Dear River Defenders and Supporters:
I always put a good bit of thought into these end of year fundraising letters. Not only because I want to inspire you to give generously to the important work we do, but because I want to be sure that I am highlighting our work, and all the work of protecting rivers and clean water across Alabama, in a way that showcases the progress we are making. I want to give you hope that we can live in an Alabama where our rivers are flowing and clean, and our drinking water is safe to drink, and where our communities and our economy are both healthy and thriving.
It isn’t always easy to keep believing this in the face of the many challenges we see every day. This year has been an especially challenging year for the environment and the work to protect it. It has felt a bit like whiplash as the large amount of funding from the last administration for vital water infrastructure projects has been clawed back, environmental regulations have been attacked and rolled back, agencies that work to protect and regulate the environment and public health have been gutted and HUGE new threats like data centers and expanded pipelines to serve them have emerged.
But that is only a part of the story.
While we must continue to stay alert and engaged in the constant changes at the federal level, we cannot not let that be our only perspective. The old adage think globally, act locally has never been more important to heed. People on the ground and in communities across Alabama are still making an impact and creating change. Our local and state leaders across Alabama still care most about Alabama – not the rest of the country. Many of them understand that Alabama needs healthy people AND a healthy natural environment to thrive. That is why I want to focus this letter on what is going right, where we are seeing successes, and where we are seeing hope.
People are showing up and speaking out!
Thanks to individual donors, like you, who make sure we have flexible funding, Alabama Rivers Alliance has the strategic ability to respond rapidly to emerging issues and community needs – such as data centers! We have been leading efforts to fight these massive power and water guzzling data centers in Alabama. Our staff, along with partner organizations such as GASP and Southern Environmental Law Center, is helping inform, educate and organize alongside dozens of community members in Bessemer and McCalla to oppose a hyperscale data center that stands to impact water, air, a newly discovered fish, and the quality of life of nearby residents. Our multi-racial and multi-generational coalition consists of people from all across Bessemer and surrounding communities.
While we didn’t win the first leg of this marathon, we did help turn what would’ve been a run-of-the-mill vote for the zoning board and the City Council into a highly-publicized decision that the council had to make in the face of mounting opposition from their constituents. Ultimately, we did get two City Councilors to vote no! These are the kinds of small successes that can only get bigger the more people show up, stand up and speak out!
This battle to better regulate data centers and protect communities’ water resources is just beginning in Alabama and we are excited to have so many new friends joining the fight!
I want to personally thank you both and ALL your Team Members for supporting the citizens that surround this Hyperscale Data Center! You have ALL stood with us on this ridiculous monstrosity wedged into two communities! I know the fight is not over yet and hopefully pending lawsuits against this Center will continue to give us hope that all is not yet done. You’re ALL amazing, and there’s not words that can show our gratitude for your hard work and dedication while standing up with us as we continue to fight against this terrible decision the Council has made for us!
– Community member impacted by the data center
ARA has always been a leader when it comes to advocating against dirty, water-intensive energy sources such as coal, gas and nuclear, and for moving to cleaner energy that takes the health, availability and affordability of our water resource into account. This year we’ve seen a renewed push for dirty energy in the region, including a proposal for expansion of a methane gas pipeline running across 10 counties in Alabama. Once again, ARA is at the forefront of bringing multiple partner groups together, while also working with new partners like BlackBelt Women Rising and state and local elected officials in the Black Belt to host community meetings about this short-sighted, dirty energy project. Community members are showing up in force and learning how to send in their personal comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
And it isn’t just ARA-led efforts seeing successes. Our Alliance partners are making a difference in their communities too!
This year, the Friends of Shades Creek led an effort to stop Samford University from developing the area of Shades Creek where the locally famous Spotted Salamanders have their breeding grounds. This all-volunteer group that ARA helped form in the late 90s has been educating and advocating for Shades Creek for nearly three decades and their work has paid off! The community joined together and Samford University ultimately agreed to rethink their development plans to protect the salamander breeding pools!
The Friends of the Locust Fork River, another all-volunteer stalwart Alliance partner group successfully advocated to their local county commission to stop a medical waste facility from being built in a flood zone in their watershed.
One of our newest Alliance partners, BlackBelt Women Rising, has been working with ARA staff and other partners to address entrenched wastewater and drinking water infrastructure issues in areas such as Perry County. Most recently, this work paid off when the town of Marion’s water pump broke and residents were out of water for four days. BBWR rallied our coalition. ARA was able to support their on-the-ground efforts to provide water for their community through our DRIFT Fund small grants program. Meanwhile, the coalition’s relationship-building with ADEM over the past few years helped them spring to action for emergency assistance. We are already discussing how we can use this emergency as motivation for state and city leaders to develop longer term solutions for this community.
We hear so many more stories all across Alabama where we can truly see that standing up and speaking out in our communities can make a real difference. It is easy to get lost in the national and global news and feel that there is nothing we can do to see change on such a large scale. But in Alabama, we have always had a tradition of understanding that our best place to make a difference is right here at home. From civil rights to voting rights to having one of the largest and strongest statewide river protection movements in the nation – we show that when we make change locally, it matters globally.
The Alabama Rivers Alliance can be in the communities we need to be in and respond to the threats and opportunities that emerge because our funding comes from people like you and not from the government or corporate donors that want to restrict our work.
Please continue to give as you are able in these unprecedented times and know that your dollars to ARA go a very long way. Not only in supporting our small and mighty team, but in helping us support this active and continually growing Alliance of people who are making a difference all across Alabama!
Water is Life,
Cindy Lowry
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TODAY!