Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, on World Water Day, the Sierra Club is launching its new Clean Water, Toxics, and Resilience Campaign. For years, the Sierra Club has pushed for stronger water and toxics safeguards at both the state and federal level, and now the Club is redoubling its efforts with this new campaign to bring the national organization's resources to amplify and expand local efforts. Our program will build bottom-up strategies to address complex issues related to water quality, water management, pollution prevention, toxic chemicals, and climate resilience.
There is growing evidence that exposure to environmental pollution has a huge and lasting impact on health. In the US, the burden posed by toxic chemicals, cost of drinking and wastewater services, and access to clean water falls most heavily on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized communities. Policies designed to address environmental issues frequently fail to identify and address the root causes of these inequities, and thus fail to fully protect the people most impacted by environmental harms
“All of us depend on clean water yet not all have equal access. World Water Day reminds us that those who bear the greatest burdens from water pollution and other threats must have their voices heard. We must recommit ourselves to being water guardians and ensuring that every community has access to clean, life-giving water,” said Beth Roach, the Sierra Club’s Clean Water, Toxics, and Resilience Campaign Director. “As the Sierra Club continues to push for clean energy, meaningful solutions to the climate crisis, and protecting natural places for all, we are committed to strengthening our efforts to protect clean water and our communities. Like water itself, all water advocacy issues are connected. Working on water issues means being connected to local, regional, and federal solutions. Working on water issues means being connected to all communities and ensuring a basic human right.”
The Sierra Club’s Clean Water, Toxics, and Resilience Campaign will focus on stronger water and toxics protections and enforcement under existing environmental laws, work to address water and chemical waste disposal, advocate to reduce plastic production and pollution, and work to reduce air pollution and increase safety for chemical and other polluting facilities.
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Read the Sierra Club’s profile of our Clean Water, Toxics, and Resilience Director Beth Roach here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, 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.