We’re not tired of winning yet.
The national Sierra Club is geared up and ready “to leverage the momentum coming out of our political work to build even more power for our ongoing chapter, policy and campaign outcomes,” said Ramón J. Cruz, Sierra Club President.
”It is not lost on us that our country is deeply and increasingly polarized, and many of our staff, friends and family will continue to face extremism and possible harm as a result of the heated political climate,” he added.
But first, a snapshot of 10 issues that the club has been able to accomplish in 2020 despite a federal administration that is hostile to environmental protection (and is continuing that in its lame duck period until Jan. 20). Many groups joined the club or formed coalitions to make these happen.
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1) Continued to retire dirty coal-fired power plants.
2) Thwarted seismic work and lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
3) Helped stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and the termination of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
4) Halted a massive logging project in the Tongass National Forest.
5) Launched a new anti-gas power plant campaign that is already showing results
6) Defended clean emissions standards for vehicles.
7) Expanded solar and wind market share.
8) Headed off delisting (from an ‘endangered’ designation) grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region.
9) Beat the Trump administration in court 88% of the time.
10) Great American Outdoors Act was passed and funded to ensure trails and maintenance is kept up and which permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund
The beat, of course, goes on. So many challenges face us despite a change of the federal Administration. “Sierra Club staff are already reaching out to the Biden-Harris transition team to lay out our priorities and strategy,” Cruz said, which includes rejoining the Paris Climate Accord of 2015. A partial list of the club’s challenges include:
1) Expand climate justice, a critical step.
2) Restore all national monuments to full protection.
3) End the injustices along the Southern Border, including construction of the border wall, not only an affront to immigrants but also the threat to migratory wildlife species.
4) Restore the commitment to environmental enforcement, justice and science-based policy in the Environmental Protection Agency.
5) End all new fossil fuel leasing and fracking on public lands, which currently amount to about 25% of our national emissions.
6) Advocate for 30 X 30, which is achieving permanent protection for 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030.
7) Move to regulate or ban toxic pesticides.
8) Enforce federal authority to protect waterways and wetlands.
9) Expand clean energy production and use.
10) Ensure children can get outdoors and heal from trauma caused by the pandemic.