Aaron Mair - April 16

Aaron Mair is a long-term environmental activist and an activist for environmental justice. He currently serves on the Board of the Sierra Club and served as its 57th president from 2015-2017. He is Director of the Forever Adirondacks Campaign of the Adirondack Council which is focused on preserving the Adirondack Park’s wilderness character and supporting the rural communities that surround the Park which encompasses approximately 6 million acres in upper New York State abutting Vermont. In November 2022, he attended the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt. When asked in a Hipcamp Journal interview what was special about being the first African American to be President of the Sierra Club, he said: “Being African American isn’t what’s special. It’s recognizing that all of us regardless of our race or gender need to be and do more for the planet. The Club voted for a hardcore, kickass advocate and activist. They voted for someone who made GE dredge parts of the Hudson River. They voted for someone who took on a government-run garbage incinerator that was poisoning thousands of people, and had it shut down. When people voted for me, they voted for how badass green I am.”

Mair’s personal history of eco-justice activism began in the 1980s when he lead efforts to shut down a five-county solid waste incinerator in Albany, NY, where he and his family lived. Smoke from the incinerator was affecting the health of children in the community causing respiratory problems. The community’s efforts ultimately led to shutting down the incinerator and a $1.6 million settlement to the community.  He volunteered in local chapters of the Sierra Club and helped lead the Clean Up the Hudson campaign which resulted in a settlement between the EPA and General Electric to dredge toxic PCB sediments from the upper Hudson River.  

This event is part of the monthly Environmental Sunday series organized by the Green Team at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew. The Green Team is part of the broader movement in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts and the Anglican Communion advocating praying, learning, acting and advocating for creation care, the climate crisis and environmental justice. Please enter the church through the main doors facing Federal Street.
​
Tickets are available at the following locations in Massachusetts: 

• Imaginary Books, 365 Main Street, Greenfield
• Sadie’s Bikes, 83 Canal Street, Turners Falls 
• Kestrel, 22 Masonic Street, Northampton 
• Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst
• Amherst Books, 8 Main Street, Amherst 
• Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College Street (Village Commons), South Hadley