Photo by Henrik Kam.

The initial shock of the 2016 election results may have faded, but the news still seems to ring like a bad case of tinnitus. Much of what we hold dear—the health of the environment, climate action, social justice, women's rights, and civil rights—is now threatened. 

But though it might seem like everything changed on Election Day, it didn't. The Sierra Club's values have not changed. We still believe in justice, fairness, and equality. We believe in democracy. We believe that it's a good idea to replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy. We believe that people have a right to drink clean water and breathe clean air. We believe it's vital to care for our public lands, protect wildlife and our last wild places, and encourage people to get into the outdoors. No election result can change that. 

Equally important: Our values are shared by a majority of Americans. I suspect that many who voted for Donald Trump hold those values, too, but perhaps lost sight of some of them. That may be the most heartbreaking takeaway from this election. Fear and anxiety turned good people away from their better natures. Going forward, we must find ways to change that. Somehow, we must breach the wall that has divided the United States into two bitter, isolated realities. We have to find a way to turn walls into bridges.  

One way to do that is by ensuring that the transition from a dirty-fuel to clean-energy economy is, above all, an equitable process. Too many Americans, especially folks in the Rust Belt, have been left behind by the rush to create a global economy. So-called free trade agreements like NAFTA and the proposed TPP (both of which the Sierra Club has long opposed) have hollowed out many communities. Residents of those communities are rightly demanding an economy that works for them, and we in the environmental community need to show those citizens how a future based on clean energy will make their lives better. At this point, the movement toward the clean-energy economy has built up so much momentum that no election can knock it off track. But we have to make sure that the opportunities of that renewable-energy economy are shared widely. 

Losing an election doesn't mean losing your purpose. It is more important than ever that we stand in solidarity with our friends and allies, even as we reach out to those who voted for other candidates. The attacks will come; I can promise you that. There will be attempts to roll back the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. There will be attempts to drill or mine for oil, gas, and coal in the most ecologically sensitive places on the continent. The president-elect has promised to change laws protecting journalists and to jail protestors. These attacks will likely start with the most politically vulnerable and may come in ways that we don't expect. We need to stand together, the first time and every time. 

Most important of all, we cannot flinch from the struggle for climate action, land and wildlife protection, and environmental justice. That was our job before the election, that is our job after the election, and that will be our job for as long as it takes to get it done. We will educate, litigate, agitate, and organize twice as hard and 10 times more effectively. Remember, we defeated more than 180 proposed coal plants during the Bush presidency. We must not cower defensively. By the end of President Trump's first term, we will turn the environmental movement into a movement that includes an even broader and more diverse representation of the American people.

Yes, it will be hard. But we're not afraid of hard work; if anything, we should be energized by the knowledge that our work has taken on even greater importance. Yes, there will be setbacks. Yes, we would have been 100 times better off with a different outcome on Election Day. We can't, however, let what might have been distract us from what we believe is right and where we need to go. 

The rest of our journey starts now. It may be a bumpy ride to a better future, but we won't let our progress be stopped. 

This article appeared in the January/February 2017 edition with the headline "Turning Walls Into Bridges."

Illustration by James Heimer