Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune provides an update on the last six months and has a call to action on the Keystone XL Pipeline. Click the title to read the full text.
The past six months have been unprecedented, requiring a level of focus and commitment that, admittedly, feels unsustainable at times. While the unrelenting chaos and stream of scandals from Trump’s White House are dominating the news, I know we can’t afford to let that distract us from the extraordinarily dangerous actions of Congress. In addition to the health-care debacle, Congress just approved a disastrous spending bill and is considering comprehensive budget and appropriations bills that would wreak havoc on the environment and weaken our most fundamental protections against pollution. These bills would slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, cut programs that protect clean water and air, and undermine the Endangered Species Act. To make a terrible situation even worse, House Republicans are using the budget process as a backdoor attack to allow oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
At the same time, the Trump administration is doing everything it can to line the pockets of fossil fuel billionaires at the expense of the public. If you have time for only one “long read” this month, spend it on Jeff Goodell’s scathing piece in Rolling Stone on EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who’s on a mission to destroy the very agency he heads. Fortunately, the Trump administration has repeatedly been stymied by legal challenges (our attorneys have never been busier) and widespread public opposition to its polluter-friendly agenda.
With your support, the Sierra Club is fighting back. We will continue to challenge the actions of the White House (our supporters contributed nearly 200,000 comments opposing the Department of Interior's “review” of national monuments, adding to a record-setting 2.7 million total collected in just 60 days) and Congress (our supporters are contacting their senators right now to oppose the destructive budget bills).
We’re also deeply engaged in the egregious effort to revive the previously rejected Keystone XL Pipeline. Though the Trump administration granted federal approval for the pipeline in March, TransCanada must still get approval from the Nebraska Public Service Commission in order to route it through Nebraska. The Sierra Club and our partners organized buses to bring Nebraskans to the four public hearings , where hundreds of concerned community members and activists testified. Their message was clear: The Keystone XL Pipeline would trample on landowner rights and Indigenous rights, threaten water for drinking and agriculture, put the Nebraska Sandhills at risk of devastating oil spills, and harm our climate. Nearly 76,000 people have already signed our #NoKXL petition, and we’re gearing up for the March to Give KXL the Boot on August 6th in Lincoln, NE, to engage citizens and invite them to join our movement to end this dangerous and dirty tar sands project.
This hard work and fiery energy from our members is nothing short of inspiring, and it’s what makes the Sierra Club so special. We will continue to throw the weight of our 3 million members and supporters behind the movement for healthy communities and a healthy planet. We are in this for the long haul, and we’re determined to win.
Thank you for your enduring support and bold resistance.
Sincerely,
Michael Brune
Executive Director