The Sierra Club hit back at Donald Trump’s campaign for slamming Hillary Clinton’s endorsement from the group.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said Monday that a statement from a Trump spokesman hitting Clinton for associating with the group, which has campaigns named “Beyond Coal” and “Beyond Natural Gas,” was folly. Brune said large amounts of the public want to move forward on environmental action.
“It’s not just the Sierra Club’s 2.4 million members and supporters who want to move beyond dirty fuels toward the thriving, job-creating clean energy economy: it’s large majorities of the American people, whether they are Democrats, independents or Republicans,” Brune said.
“Trump and his campaign would know that if they took advice on energy policy from anyone but the most desperate fossil fuel industry lobbyists. Instead, the Trump campaign is doing the only thing they know how to do: attack and smear everyday Americans, like the millions standing up across the country to protect our air and our water.”
On Sunday, the Trump campaign ripped Clinton’s environmental plans as a “trillion-dollar climate agenda” and accused her of wanting to end fossil fuel production on federal lands.
The campaign has a seen a firm line drawn between the two candidates on environmental policies.
Trump is seen as the candidate of the fossil fuel industry, promising to open up more federal lands to energy production and repeal environmental regulations handed down by President Obama. He also has promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement, the world’s first climate change agreement. Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels for driving man-made climate change.
Clinton, meanwhile, is much more likely to continue Obama’s environmental legacy and has promised to keep the country in the Paris Agreement.
Brune said Clinton’s policies show “real leadership” on climate action and the Trump campaign is hurting itself by slamming them.
“Trump is jabbing at a beehive by attacking the country’s rapid transition to a booming clean energy economy and the passionate, committed and talented people who are pushing for the healthy communities Americans want,” Brune said.
“Trump is going to learn the hard way that attacking those working to keep the clean energy economy thriving are the wrong people to mess with, as we are more committed than ever before to defeat him and his historically atrocious environmental policy by electing a clean energy champion in Hillary Clinton.”
