Sierra Club's Florida coup

Earlier this year, the national board of the Sierra Club voted to suspend the organization's Florida chapter for four years. That meant the immediate dismissal of a 27-member executive committee elected by the state's membership -- and its replacement by a body appointed by the national board of the prominent environmental group.

The chapter's sin? Well, that depends on who you ask. The national body says the problem was in-fighting on the state board, which members dispute. They in turn charge that the real problem was that the Florida chapter took positions at odds with the national organization, including bucking its pro-biofuels agenda and opposing the national board's paid endorsement of a new line of home cleaning products from Clorox, a major corporate polluter.

Today's Grist magazine has a terrific overview of the controversy. The article by Emily Gertz captures the anger the group's former Florida leaders are feeling at their national overseers, as reflected in this quote from former state chapter secretary Pedro Monteiro:

"This suspension process is rife with the same problems that plagued the misguided invasion of Iraq and Panama, and the illegal holding of citizens in Guantanamo Bay," he wrote in his email, comparing the board's actions to "the crimes of the Bush Administration." He continued, "If there really are problems in the Florida Chapter, allow the voters to express their will and elect a new leadership at the next regularly held election." In a follow-up email, Monteiro called the chapter's new interim steering committee "a national staff-appointed junta."

Read the full story online here.