Sierra Club Independent Action

Background

Sierra Club Independent Action is the 527 arm of the Sierra Club, a major environmentalist group. It endorses candidates at the federal, state, and local levels and contributes to campaigns that support Democratic party candidates. ^{1 2}

Sierra Club Independent Action claims to support candidates that promote environmentalist policies. It also states that it supports candidates who promote funding for low-income and ethnic minority communities as it claims they are more likely to be affected by climate change. ³

Sierra Club Independent Action endorses presidential and congressional candidates. The local Sierra Club chapters make endorsements of state and local candidates. ⁴

Activities

In June 2023, Sierra Club Independent Action made a joint announcement of its endorsement of the reelection of incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential election alongside the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, NextGen PAC, and Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund. In the announcement, Sierra Club Independent Action stated that to date, the Biden administration has done more for environmentalist initiatives than any other president. ⁵

The endorsement was also critical of the Trump administration’s environmental policies and supported the Biden administration for rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. It goes on to advocate for the Biden administration to block additional conventional energy developments, including the Willow Project and Mountain Valley Pipeline. ⁵

Voter Mobilization

Sierra Club Independent Action organizes volunteer-operated phone-banking campaigns to encourage voters to vote in upcoming elections and to vote for the candidates it endorses. ^{6 7} It also organizes mailing campaigns where volunteers write and send letters to prospective voters, encouraging them to vote and to vote for the candidates it endorses. ⁸

Trump Opposition Campaigns

During the 2020 election, Sierra Club Independent Action campaigned against then-President Donald Trump during his reelection campaign. During the cycle, it spent $960,769 opposing Trump. ¹

Sierra Club Independent Action promoted the idea that he was responsible for all deaths from COVID-19, accusing him of refusing to implement the advice of his medical advisors. It also accused him of spending “every minute” he had in office on eliminating so-called “protections” for immigrants, LGBT individuals, asylum seekers, workers, and the environment. ⁸

In an October 2020 blog post, Sierra Club Independent Action solicited volunteers to help it achieve its goal of mailing 1.2 million letters to voters encouraging them to vote against then-President Trump. ⁸

In November 2020, Sierra Club Independent Action funded a voter mobilization event on behalf of the Sierra Club through Protect the Results. The event hosted national staff members on a livestream to encourage individuals to vote against then-President Trump. ⁹ Participants of Protect the Results prepared mass protests in anticipation of the possibility of Trump winning the 2020 election as well as under the assumption that Trump would not “respect the peaceful transfer of power” if he were to lose. ¹⁰

Spending

During the 2020 election cycle, Sierra Club Independent Action reported $3,739,121 in independent expenditures. It spent $2.1 million in support of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and over $100,000 in support of the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Cal Cunningham, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Gary Peters, and Mark Kelly. It also spent $960,769 opposing then-President Trump’s campaign. ¹

Funding

Election Spending

Between the 2009-2010 and 2019-2020 election cycles, Sierra Club Independent Action spent $6 million in independent expenditures, supporting Democrats and opposing Republicans: ¹¹