Joanna Macy, a wise woman of the peace and environmental movements, once said, “We need an opposing wind to fly. It’s hardship that catalyzes our awakening.” After two years of the Trump administration, it’s clear that we have had that opposing wind in our faces, as strong as it has ever been; and from now until the polls close on November 6—and beyond—it’s time for us to soar.
None of us will forget how we felt that night in November 2016 when the election was called for Donald Trump. We burned with outrage and fear for the future of our families, our communities, and our country. And we pledged that night and in the hours that followed to do whatever we could, whenever we could, to resist the divisive, dangerous Trump agenda.
It’s been a long and difficult two years since then. We’ve seen Trump launch attack after attack on the people and the places we love and care about, and many of our worst fears have become reality. The Muslim travel ban, the Kavanaugh confirmation, hateful family separation policies, our withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, assaults on the LGBTQ community, outright racism, blatant corruption at all levels of the federal government, the hourly assault on decency and reason—the list goes on… and on...
And Trump’s attacks have gone even deeper, threatening to erode the fundamental democratic building blocks and institutions of our country, including the rule of law and a free press, without which the Sierra Club is unable to protect public lands, defend bedrock environmental protections, and tackle the climate crisis.
This shameful record has been enabled by the president’s allies in Congress, but I am proud to say that the Sierra Club has risen up to fight back against Trump every step of the way. We’ve taken the fight to the streets and made our case in the media, in the marketplace, and in the courtroom to demand clean energy and climate action, speak out in solidarity with communities under attack, demand accountability, and resist the administration's rampant corruption.
I’ve witnessed what we can achieve working together: I’ve seen courageous individuals fighting the coal industry in Kentucky; veterans gaining the attention and respect of conservative politicians in Georgia; local residents rallying against pipelines in West Virginia and Nebraska and the border wall in Texas; Gwich’in leaders in the Arctic fighting to keep drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; faith and youth leaders partnering with tribal water protectors to prevent a new, expanded tar sands pipeline from threatening the headwaters of the Mississippi near Bemidji, Minnesota.
Now one of the best opportunities to make change and fight back against Trump is imminent: Election Day. All of the organizing and grueling hours that we’ve put in over the last two years have led to the moment when we get to vote. We can either cast our vote to let Trump ram his dangerous, divisive agenda down our throats or elect leaders who will fight to build a country that works for everyone. This midterm election is effectively a referendum on the entire toxic agenda that President Trump has advanced from Day One of his presidency. I believe that we are not only ready to seize this moment and this opportunity, but that the Sierra Club will play a major role in making it happen.
All across the country, we are seeing an awakening among our fellow citizens. This is why the Sierra Club was created. We are here to provide people with the tools, the troops, the community, and the support to amplify their power and organize their communities to vote. We’re taking the energy and the momentum we’ve built up resisting the Trump agenda and converting it into power at the ballot box.
Leading up to election day, we’re using flexible resources, distributed organizing tactics, and our digital and communications tools coupled with our old-school yet sophisticated on-the-ground operation to reach voters who care about protecting our environment and our communities and turning them out to the polls. We’re doing this all over the country, and I’m thrilled to say that the level of engagement across the organization is unprecedented.
Just last month, the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors, together with members of our executive staff and delegates from Sierra Club chapters across the country, spent a day knocking on doors in Colorado to get out the vote and send the message that we’re “all in” for the 2018 election. As president of the Sierra Club’s all-volunteer Board of Directors, I’m proud to report that every single one of my fellow board members is engaged in electoral work for clean energy and climate action champions in key states coast to coast, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Nevada, California and Washington State.
We’re inspired by the Sierra Club’s members, supporters, and staff who've been hitting the phones, knocking on doors, texting, organizing, volunteering, and working long, hard hours to help ensure that this election brings the change our environment and our country so desperately needs. And if you haven't yet gotten involved, there’s still time. The full list of candidates we’ve endorsed is available on the Sierra Club’s online voter guide. Take a look, find a candidate you support, and go on out there and get to work!
Here are some tools and resources the Sierra Club is providing to help people work together toward a better choice for America on November 6:
- The Sierra Club's online voter guide, with the full list of candidates we’ve endorsed
- Text the Vote -- join our National Texting Team
- Register to Make Calls
Find out about your local chapter’s work on the newly revamped Sierra Club website.
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Paid for by Sierra Club Independent Action, www.sc.org, and not authorized by a candidate or candidate committee.