WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Department of the Interior announced it will restart an analysis of the climate, health and economic impacts from mining and burning coal from public lands -- a review that began during the Obama administration.
In response, representatives of Sierra Club released the following statements:
La Casa Blanca anunció hoy que el Presidente Biden seleccionó a Charles F. Sams III para servir como el decimonoveno director permanente del Servicio Nacional de Parques (NPS).
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the White House announced that President Joe Biden selected Charles F. Sams III to serve as the nineteenth permanent director of the National Park Service. Sams currently serves as a council member to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a position he was appointed to by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Sams would be the first Indigenous person to lead NPS.
Sams has an extensive background working with Tribal Nations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Today, activists from Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) rallied in Cowles Commons Park before marching to occupy the lobby at MidAmerican Energy Headquarters in Downtown Des Moines. MidAmerican is the number one carbon polluter in Iowa. It owns and operates 5 coal plants across the state that have no public plans for retirement.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Today, grassroots leaders from 20 different countries and 37 organizations sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department, calling on the Department to center the demands of international grassroots movements in the implementation of its new Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) fossil fuel financing guidance released on Monday. The guidance directs the U.S. government to strongly oppose coal projects, and to only support oil and gas projects in extenuating circumstances and only if specific criteria are met, while encouraging MDBs to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency.
Environmental justice advocates and community members will attend the annual meeting of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to express concern about the fossil fuel industry’s proposed expansion of fracked gas exports.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, Representative Terri Sewell re-introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) for the first time since 2019. The VRAA aims to restore and strengthen the full power of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and will restore and expand Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by the Supreme Court earlier this summer.
EL PASO, TX -- Today, the Chaparral Coalition for Community Health and the Environment, the Sierra Club, and Earthworks (the Community Groups) reached an agreement with El Paso Electric (EPE) that will substantially reduce air pollution in El Paso and southern New Mexico. The agreement will temporarily block new fossil fuel power plant construction while pushing EPE toward a clean energy future.
El Departamento del Tesoro emitió ayer nuevas directrices para los bancos multilaterales de desarrollo (BMD) sobre inversiones en energía limpia y eficacia energética en las que se opone decididamente a los proyectos petroleros y de gas, y favorece proyectos de gas solo en circunstancias extremas que cumplan con criterios específicos.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the US Treasury Department issued new guidance for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency, to strongly oppose oil and coal projects, and to only support gas projects in extenuating circumstances and only if specific criteria are met. Today’s guidance is the next step from President Biden’s January Executive Order to center the climate crisis in U.S. foreign policy and national security for the first time. The MDBs affected by this guidance include the World Bank, the US Export-Import Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, and more.