federal-policy

November 15, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Sierra Club has launched an expansive ad campaign in leading news outlets across the five congressional districts of prior holdouts to passing President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. The ad campaign includes coordinated homepage and newsletters takeovers on Tuesday, November 16 of the Orlando Sentinel (Stephanie Murphy, FL-07), the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Ed Case, HI-01), the Statesman Journal(Kurt Schrader, OR-05), POLITICO’s Trenton Brief (Josh Gottheimer, NJ-05) Sierra Club will take over all advertising on each homepage this Tuesday, November 16, ahead of this week’s crucial House vote on the Build Back Better Act.

November 15, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, which includes $11.3 billion in new Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funding. These investments will put thousands of people to work repairing land and waterways damaged by mining, treating polluted waters, sealing and filling abandoned mine entries, and developing erosion prevention measures to protect against dangerous land and mudslides.

November 5, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After months of negotiations, the House of Representatives will vote today on President Biden’s transformational Build Back Better Act despite opposition from every single Republican member. In addition to essential childcare, eldercare, and other social priorities, the bill invests over $550 billion in climate action, clean energy jobs, and environmental justice -- the largest such investment in U.S. history.

November 4, 2021

New York, NY -- The Sierra Club urges Rep. Kathleen Rice to endorse immediate passage of the Build Back Better Act, a transformational bill that includes the vast majority of President Biden’s domestic agenda, especially historic climate and clean energy action.

October 29, 2021

Washington, DC -- The United States Supreme Court agreed today to review a lower court’s decision striking down the Trump Administration’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule.

October 29, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Democrats have released draft legislative text spelling out the details of President Biden’s transformational Build Back Better Act, which would invest over $500 billion in climate action, clean energy jobs, and environmental justice -- the largest such investment in U.S. history. Yesterday, President Biden unveiled the framework for the Build Back Better plan, followed by the House Rules Committee releasing draft text of the bill.

October 28, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The EPA announced today that it will reconsider the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone (smog pollution). Under the previous administration, EPA declined to strengthen the standard, leaving in place the weak 2015 standards that were inadequate for protecting public health and the environment.

October 22, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During a CNN Town Hall last night, President Biden advanced his position of preserving $150B in climate funding that had been dedicated to a Clean Electricity Performance Program and potentially repurposing the funds for other climate action priorities to reduce emissions as part of his negotiations with Senator Joe Manchin.

October 20, 2021

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - In the wake of a New York Times report on the uncertain fate of a major climate provision of the Build Back Better Act relating to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the Sierra Club once again urged Senator Sinema today to make her position on funding for climate initiatives in the bill public and clear for her constituents.

October 20, 2021

Right now Democrats in Congress are looking for a path forward on securing a Clean Electricity Performance Program or NEW investments in other climate priorities to close the emissions gap, deliver on jobs and justice, and meet the President’s international climate goals in the coming days as the U.N climate negotiations near. Sierra Club has pointed toward multiple priorities where climate action could be expanded in the bill, one of which is bold investments to cut industrial carbon pollution and boost manufacturing of clean energy goods. Below we outline the problems in the industrial sector and promising Build Back Better Act solutions.

October 16, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In response to New York Times reporting on the uncertain fate of a major climate provision of the Build Back Better Act, the Sierra Club released the following statement. In addition, Sierra Club West Virginia Conservation Committee Chair Jim Kotcon released a statement below.

October 14, 2021

As negotiations on the climate, care, jobs and justice priorities in the Build Back Better Act reach their conclusion, it’s clear that President Biden is the key player who is positioned to bring his agenda across the finish line. Biden campaigned and won on this agenda, and now environmental, family, and justice advocates and communities nationwide are counting on him to deliver. The time for action is now. Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker of the House Pelosi have done a tremendous job leading the way, with 99% of congressional Democrats in support of the Build Back Better Act’s historic climate investments. Now it is down to two senators -- and the President is the only one who can finish the job.