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nd so it is incumbent upon us, the environmentally conscious public, to educate ourselves about non- governmental, environmental organizations working to protect the various elements that make up our local and global ecosystems. Let's begin with the basics: an environmental organization is a group or association born of the conservation and environmental movements that seeks to protect the earth from degradation at the hands of man-made forces. These organizations can specialize in any number of issues including climate change, wildlife protection, sustainable business, waste management or ground pollution. They can be local, regional, national or global in scale. The particular cause that an environmental group decides to undertake is typically what determines its size and reach of influence. There is a local organization in Southern California named the Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC), that is solely dedicated to protecting a 76-mile stretch of land called—you guessed it—the Gaviota Coast. This particular coastline is important because it represents the only coastal, Mediterranean ecosystem in North America. The GCC works to prevent urban sprawl from enveloping their coast. Over the years large development companies have tried to build luxury hotels, housing developments and other projects that promise to threaten the local ecosystem. The GCC fights these developers off in court and hopes to ultimately pass legislation that keeps the beaches permanently rural and open to the public. In many respects, the GCC being a local organization makes them a greater force to be reckoned with. While national and global organizations make their battle grounds all around the world and often dilute their own efforts, the GCC devotes all of their resources and attention to a single fight—protecting this one stretch of land from being compromised. That's the power of locally organized groups. An organization with a much larger purview is the Sierra Club. This Club will go down in history as being the first, large-scale preservation organization in the world. With chapters all across America, they're focused on promoting sustainable energy, increasing awareness of global warming and eradicating the use of fossil fuels. VUE ON GIVING V U E N J . C O M 86

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