Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Leading climate and environmental organizations today applauded Senator Durbin, Senator Warnock, Senator Booker, Senator Blumenthal, Senator Butler, Leader Schumer, and all cosponsors for re-introducing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, emphasizing its crucial role in safeguarding the public’s access to fair elections and protecting the freedom to vote. They urged the Congress to quickly pass this legislation.
This legislation would restore and modernize the protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and aims to protect the public’s access to free and fair elections and ensure our democracy works for everyone – especially communities of color who historically carry the heaviest burden of voter suppression, environmental disasters, and climate pollution.
Below is a statement from: Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Clean Water Action, The Climate Reality Project, Greenpeace USA, Earthjustice, Interfaith Power & Light, League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Memphis APRI, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), National Wildlife Federation, Ocean Defense Initiative, PODER, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), WE ACT for Environmental Justice, West End Revitalization Association – Mebane, NC, and Young, Gifted & Green (Formerly Black Millennials 4 Flint
“We commend Senator Durbin, Senator Warnock, Leader Schumer, and their cosponsors for championing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It is a crucial bill to restore and modernize the bedrock protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that leaders like John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. courageously marched and sacrificed for. Over a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court first weakened the Voting Rights Act, this legislation is long overdue.
We cannot effectively tackle the critical issues our nation faces — like combating the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, and protecting our air, lands, waters, biodiversity, wildlife, and oceans — without fixing the broken system that caters to corporate polluters and disenfranchises too many voters.
Unfortunately, extremists are doing everything in their power to undermine voting rights and bedrock environmental safeguards that protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.
We are calling on Congress and President Biden to stand up to the extremists who are undermining our nation’s basic freedom to vote by swiftly passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at the earliest possible opportunity. When everyone’s voices are heard, we can make real progress on addressing the climate crisis, protecting the environment, and advancing justice for all.”
###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.