GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- Today, the annual United Nations Climate Negotiations (COP26) began in Glasgow, with thousands of attendees from across the globe convening for climate action and discussions. The event began with Bloomberg Philanthropies announcing a huge new initiative aiming to close 25% of the world’s remaining coal plants—and all of the proposed plants—by 2025.
In response, the Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Campaign Director, Cherelle Blazer, issued the following statement:
Washington, DC -- The United States Supreme Court agreed today to review a lower court’s decision striking down the Trump Administration’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule.
Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced a plan to defer a number of leases from upcoming onshore oil and gas lease sales and issue draft environmental assessments for these leases. BLM will solicit feedback on the leases and analyze environmental impacts including national greenhouse gas emissions and the social cost of greenhouse gases.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, Sierra Club and Data for Progress released the results of a new nationwide survey that finds broad public support for specific climate investments that were unveiled in the new text of the Build Back Better Act released yesterday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Democrats have released draft legislative text spelling out the details of President Biden’s transformational Build Back Better Act, which would invest over $500 billion in climate action, clean energy jobs, and environmental justice -- the largest such investment in U.S. history. Yesterday, President Biden unveiled the framework for the Build Back Better plan, followed by the House Rules Committee releasing draft text of the bill.
Today, Governor Newsom announced that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has issued new draft health and safety rules requiring that newly constructed oil and gas extraction sites must be at least 3,200 feet from California homes, schools, and public parks. This first of its kind draft rule is one of the longest setback distances in the nation, and will help guard Californian communities from toxic pollution from oil and gas wells.
Today, Big Oil executives testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a hearing about the industry’s role in spreading disinformation about fossil fuels’ contribution to the climate crisis.
In an important victory for clean water in Montana, a Montana district court judge ruled on Thursday that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) repeatedly ignored the law and failed to protect water quality from an expansion of the Rosebud coal strip mine near Colstrip, one of the largest coal strip mines in the nation. The Western Environmental Law Center, Earthjustice, Roger Sullivan and Walton Morris represented the Montana Environmental Information Center and Sierra Club in this case.
Kansas City, KS - Evergy could retire its Jeffrey and La Cygne coal plants and replace them with a lower cost and reliable clean energy portfolio as soon as 2025 and 2028, according to the Kansas Pays the Price Volume 2 report released today by Sierra Club. Retiring these coal plants could save customers between $333 million and $869 million based on how quickly Evergy retires them.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The EPA announced today that it will reconsider the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone (smog pollution). Under the previous administration, EPA declined to strengthen the standard, leaving in place the weak 2015 standards that were inadequate for protecting public health and the environment.