: Finding the Lessons, Improving the Process. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Clark, T., Reading, R., and Clarke, A. (1994). Endangered Species Recovery: Finding the Lessons, Improving the Process. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Cortner, H. and Moote, M. (1999). The Politics of Ecosystem Management. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Cutler, M. (1995). “Old Players with New Power: The Nongovernmental Organizations.” In Knight, R. and Bates, S. (eds.), A New Century for Natural Resource Management. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
DeBonis, J. (1995). “Natural Resource Agencies: Questioning the Paradigm.” In Knight, R. and Bates, S. (eds.), A New Century for Natural Resource Management. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Greenhouse, S. (2000). “Coalition Urges Easing of Immigration Laws.” The New York Times on the Web (May 16):www.nytimes.com.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. (1974). “Living on a Lifeboat.” BioScience 24:561–68.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. (1993). Living within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Harrop, F. (1998). “Environment vs. Immigration.” The Miami Herald (March 17):13A.Google Scholar
Higgins, M. (2000). “Exit Interview: Brower Calls it Quits with Sierra Club.” Environmental News Network (May 23):www.enn.com.Google Scholar
Hollmann, F., Mulder, T., and Kalian, J. (2000). “Methodology and Assumptions for the Population Projections of the United States: 1999 to 2000.” Population Division Working Paper No. 38. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov).Google Scholar
Kellert, S. (1994). “A Sociological Perspective: Valuational, Socioeconomic, and Organizational Factors.” In Clark, T., Reading, R., and Clarke, A. (eds.), Endangered Species Recovery: Finding the Lessons, Improving the Process. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Kessler, W. and Salwasser, H. (1995). “Natural Resource Agencies: Transforming from Within.” In Knight, R. and Bates, S. (eds.), A New Century for Natural Resource Management. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Kessler, W., Salwasser, H., Cartwright, C. Jr., and Caplan, J. (1992). “New Perspectives for Sustainable Natural Resources Management.” Ecological Applications 2:221–25.Google Scholar
Kostmayer, P. and Kalla, K. (1998). “Let's Focus on Underlying Causes, Not Symptoms.” Sierra (January): 105, 107.Google Scholar
McClure, R. (1997). “Green Policy Seen as Racist.” Sun Sentinel (August 17).Google Scholar
Macunovich, D. (2000). “Macunovich Response to Abernethy Rejoinder.” Population and Environment 21:473–76.Google Scholar
Martin, P. and Midgley, E. (1999). “Immigration to the United States.” Population Bulletin 54 (2). Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.Google Scholar
Meine, C. (1995). “The Oldest Task in Human History.” In Knight, R. and Bates, S. (eds.), A New Century for Natural Resource Management. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Pope, C. (1998). “Moving On: Lesson of the Immigration Debate.” Sierra (July/August): 1415.Google Scholar
President's Commission on Population Growth and the American Future (1972). Population Growth and the American Future. New York: Signet.Google Scholar
Schneider, D. and Kuper, A. (1998). “Why We Need a Comprehensive U.S. Population Policy.” Sierra (January):105–7.Google Scholar
Shaiko, R. (1999). Voices and Echoes for the Environment: Public Interest Representation in the 1990s and Beyond. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, G. (1997). “Making Decisions in a Complex and Dynamic World.” In Kohm, K. and Franklin, J. (eds.), Creating a Forestry for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Ventura, S., Martin, J., Curtin, S., Mathews, T., and Park, M. (2000). “Births: Final Data for 1998.” National Vital Statistics Report 48 (3). Washington, DC: National Center for Health Statistics. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Publication No. (PHS) 2000-1120 0-0215 (3/2000).Google Scholar
Yveld, N. L. (1998). “Sierra Club Split over Immigration.” The Miami Herald (March 29):21 A.2w.Google Scholar