Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Sierra Club will begin running an aggressive digital ad campaign on Facebook in Arizona urging people to call Senator Martha McSally and tell her to end the shutdown by voting for a clean spending bill without funding for the border wall.
The ad reads: “Senator McSally has the power to protect our iconic national parks by ending Trump's shutdown nightmare.”
Four funding bills have passed through the House that would fund and reopen government agencies such as the Department of Interior which oversees national parks. McSally should urge Republican Senate leadership to bring the House passed funding bills to the floor to end the shutdown.
The shutdown has been going on for 24 days, making it the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. At the Department of the Interior, National Parks staff are furloughed and conditions are deteriorating; 99 percent of U.S. Geological Survey staff, 84 percent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff, and half of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement staff are furloughed, and all eight climate adaptation science centers are offline. Without park rangers, national parks are overloaded with trash, poop, and vandalism. The Environmental Protection Agency has stopped drinking water system inspection, power plant inspection, chemical facility inspection, superfund cleanup, inspections of hazardous waste management sites and chemical facilities, reviews of pesticides, and processing Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA).
To view a copy of the ad click here.
In response, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director Sandy Bahr released the following statement:
"Arizona is home to national treasures such as the Grand Canyon, Saguaro, and Petrified Forest national parks, but there’s nothing grand about a government shutdown over a dangerous, outrageously expensive, and destructive border wall. The Trump shutdown is putting Americans out of work, while putting our parks, clean air, and clean water at risk. It’s time for Senator McSally to urge her fellow Senate Republicans to vote to end this disgrace."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.