A Thanksgiving Message from the Sierra Club

Thanksgiving Day is an important time in the year at which Americans express gratitude for the many blessings we have, while dismissing from our minds the things we lack or may have lost.

I thought I’d publish the Thanksgiving letter of Michael Brune, Director of the Sierra Club, noting the deft manner in which he glosses over some of our woes, then offers profound thanks for the incredible, in fact, unexpected, level of support that the club has received for the things we all hold so dear, e.g., environmental stewardship and human rights. 

Great job.

Craig,

The last two weeks have been incredibly difficult.

Increased brutality towards peaceful water protectors at Standing Rock, an explosion of hate-fueled violence and rhetoric across our country, and a parade of unqualified and destructive nominees to Trump’s incoming administration all weigh heavily upon us.

It would be easy to feel overwhelmed. But in this time of great need, we’ve also been deeply moved by the incredible support that has poured in from all of you:

More than 80,000 people have signed up as new supporters (are you one of them? Welcome!). We’re now over 2.5 million strong and growing.

Tens of thousands of you have already donated nearly $2 million, and your monthly donations have committed millions more to support the fight going forward.

Many of you have also stepped up to launch your own amazing fundraising campaigns on the new TeamSierra site, for which we can’t thank you enough.

And we’re not waiting to act. We’ve mobilized in big ways in the last two weeks, and an unprecedented number of you have taken action:

Over 150,000 of you have sent a message or called the White House, and tens of thousands of you rallied in more than 200 locations across the country to defend the water protectors at Standing Rock and fight the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Hundreds of thousands of you emailed and called the Obama White House demanding they lock in the environmental progress we’ve made from the incoming Trump administration.

Over 35,000 of you have emailed and called your members of Congress opposing anti-science and hate-fueled Trump transition team appointments.

And in St. Petersburg, Florida, citizens joined together through our ReadyFor100 campaign, and the city has committed to a path to 100% clean energy, the 20th U.S. city to do so.

This is just the beginning. Your actions and generosity over the past few weeks will allow us to Resist, Recruit, Train, and Sustain a burgeoning movement.

We’ve seen tough times before. Under the Bush Administration, we defeated 184 proposed coal-fired power plants and fought back numerous attacks on environmental protections. And we will continue to stand up to the Trump administration. We will build our movement into the strongest it has ever been.

Here’s what we’re going to do next:

We will oppose any and all unqualified and divisive nominees to the Trump cabinet — especially those who will put our air, water, climate, health, and public lands in danger or the hands of fossil fuel cronies.

We’re recruiting for the People’s Climate Movement, including hundreds of events happening across the country around the inauguration and a giant march on April 29 at the end of the first 100 days of the new administration.

We will continue to fight the Dakota Access pipeline and all other major fossil fuel infrastructure.

We will vehemently defend the many clean air and water protections that we won during the last 8 years and make sure they don’t turn back the clock on progress.

Most importantly — we’re going to build a movement like you’ve never seen before. With your help, we plan to recruit the largest group of volunteers ever to work on issues both global and local. We will connect hundreds of thousands of people to nature. We will join with our partners both in the environmental movement and in allied groups fighting for social and racial justice, civil rights and liberties, gender equality, workers and families, and issues that affect both our democracy and environment.

We must — and you have proved to us that we will — stand united.

Those who would destroy our air, water, climate, lands, communities and health would love nothing more than to divide us and make us afraid. But working together we will prevail. While a lone tree might be blown over by a single huge gust of wind, a forest, with our roots intertwined, can withstand the strongest storm.

Thank you for being there for the past two weeks. And thank you for your inspiring dedication to the fight to come.