Supporter,

Have you heard of "sacrifice zones?" The term is used for neighborhoods where the Environmental Protection Agency has allowed polluters to legally spread high levels of industrial chemicals in the places we live—near our schools, playgrounds, and homes. Almost all of these zones are predominantly communities of color and lower-income neighborhoods. It’s also no coincidence that these sacrifice zones— a recent ProPublica study revealed over 1,000 toxic hot spots in the US—are mostly in states where environmental regulations are weakest.¹ 

Clean air for all is at the heart of so much of what we do: defending human health, the ecosystems we depend on, and our climate from toxic pollution and the corporations who spew these hazardous toxins into the air we breathe.

That's why the Sierra Club and our allies sued the EPA to force it to require states to close Trump-era polluter loopholes under the Clean Air Act. As a result of our lawsuit, the EPA announced it will withdraw the rollback allowing industrial facilities, such as coal plants and oil refineries, to release unlimited amounts of certain types of pollutants.²

But our work is far from over. The EPA must remove pollution loopholes from federal and state clean air plans. The Biden administration and our allies in Congress must also confront the injustice of polluted air, while saving public lands, slowing the climate crisis, and protecting the most vulnerable communities from all the threats they face.

Supporter, we need you with us to make all of this happen. Become a Wilderness  Guardian monthly member today to have your first three gifts MATCHED + FREE trail cooler tote included >>

The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for making sure all of our communities are safe from pollution—yet it has allowed devastating pollution to poison our air for years. And this is a critical time for clean air in America: the Trump administration rolled back over 100 environmental protections while in office, including dozens of air pollution and emission standards.

We need swift action that restores strong protections and ends these loopholes—which provides neither incentives for corporations to prevent the problem nor consequences when they spew toxic pollution again and again—and ensure clean air for all. Communities count on bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Air Act to protect us all equally, and turning a blind eye to toxic pollution in certain zip codes creates an unjust system that values some lives over others—while also fueling the climate chaos that endangers all of us.

Through our fight to prioritize public health over polluters' profits, end the plastic crisis from its creation from fossil fuels to its ultimate waste, conserve public lands from fossil fuel exploration, stop toxic pipelines, and more, we are coming together to take on Big Oil and the fossil fuel industry to protect our communities and defend our Earth’s natural resources—and win. 

And that's the power of the Sierra Club community. We help amplify our supporters' voices so that when our team is at the table, people know we have the weight of millions of supporters behind us. Will you join the fight for climate justice by becoming a Wilderness Guardian today? Help us reach our end-of-year goal of 500 monthly donors and claim your FREE gift today.

Together, we will confront the climate crisis with climate justice—protecting public health and the planet we love, before it's too late.

Thank you for being part of our Sierra Club community and fighting for climate justice.

With gratitude for your support again today,


Dan Chu
Acting Executive Director
Sierra Club

P.S. Do you know someone else who should join the fight? Give them a Sierra Club Gift Membership so they can proudly count themselves among the crusaders for a better world.

¹ https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/09/groups-sue-epa-for-stronger-clean-air-protections
² https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/10/environmental-coalition-urges-further-action-after-biden-administration-moves