July 8, 2022
June’s SCOTUS decision in the crucial climate case West Virginia v. EPA is a deeply disappointing and dangerous decision that eliminates EPA’s most effective tool for reducing harmful climate pollution from existing power plants. This decision gives coal executives and far-right politicians exactly what they asked for by frustrating EPA’s efforts to set strong, effective carbon pollution standards from power plants that would help protect our communities and families.
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not, however, fundamentally block our mission. Because of our strong grassroots campaigns all over the country and the work you do every day, the Sierra Club is uniquely positioned to keep up the struggle for climate justice.
The Sierra Club can and will still work tirelessly to protect the human and natural environment for each and every one of us. Together, we have retired 357 coal plants. We have defeated the Atlantic Coast and Keystone XL pipelines. We have passed dozens of clean energy, climate, and environmental bills at every level of the government, and we’re just getting started.
Locally, here are a few of our big pieces of work, and opportunities to get involved:
- The Sierra Club has long been at the forefront to get LADWP off of coal - we won that commitment, and the last coal plants are being phased out.
- We are also pushing hard to get the region off of gas -- this is a much harder fight, and we aren't there yet, but... we're suing the city of Glendale for trying to build a new gas plant, and our Verdugo Hills group is keeping a close eye on the city council for when we need to put pressure on them again. If you live in Glendale, this is your moment!
- We're also deep in negotiations with LADWP about their plan to get to 100% clean energy. It's going to take a lot of pressure, and recent actions at the state level are problematically going in the wrong direction. This is where we need help! Join the Clean Break committee to work on this.
- Community Choice Energy allows cities to buy clean energy as the default - many cities in our region already do this, and many more could if we advocated for it - regional groups have been at the forefront of this, coordinating with our Clean Break committee. Does your city belong to a CCE? If not, we should talk about how to make that happen.
- As we fight to make our electric grid 100% clean, we are also pushing to electrify vehicles and buildings. Our Climate Action team has had a huge victory in the city of LA getting gas out of new buildings, and we're working hard to tackle existing buildings and win similar victories in Pasadena, Glendale, Culver City and more...
- All of Sierra Club's national energy campaigns in California came together with our state and local chapters as well as environmental justice partners to mobilize over 200 community members in person to the CARB Board Meeting last month. We gave public testimony and rallied outside to demand a pathway to more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in their Scoping Plan, which is only voted on once every 5 years. We're continuing to pressure CARB to revise their Scoping Plan before it's voted on and finalized in November. See this google doc for full details of what the state draft included compared to our environmental justice policy recommendations.
In the face of injustice and hopelessness, we always have a choice to act. With the Sierra Club, that action can be incredibly strategic and effective as we build the long-term power needed to win environmental policies.
Cover Photo via CanvaPro