Sierra Club Endorses Ed Lazere for DC Council

Sierra Club volunteers getting ready to canvass for DC Council candidate Ed Lazere.

Sierra Club volunteers getting ready to canvass for
DC Council candidate Ed Lazere.

September 8, 2020

The Sierra Club is proud to endorse Ed Lazere for DC Council at-large because he will be a strong progressive voice on the Council for equity, environmental conservation and climate justice.

“For many years, Ed Lazere has worked to make DC a more equitable city, especially for those with the least access to money and power,” said Mark Rodeffer, Sierra Club DC Chapter Political Committee Chair. “It is those same residents who are most likely to bear the brunt of environmental injustice, such as indoor air pollution, lead-tainted water and the catastrophic impacts of climate change.”

Lazere has committed to ending fossil fuel combustion in buildings and transitioning to clean and renewable energy. He has pledged to provide the funding needed to ensure that public and affordable housing shifts from gas to electricity from renewable sources. Lazere supports expanding solar energy generation across DC and saving money by saving energy through energy efficiency measures.

Serving for nearly two decades as head of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Lazere has advocated for equitable investments of the District's resources, such as reducing wasteful corporate tax subsidies and expanding funding to replace lead water pipes serving low-income households.

Lazere understands the need to invest in Metrorail and Metrobus, dedicated bus lanes and protected bike lanes. He’s committed to the Sierra Club’s zero waste goals and working toward the District’s goal of 80 percent waste diversion by 2032. Ed Lazere lives these values, biking to work and composting organic waste in a backyard bin.

“The Sierra Club is proud to endorse Ed Lazere and we look forward to mobilizing our thousands of members in DC to vote for Ed,” Rodeffer said.

The Sierra Club has already endorsed Councilmember Robert White, the Democratic nominee, for re-election to his at-large DC Council seat. DC residents can cast two votes in the at-large race, and the top two finishers win seats on the DC Council. The Sierra Club urges all environmentally-conscious voters in the District to cast ballots for Robert White and Ed Lazere.

In addition to Robert White and Ed Lazere, the Sierra Club has endorsed Brooke Pinto in Ward 2, Janeese Lewis George in Ward 4, Vincent Gray in Ward 7 and Trayon White in Ward 8.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy group. We are a grassroots organization with chapters in every state, DC, and Puerto Rico. Here in DC we have 3,000 dues-paying members and more than 10,000 supporters. We work to shift away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate change and move toward a clean energy economy. We advocate for reducing waste, expanding sustainable transportation and protecting our rivers and our drinking water. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/dc.