Hello, everyone!

 

This past month has been a busy one for the staff and volunteers of the Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club as we’ve raced to the finish line of the legislative session (which ends on May 6, 2026). In this newsletter you will find an update from Julianna Larue on the session, as well as a tribute to retiring State Representative Mary Mushinsky. I will provide a more detailed recap next month after we know the final results, but, in the meantime, I would like to thank everyone who advocated for environmental rights, health and justice, clean energy, and a safe and stable climate. Whether it was by way of testimony at public hearings, writing or calling representatives, lobbying at the capitol, or participating in protests and rallies, we turned out in force, and I was proud to be part of it.

 

I’ll also remember April 2026 as a time of celebration, fellowship, and connection. Our chapter set up information tables at around a dozen Earth Day events across the state. I appreciate all the staff and volunteers who put in the time and effort to run the tables. And to everyone who signed up at one of the events and is reading this newsletter for the first time, thank you for your interest in our work and welcome to our team! I hope you have seen that there are a wide variety of meaningful, and fun, ways to get involved. 

 

Another April highlight for me was our Earth Day Community, Music & Action Event in Hartford on April 22. We had a great turn out, delicious food, and good cheer. It was a pleasure seeing and talking to so many of you in person (and not on a video call for once), and I felt a real positive vibe in the room (and learned that some of you are taller than you appear on zoom). Thank you to our Director Samantha Dynowski for organizing such a great event!

 

You may be wondering why I chose to go with a blurry picture of a blue butterfly for this month’s article. Well, I took that picture (which explains its poor quality) a couple of weeks ago on a Sierra Club walk in Hurd State Park to learn about a proposed expansion of a methane pipeline under the Connecticut River. Half way through the walk we were standing on Split Rock at the top of White Mountain when Steve Lewis, our Chapter naturalist (not an official title), pointed out that on the way up he had seen a Spring Azure butterfly. He was excited because adults only live for 5 days in early spring, so their appearance is quite fleeting. Steve went back the way we came to try to get a rare photo. The rest of us continued on and, as luck would have it, came upon another Spring Azure along the trail, and I snapped the best picture I could.

 

The walk was a reminder to me of how important it is just to get out there. Yes, I learned about a terrible threat to our local environment and that I need to take action to help prevent it. But it was also a beautiful day spent with great people, and I learned about and saw a fragile little butterfly with wings the same shade of azure blue as the sky above. I plan to go to more Sierra Club outings in the coming months. If you’d like to as well you can find them listed on our Events & Outings.

 

For an update on our work to stop gas expansion in Connecticut, I recommend Sena Wazer’s Join the Ride Fossil Fuels article. 

 

Also, a new feature of our newsletter I am excited about is Susan Eastwood’s Faces of Sierra Club Connecticut and Recommendations from our Members - What We’re Reading. I’m seeing a lot of very interesting books listed and looking forward to reading them soon.

 

That’s it for this month. See you out and about!

 

With solidarity and care,

 

Mike Ungaro

Chapter Chair of Sierra Club Connecticut