Loxahatchee Group

 

The Loxahatchee Group is one of seventeen local Sierra groups in the state of Florida. We serve members in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties in Southeast Florida. Our group offers members and prospective members opportunities to explore, enjoy, and protect the environment by volunteering, going on outings and becoming environmental activists. Welcome! 

Sierra Club mission statement is “to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment, and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” The statement comprises of the listed components:
1.    Protecting the environment
2.   Improving lives
The primary duty of the Sierra Club is to maintain the stability of the environment by combating all elements of destruction. This organization has been championing for such issues through its advocates, community of volunteers, and other supporters. Sierra Club understands the essentiality of nature to the survival of humanity. It, therefore, commits all its resources to rally like-minded individuals to join its course and create a world where people can flourish and achieve their potentials. 

 

General Meeting:

Detrimental Effects of Light Pollution on Human and Environmental Health

With Dr. Mario Motta, MD, FACC

Thursday, April 25, 2024, 7:30 PM via Zoom

Photo of Mario Motta headshot

 

Street lights in neighborhood

PROGRAM:

Dr. Motta will talk about the adverse impacts of excessive artificial light-at-night, or light pollution, not only on nocturnal species across the planet, but also on the human species. It turns out that artificial light-at-night disrupts Circadian rhythmicity.  That disruption suppresses melatonin.  Melatonin suppression inhibits the immune system, which allows for the proliferation of breast and prostate cancers and increases depression and psychiatric disturbances.  He will evaluate commonly held assumptions about streetlights and safety and how glare emanating from streetlights affects all, but especially for elderly and those with early cataracts.  Dr. Motta will close with how darker skies can benefit quality of life and livability for humans and nature.

ABOUT MARIO MOTTA, MD, FACC:

Mario Motta earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and physics at Boston College and a medical degree at Tufts University.  Dr Motta was a cardiologist at North Shore Physicians Group in Salem, Massachusetts. In 2009 he persuaded his hometown of Gloucester to install Dark-Sky International-compliant 3000 Kelvin LED streetlights.  Dr. Motta is a longtime Clinical Professor of Medicine at Tufts University and served as a Board member of International Dark Sky Association from 2010 to 2014 and for a longer stint as chair of its Medical Effects of Light Pollution Committee.  Prior to serving as an American Medical Association (AMA) trustee for four years, Dr. Motta served on the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH.)  CSAPH’s policy recommendation that streetlights and other outdoor lights should have a color temperature of no greater than 3000 Kelvin (K) was unanimously adopted by the AMA at its June 2016 annual meeting.  Along with lead author Richard Stevens, renowned cancer epidemiologist at University of Connecticut’s Department of Community Medicine, Dr Motta was one of five co-authors of the 2014 research paper, Breast Cancer and Circadian Disruption from Electric Lighting in the Modern World.

Register below to join the Zoom meeting.

Register Here

 

 

Sierra Club Florida Chapter Political Action Committee logo

Sierra Club ​​​​​Loxahatchee Group
PO Box 6271
Lake Worth Beach, FL 33466-6271

 

Dear Loxahatchee Group Members and Supporters,

We’re now several months past the Florida legislative session which was a disaster for every living thing in Florida. That is not hyperbole; this is a fact. Check out the Sierra Club state Scorecards for its ratings of the session Scorecard.  

This must never be allowed to happen again!

We at the Political Committee are focused on electing better legislators at the local level, and we need your financial help to help us fulfill our mission!

In past years we have supported the environmental champions running for office with an endorsement, but experience informs us that an endorsement carries far more weight when the organization invests financially in the candidate. That is why, going forward, we hope to donate to the campaigns of some of the pro-environment candidates we endorse — to increase the chance they will be elected. This money gets earmarked to the Sierra Club Political Action Committee (PAC), who utilizes the money strategically to help elect our champions.

The link for your donation to the Sierra Club Florida PAC is HERE.

Thank you in advance for helping us support the people who care about the world we live in.

Sincerely,

Gary Landau, Esq.
Co-chair, Political Committee
Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group
Gary.Landau@Florida.SierraClub.org

Patricia Edmonson
Co-chair, Political Committee
Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group
PatEdmonson080@gmail.com
(757) 675-0137

P.S. Also, note that the Political Committee’s work goes beyond elections. We regularly meet with lawmakers and support other committees in their work when appropriate. If you’re not a member of the committee and would like to be, please reach out.

 

 

UPCOMING OUTINGS AND EVENTS

This calendar also includes events of two Sierra Club groups to the south of us: Broward and Miami.

 

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