First African American Sierra Club president returns to SC roots

COLUMBIA, SC - Through the years, Aaron Mair has made sure to visit South Carolina and the relatives he loves so much.

Raised in New York, Mair is the descendent of slaves and, later, sharecroppers who eked a living from the rocky soil near Pumpkintown, a speck of hilly land at the base of the southern Appalachians.

Every so often, he comes back to South Carolina for reunions with the 150 cousins, uncles and aunts that descended from the same family.

But this week, Mair returned to the state for a different reason. He was here to talk about environmental protection as the national Sierra Club’s president.

Mair is the club’s first African American president, a distinction noticed by many because the Sierra Club has historically been dominated by white members.

Mair said that needs to change. More diverse voices will have a greater impact in pushing for policies that protect the environment, he said. He was elected to the Sierra Club post in May.

“There is no such thing as a black environment or a white environment -- there is only one environment,’’ he said during a stop in Columbia. “We’re probably the only species in creation that can absolutely do something about its future survival.’’

The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest environmental group. Founded in California more than a century ago, the club has chapters in every state and claims more than 2 million volunteers nationally. In recent months, it has stepped out of focusing solely on environmental issues by condemning racial profiling, according to Politico.com.

In an interview with The State newspaper, Mair said some of his priorities are pushing legislation and policies to curb climate change, limit the proliferation of nuclear power and stop offshore oil drilling along the Atlantic Coast. South Carolina’s beaches and tourism economy are too important to risk oil spills from drilling, he said, noting that more wind and solar power are needed.

Mair said climate change is of particular concern to South Carolina because the phenomenon is contributing to rising sea levels that threaten coastal property.

“In my youngest daughter’s lifetime, she is absolutely going to see New York City, Miami and Charleston become like Venice,’’ he said. “The issue is not something we can delay, or think about it later.’’

Mair shared some of his thoughts Thursday morning at a reception with local Sierra Club members and elected leaders in Columbia, before motoring to Greenville for a similar event later that night. Local club members invited him to visit and he accepted. Mair said he offered to help African American churches in South Carolina understand why President Obama’s plan to address carbon pollution and climate change needs their support.

Mair, a 54-year-old father of four with a friendly but determined manner, said much of his passion for protecting the environment comes from his Carolina roots.

His ancestors scraped to survive after the Civil War, scratching out a living growing crops and selling corn liquor in the area that today is near the S.C. 11 scenic highway north of Pickens, Greenville and Spartanburg.

One of his grandfathers was so determined to succeed that he didn’t let Jim Crow laws stop him from voting. That grandfather paid the $1,000 poll tax, Mair said. That grandfather, a former slave, was emancipated 150 years ago, he said.

“Nothing makes me more proud than to be here in South Carolina in the 150th year of this man’s emancipation,’’ Mair said.

Mair said his ancestors developed a land ethic long ago from hunting, fishing and growing crops. They needed a healthy landscape to help feed their children. Mair said he certainly feels that way every time he returns to Pumpkintown, Inman and Traveler’s Rest to visit.

“The Cherokee foothills and the Blue Ridge Mountains, those are the core backbone that drives and fuels my soul,’’ he said. “At the end of the day, my environmental activism is an homage to this heritage, this legacy that is deeply connected and rooted to the land here in South Carolina.’’

A Sierra Club member for 16 years, Mair developed a reputation in New York state for his stance on environmental causes. Among other things, he spent a decade fighting a solid waste incinerator in a poor Albany neighborhood. He also helped with a successful campaign to clean up toxic industrial pollution in the Hudson River.

An epidemiological analyst with the New York State Department of Health, Mair is the father of four daughters, two of whom graduated from West Point.

He plans to return to South Carolina later this summer for a family reunion. How could he miss it?, Mair asks

“It’s just that spirit of farm and stewardship and family,’’ he said.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 7:49 PM.