By the Numbers

Thirty-seven percent of the deaths related to heat exposure around the world between 1991 and 2018 can be attributed to climate change.

Increasing installations of wind and solar by 20 percent every year for the next 10 years will put the United States on track to reach 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.

If the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority electrified its buses, it would reduce the fleet's greenhouse gas emissions by 97 percent and save Boston-area residents about $9 million per year in pollution-related health-care costs.

The Los Angeles County city of Compton has 0.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. The city of Malibu, with a median household income three times that of Compton, has 55.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.

Local parks support 1.1 million jobs in the United States and generate more than $166 billion in economic activity.

Alerts

Painful Pipeline
Up to 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil have begun flowing daily through Line 3, which stretches from Canada to Wisconsin and crosses more than 200 bodies of water. The pipeline has faced fierce opposition from Indigenous and environmental groups, who are still awaiting a court decision on the validity of a key water-crossing permit.
» Take action: sc.org/line-3

Shocking and Predictable
A burst pipeline off the coast of Huntington Beach, California, emptied 25,000 gallons of crude into the Catalina Channel, which quickly spread to the region's beaches and wetlands. The pipeline had been operating for more than 40 years, delivering oil to refineries in Long Beach.
» Read more: sc.org/socal-spill
» Take action: sc.org/ditch-dirty

Here's the Beef
The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter filed a lawsuit against the state's Department of Natural Resources over its approval of a large-scale concentrated animal feeding operation in northeast Iowa's environmentally sensitive Driftless Area. The CAFO threatens the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek, one of 34 waterways designated outstanding Iowa waters.
» Learn more about the problems with CAFOs: sc.org/cafos

Victories

A Positive Setback
Governor Gavin Newsom announced regulations requiring that newly constructed oil and gas wells, but not existing ones, be at least 3,200 feet from California homes, schools, and public parks—one of the longest setback distances in the nation. Meanwhile, in Kern County a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program has forced a suspension of any new oil and gas permits until a court determines whether the county's permitting rules comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.

No With the Flow
Developers canceled the PennEast Pipeline, which would have shipped fracked gas 116 miles from Pennsylvania to New Jersey—and en route would have crossed 88 waterways. The Sierra Club and partners scored another major win when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied the air-permit applications of two proposed gas-fired power plants.

Lands That We Love
President Joe Biden restored more than 2 million acres to Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments. Nearly 10 tribal nations will help manage the monuments.
» Read more: sc.org/biden-bears-ears

Check It Out

Did you know that the Sierra Club held its annual board of directors election? Five members were elected: Tony Fuller, Chad Hanson, Debbie Heaton, Ross Macfarlane, and Meghan Sahli-Wells. Learn more about them: sc.org/board-2021.

Chapter Corner

Laying the Groundwork
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to start phasing out existing oil and gas drilling and ban new oil wells. It also voted to ensure a just transition for workers and to help identify and clean up idle wells. The decision was the culmination of more than a decade of grassroots organizing. Angeles Chapter volunteers were particularly instrumental in getting 45 elected officials to go on record in support of the phaseout. L.A. County is the first municipality to take such a step, laying the groundwork for others to follow suit.

Model Citizens
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act into law, making Illinois the first midwestern state and the first major coal state to chart a path for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The bill prioritizes closing plants in frontline communities and spurs economic development and a just transition for workers. Sierra Club Illinois Chapter director Jack Darin says that the bill is especially dramatic for how it shifts power from utilities to consumers. As part of the Clean Jobs Coalition, the chapter helped mobilize hundreds of volunteers to attend lobby days, town halls, and meetings with representatives. "We clearly demonstrated to officials across the state the demand for these kinds of policies among their constituents," Darin says. "Illinois is now on course to show what a just transition to a clean energy future can look like."
» Read more: sc.org/clean-illinois

Campaign Updates

Conservation Corps, 21st-century style
Government-funded conservation corps have been around since the Great Depression. Now a measure in the Build Back Better legislation envisions a greatly expanded version that would employ people to help the country transition to renewable energy and mitigate the impacts of climate change. "A modern and bold Civilian Climate Corps, if structured right, would operate as part of not just the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service but also the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and other federal agencies," Outdoors for All campaign director Jackie Ostfeld says. The program would offer traditional conservation jobs like maintaining trails and fighting forest fires along with weatherization of buildings, working on the grid, putting in charging stations, and others—all at family-sustaining wages. "The goal is that it's big and broad and coordinated across the federal government," Ostfeld says. "Projects across the board help us prepare for the impending climate crisis."
» Read more: sc.org/climate-corps

Protections for Wolves
Responding to petitions filed by the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other groups, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would undertake a formal status review of gray wolves in the West. Since the Trump administration stripped them of protections, wolves have been targeted by ranchers, hunters, and Republican politicians. "People in power are hell-bent on drastically reducing their state's wolf population—in Montana's case by 85 percent and in Idaho's by 90 percent," says Bonnie Rice, an Our Wild America senior campaign representative. The USFWS has until May to complete its review. In the meantime, Rice and others are hoping the agency enacts an emergency relisting for the species. Otherwise, wolves will continue to be subjected to senseless slaughter.
» Take action: sc.org/protect-wolves