Inside the green bubble

THE Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest environmental group, has always courted a grass-roots image. Now the club is doing something it has never done before: inviting its 750,000 members -- and the public -- for a planet-centric brainstorming session. The four-day Sierra Summit 2005 starts Thursday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and is expected to draw about 5,000 people, some of them club delegates, others just interested parties. “We need to have a new generation of environmental visionaries and leaders at all levels of society,” says spokesman Eric Antebi. “There are a lot of different ways to invest in that leadership, but one of the most important ways is by actually bringing them together.” To that end, the club has asked a number of guest speakers to make presentations and to join panel discussions: Alice Waters on organic food; rock climber Lynn Hill (right) and mountain climber Arlene Blum on “Women Who Rock”; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the health of rivers; eco-veteran Dave Foreman on restoring the wild; “Ansel Adams” documentary maker Ric Burns on filmmaking and the environment. In other panels, Starbucks’ director of environmental affairs sits down with activists to discuss their roles in pushing a green agenda. Outings include a hike on Angel Island. Registration is recommended; www.sierrasummit2005.org.

-- Mary Forgione