July 22, 2022
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service initiated an emergency action to protect giant sequoias, in an area covering over 13,000 acres.
federal-climate-policy
July 20, 2022
Today, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (SENR) will consider several important bills that impact public lands and waters and conservation efforts. Senior Sierra Club policy staff are available to speak about individual bills listed below.
July 11, 2022
In the report released today, Worth More Standing, the Climate Forests coalition details federal logging proposals targeting nearly a quarter of a million acres of old-growth and mature forests overseen by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The report outlines “a pervasive pattern of federal forest mismanagement that routinely sidesteps science to turn carbon-storing giants into lumber” and calls on the Biden administration to pass a permanent rule to protect these big old trees.
June 23, 2022
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday signed a memorandum to clarify the U.S. Forest Service’s direction on climate policy. The memo, "Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America's National Forests and Grasslands," follows a recent White House executive order highlighting the importance of conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a climate solution. The memo, which lays out “actions to restore forests, improve resilience, and address the climate crisis”, falls short in meeting the ambition outlined in President Joe Biden’s order on old forests and trees. Secretary Vilsack acknowledges the role that older trees play in absorbing and storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. But he fails to outline a plan for his agency to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees from commercial logging.
June 1, 2022
Washington, DC – Today, House Republicans will release a strategy that uses the words climate change. The plans are expected to detail numerous measures that not only reject the scientific consensus on efforts required to address the climate crisis but would exacerbate it.
In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:
April 26, 2022
Just as there’s no negotiating with arsonists on how much of a building they can burn, there’s no negotiating with a party of climate deniers on climate action. For decades, the overwhelming majority of Republicans in Washington, DC have made their views on climate change abundantly clear: It’s much ado about nothing, if it even exists.
April 22, 2022
Today, as calls continue to mount demanding bold climate action through legislation and administrative action, President Biden issued an executive order on climate forests and nature-based solutions. The order, which was detailed in a speech celebrating Earth Day, launches a process to define and inventory old and mature forests on federal lands, so that policies are enacted to conserve them, and initiates a nature-based solution assessment to understand nature capital and ecosystems to help in the preservation and conservation of natural places.
April 21, 2022
Today, President Joe Biden will issue an executive order that directs federal agencies to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on America’s federal lands so that policies can be adopted to protect them. The administration framed the move as a key strategy to store carbon and address climate change.
February 15, 2022
Conserving our remaining older forests and trees on federal public lands is one of the country’s most straightforward, impactful, and cost-effective climate solutions. If the Biden Administration is going to lead in solving the climate and biodiversity crises, it must protect these carbon critical climate forests and set an example for the world. Along with over 70 groups that support the Climate Forests Campaign, Sierra Club calls on the Administration to enact a strong, lasting rule that protects old and mature trees and forests across federal lands as a cornerstone of US climate policy.
February 14, 2022
Today, a coalition of more than 70 groups launched a new campaign called the Climate Forests Campaign, calling on the Biden administration to take executive action to protect mature trees and forests on federal lands, which are critical in the fight against climate change.
January 5, 2022
Richmond, Virginia– 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:
January 4, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – 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. It’s 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 Biden’s budget.