In 2022, donors, members and supporters like you helped us achieve the following:
Political
We secured the environmental majority in the house and the senate for the first time since 1982. Sierra Club endorsed candidates won 16 of 21 Senate races and 53 of 63 House races. Most notably, our long-term political strategy paid off when Donavan McKinney, an environmental justice champion who we’ve supported through multiple election cycles, won the HD 14 race. Similarly, in HD 109, Jen Hill defeated an Enbridge-backed candidate in an open primary.
Legislative
We supported a $4.7 billion supplemental budget bill that included investments to clean up and protect Michigan’s water, overhaul outdated water infrastructure, fund state and local parks and clean energy, remove lead pipes, and expand broadband internet and more. We protected our democracy by blocking the 39-bill package to suppress the vote in Michigan, and we put a halt to the bad bottle bill that would have diverted money away from contaminated site clean up.
Climate Change/Clean Energy
Our efforts to shutdown Enbridge’s Line 5 took the stage at COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference, to bring to an international audience the threat of Line 5 to biodiversity of the Great Lakes. On the west side of the state, the Grand Haven City Council unanimously approved the establishment of a Sustainability & Energy Commission and several Sierra Club members were appointed to the commission.
Environmental Justice
We supported groups battling an asphalt plant in two Detroit neighborhoods – northwest Detroit and Core City. We doubled down on our efforts to deepen our impact in environmental justice communities by securing funds from the Our Wild America campaign to support urban farmers and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color interested in exploring the outdoors.
Protecting Great Lakes
It was another successful year for the Rain Gardens to the Rescue program which engaged more than 100 community members and provided nine Detroit residents with free rain gardens. Combined, these gardens have the capacity to hold 5,700 gallons of water each time it rains. Through the Healing Our Waters program we organized citizen lobbying days with federal legislators and reinforced the need for strong policies to protect the Great Lakes.
Forests and Biodiversity
Strong forest management practices remain of the utmost importance and we made sure our voice was heard at the state and federal levels. We monitored proposals ranging from new timber sales to cultural resource management to determine their value and impact, and if Sierra Club action was warranted.
