Posted on: Tuesday, April 27, 2004

EDITORIAL
Immigration agenda not right for Sierra Club

Anti-immigration advocates lost their bid to gain control of the Sierra Club, the nation's largest environmental group.

And while we acknowledge that human overpopulation can be a major burden on the environment, anti-immigrant sentiment ought to occupy as much space in the Sierra Club as, say, abortion rights. It's just not the appropriate forum.

On the positive side, the threat of a radical agenda change certainly got more Sierra Club members to the polls. Nearly 23 percent of members participated in the board of directors election, more than twice the usual number.

Unfortunately, paper ballots did not get to Hawai'i members in time. Apparently, the San Francisco-based club got off to a late start in sending ballots to Hawai'i, Alaska and Puerto Rico because of complications with the election vendor. That means many Islanders did not get to participate in the election.

The issue of immigration control is worthy of debate, but the Sierra Club has enough on its plate without adding that to its to-do list.

Fortressing off the United States from immigrants and refugees will not solve our environmental problems. We have to look at our policies abroad and focus on the root causes of why so many move here.