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“Every decade is consequential in its own way, but the twenty-twenties will be consequential in a more or less permanent way.” – Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
The decade we’ve just entered is a heavy one. We’re staring down our last chance to stop the climate crisis.
If, over the next ten years, we fail to intervene and keep temperatures from rising, we will witness wildfires, floods, disasters, mass extinction, and human suffering on a scale we’ve never seen before. I believe we’re up to the challenge.
The year 2020 is pivotal in its own right. American democracy is unraveling. Corruption has infected the White House, and the norms meant to provide checks and balances in our government have frayed. Voting rights are under attack.
If we don’t take back our democracy—this year—it will become much harder to protect the world from climate change.
While we could never have anticipated the sequence of events that would lead us to this moment, the Sierra Club has spent more than a century preparing for it. Through years of fighting to safeguard public lands and take on polluters, we have assembled a powerful army of grassroots activists. Our chapters in all 50 states have steadily built trust with local allies and decision-makers. Our lawyers, lobbyists, media experts, digital strategists, and field organizers have learned how to work together to make the impossible happen (retiring 300+ coal plants, for example).
Now our biggest test has arrived. A decade passes in the blink of an eye, and we have to get this one right.
In 2020, we are steering our resources towards four high-priority goals:
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Defeat Donald Trump and reclaim our democracy.
We are laser-focused on electing a new president and ending Mitch McConnell’s grip on the Senate. Sierra Club Independent Action has launched the biggest voter mobilization effort in our history, and we’ll be deploying volunteers to knock on doors, send letters, and talk to millions of voters between now and Election Day. If you want to volunteer and work hard to defeat Donald Trump, please sign up here. We’re organizing our largest mobilization of supporters in our 128-year history.
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Shift our economy to 100 percent clean energy.
We’ve shut down 304 coal plants and we have 226 left to go. As the reign of coal ends, we need to make sure it is replaced by clean, renewable energy, not fracked gas. This year we’ll be working to stop gas extraction, as well as the new processing facilities and export terminals the gas industry is rushing to build. Meanwhile, we’ll continue to secure 100 percent clean energy commitments from towns, cities, and states around the country through our Ready for 100 campaign.
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Protect 30 percent of America’s public lands by 2030.
Not only is undeveloped land essential for plant and animal life and as a refuge from the chaos of modern life; it helps fight climate change by absorbing greenhouse gases. In order to avoid mass extinction and climate catastrophe, scientists say we need to safeguard at least 30 percent of America’s land by 2030. This year our 30×30 campaign will begin to mobilize activists on an unprecedented scale to protect state, local, and federal lands. We’ll also continue to defend places like the borderlands and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And we will litigate every single environmental rollback the Trump administration throws our way.
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Build power for the long-term.
The climate crisis, inequality, and erosion of democracy aren’t separate problems; we can’t really solve one without addressing the others. The work we do in the coming year (and decade) has to make our movement more inclusive and resilient in the long term. That means putting equity and justice at the center of everything we do.
The quality of our kids’ future will be determined by whether we succeed or fail at these goals. Our staff and volunteers know it—I can tell by the fierce determination in their voices.
If you’d like to learn more about our 2020 strategy, you can watch this video clip from our recent Sierra Forum; I also urge you to reach out to our team with your questions and ideas.
Finally, I want to personally thank you for all you do to make our work possible. As we rise to meet this moment, your support makes all the difference.
Sincerely,
Michael Brune
Executive Director, Sierra Club
sc.org/win
Paid for by Sierra Club Independent Action and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |
