Richmond, Virginiaâ Governor-elect Youngkin announced today his nomination of Andrew Wheeler, former coal lobbyist and head of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration. As head of EPA, Wheeler oversaw unprecedented federal rollbacks of environmental protections related to air and water quality.
In response to the Wheeler nomination, Kate West, Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. â As the Senate reconvenes, the Sierra Club calls on Congressional leaders to fulfill the promise of the Democratic majority and urgently pass legislation to build back better and protect voting rights, in the face of unrelenting obstruction from Congressional Republicans. Itâs also time to do the critically important work of funding the government with the Biden budget. Democrats can help safeguard our democracy, economy, and planet by crafting a path forward for immediate passage of the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Build Back Better Act, and Bidenâs budget.
WASHINGTON, D.C. â Senator Joe Manchinâs comments on Sunday make it appear he is walking away from his commitments to President Biden and his Senate colleagues in a stunning rebuke to professional courtesy. His remarks completely forsake the moral imperative to tackle the interlocking crises of climate, environmental injustice, and insufficient support for families with children and eldercare responsibilities. The Child Tax Credit, a critical support to parents and working families especially during the pandemic, will expire on December 28 amid Manchinâs opposition to lending a helping hand to working families in West Virginia and across the nation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. â Amid ongoing technical consultations with the Senate parliamentarian and negotiations with key figures in Washington, D.C., progress on the transformational Build Back Better Act continues to move ahead despite total republican obstruction. Just as important, separate negotiations continue on the path forward to protect our democracy and voting rights for people nationwide by passing the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Meanwhile, the Child Tax Credit, a critical support to parents and working families especially during the pandemic, is set to expire on December 28.
Recently, Exxon Mobil gave a presentation where they admitted that they are yet again asking for huge taxpayer subsidies, as part of the Build Back Better Act, to continue extracting oil and gas for decades, despite the scientific consensus that we need to stop the expansion of fossil fuel development immediately to avert the worst of the climate crisis. During a presentation to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission in November, Exxon outlined their plans to lobby for greater taxpayer subsidies via tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the Build Back Better Act.
This morning, local community and faith leaders joined together outside U.S. Representative Kurt Schraderâs Oregon City office to urge that he keep his commitment to vote âyesâ on the Build Back Better Act. The U.S. House is expected to hold a vote within the next few days.
With a congressional vote expected in the coming days, local community and faith leaders will join together on Thursday, November 18 at 10:00am outside of the office of U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader to urge passage of the Build Back Better Act. Schrader and several colleagues issued a joint statement promising support for the legislation no later than this week. Yet the 5th District congressman has wavered in his commitment in recent days, leading constituents to formally call on Schrader to âkeep your word to help Oregon build back better.â
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Sierra Club has launched an expansive ad campaign in leading news outlets across the five congressional districts of prior holdouts to passing President Bidenâs Build Back Better Act. The ad campaign includes coordinated homepage and newsletters takeovers on Tuesday, November 16 of the Orlando Sentinel (Stephanie Murphy, FL-07), the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Ed Case, HI-01), the Statesman Journal(Kurt Schrader, OR-05), POLITICOâs Trenton Brief (Josh Gottheimer, NJ-05) Sierra Club will take over all advertising on each homepage this Tuesday, November 16, ahead of this weekâs crucial House vote on the Build Back Better Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, which includes $11.3 billion in new Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funding. These investments will put thousands of people to work repairing land and waterways damaged by mining, treating polluted waters, sealing and filling abandoned mine entries, and developing erosion prevention measures to protect against dangerous land and mudslides.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After months of negotiations, the House of Representatives will vote today on President Bidenâs transformational Build Back Better Act despite opposition from every single Republican member. In addition to essential childcare, eldercare, and other social priorities, the bill invests over $550 billion in climate action, clean energy jobs, and environmental justice -- the largest such investment in U.S. history.
New York, NY -- The Sierra Club urges Rep. Kathleen Rice to endorse immediate passage of the Build Back Better Act, a transformational bill that includes the vast majority of President Bidenâs domestic agenda, especially historic climate and clean energy action.
Washington, DC -- The United States Supreme Court agreed today to review a lower courtâs decision striking down the Trump Administrationâs so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule.