Brenda Walker - The Social Contract: How Deeply Did Wall Street Investor David Gelbaum Damage the Sierra Club? - "The Sierra Club was willing to sell its integrity for $100 million."

How Deeply Did Wall Street Investor David Gelbaum Damage the Sierra Club?


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It was a very bad day for the cause of protecting America’s wilderness and resources some years back when the Sierra Club secretly took over $100 million in tainted donations from Wall Street investor David Gelbaum. The enormous contribution came with strings attached, namely the stipulation that America’s flagship green organization would not mention excessive immigration as harmful to the environment generally and resource preservation in particular.

As a result, the Club management rejected its own environmentally proper immigration policy with no explanation. The cause was a closely guarded secret for years.

In 1989 the Club’s official position was: “Immigration to the U.S. should be no greater than that which will permit achievement of population stabilization in the U.S.” The aim was to create an environmentally sustainable America, where human population growth would not outstrip natural processes that renew water, soil, forests, and other resources vital to human existence.

So it was both mysterious and alarming to concerned Club members when in 1996 the Board of Directors voted to adopt a “neutrality” policy regarding immigration:

The Sierra Club, its entities, and those speaking in its name will take no position on immigration levels or on policies governing immigration into the United States. The Club remains committed to environmental rights and protections for all within our borders, without discrimination based on immigration status. ...

 http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc_24_4/tsc_24_4_walker.shtml