But we still need your help to support Sierra Club members, volunteers and staff in the region as they rebuild their communities. Your contribution to our Gulf Coast Environmental Restoration Project will enable the Sierra Club in Louisiana , Mississippi , and Alabama to work with our neighbors in local communities to restore and recover in the aftermath of this unprecedented environmental catastrophe. And after Hurricane Rita, this Project may need to be expanded to coastal Texas as well.

This is a project of the greatest importance and urgency – tens of billions of dollars for rebuilding will be flowing soon to the Gulf Coast and we must have enough resources for the Gulf Coast Environmental Restoration Project to work quickly and effectively with local communities as rebuilding plans are made. It is critical that the rebuilding programs emphasize:

• flood and hurricane protection,
• restoration and protection of wetlands,
• re-thinking how toxic chemicals are stored and shipped through our communities, and
• conservation, energy efficiency and other green building and planning approaches that should be applied.

We must be able to hit the ground running when the rebuilding begins in earnest. Please take action now, so that we will be ready to work with local communities and leaders to ensure that environmental and community safeguards are included in the plans for rebuilding Gulf Coast communities.

Thank you again for your generosity and support.

Sincerely,

Bruce Hamilton
Conservation Director
Sierra Club