Sierra Club and climate change

• DATE: Established 1892

Mission

The Sierra Club was one of the first major environmental organizations to address climate change. In 2005, the organization took its efforts even further by making climate change the centerpiece of its campaign for environmental protection for the next several years.

Founded in California by renowned environmentalist John Muir, the Sierra Club has grown from a club that promoted outdoor excursions to foster an appreciation for the natural environment to a grassroots political organization under David Brower, to a political powerhouse with state chapters and national offices in Washington, D.C. Historically, state chapters have focused on issues pertinent to their areas, while the national chapter campaigns for federal solutions to more widespread problems. With the national chapter’s commitment to the issue of global climate change, all chapters have converged on the issue, promoting local, regional, and national solutions. The club’s mission, while promoting the enjoyment of nature through outings, also includes educating and involving people in the protection of natural resources through all lawful means possible. Their efforts to combat global warming directly relate to their mission.

Significance for Climate Change

The Sierra Club first put global warming on its agenda in the late 1980s, after scientific reports indicated that humans may be responsible for warming and that the effects could be detrimental. During the 1990s, the Sierra Club focused on pressuring the federal government to take action. In 1992, the group funded a television advertising campaign aimed at President George H. W. Bush and his lack of attention to global warming at the 1992 Earth Summit. The club collaborated with other groups and held the unofficial Global Forum concurrently with the Rio Earth Summit. At the forum, strategies for influencing government that focused on influencing policies at the national level were discussed.

With Democrats in Congress, the Sierra Club maintained a dominant strategy of campaigning for federal action on global warming. This strategy was perpetuated by the election of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, who was seen as a sympathizer to the group’s cause. Under President Clinton and Vice President Gore, representatives of the Sierra Club and other members of the environmental movement were allowed to the table during policy formulations on global warming. Having open access to this level of policymaking facilitated a continuing strategy to focus their efforts on encouraging federal action on the issue. However, the club’s efforts did not result in the passage of federal legislation, and although Gore signed the Kyoto Protocol, it was seen as a largely symbolic gesture, as the Clinton administration failed to send the document to the Senate for ratification. The federal government had basically refused to make a commitment to greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

The Sierra Club’s strategy broadened, and it began a campaign to target automobile manufacturers in the mid-1990s. This campaign initially critiqued the use of cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that have low gas mileage and thus contribute more carbon emissions to the atmosphere. It expanded to target companies making SUVs, and the club launched a full-scale attack on Ford’s Excursion in late 1998. In 2000, the Sierra Club presented Toyota with an environmental excellence award for the release of the Prius hybrid. It was the first time in the club’s 108-year history that it had honored a product. It continued its disparagement of SUVs into the new millennium.

In 2003, the Sierra Club joined forces with other environmental groups in lobbying the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act (1963-1990), but the agency refused. As a result, the Sierra Club joined other groups, states, cities, and petitioners in a suit against the EPA for not properly enforcing the Clean Air Act. In 2007, the Supreme Court sided with the Sierra Club in Massachusetts v. EPA, agreeing that greenhouse gases (GHGs) could be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

In 2005, the Sierra Club changed the focus of its conservation efforts. The main goal of its efforts became to move the United States beyond fossil fuel reliance as a solution for reducing carbon emissions. As part of this focus, the organization encourages states and cities to adopt legislation to move beyond fossil fuels. This strategy represented a direct response to the lack of federal action on global warming, although the club continued its traditional efforts to lobby for federal legislation on the issue as well.

A cornerstone of this effort was the Sierra Club’s Smart Energy Solutions initiative. Within this initiative is the Clean Car Campaign, an effort to encourage the federal government and automakers to raise the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards and allow states to do the same. The club asserted that improved fuel economy is the most important solution for reducing GHG emissions in the US. Another campaign, the Cool Cities Campaign, encouraged and supported local communities that signed on to the US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an initiative launched by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to adopt the Kyoto Protocol at the local level. The campaign encouraged new cities to join and provided support for participating cities to share their success stories and learn from other cities' efforts.

The club also advocates for legislation at the state level to enhance energy efficiency and promote investment in renewable energy. Furthermore, the Sierra Club opposes all new coal power plants through its Beyond Coal & Gas, which began in 2010. Between 2010 and the mid-2020s, 291 coal plants were retired.

In the mid-2010s, the Sierra Club educated and encouraged individuals to join its campaigns through a variety of outreach methods, including the Two Percent Solution campaign, which aimed to reduce people’s carbon footprints by promoting lifestyle and personal consumption changes to reduce carbon emissions by 2 percent per year, the amount needed to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

In 2024, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The lawsuit pertained to a final rule published by the SEC that required public companies to disclose climate-related risks to their businesses. The Sierra Club alleged the final rule was significantly less restrictive to businesses than the proposed rule. The Sierra Club then argued that in order to allow investors to make informed decisions, the SEC must require businesses to inform their investors about potential risks related to climate change.

Bibliography

Bosso, Christopher. Environment, Inc.: From Grassroots to Beltway. U of Kansas P, 2005.

"Climate Action ." Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org/loma-prieta/climate-action. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Hjelmar, Ulf. The Political Practice of Environmental Organizations. Avebury, 1996.

McCloskey, J. Michael. In the Thick of It: My Life in the Sierra Club. Island Press, 2005.

"Sierra Club, Earthjustice Lawsuit Challenges SEC's Weakened Climate Disclosure Rule." Sierra Club, 13 Mar. 2024, www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2024/03/sierra-club-earthjustice-lawsuit-challenges-sec-s-weakened-climate-risk. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.