Press Releases

An increasingly broad coalition of groups, including trade associations, public health organizations, legal experts, states and cities, and utilities, is asking  the Supreme Court to uphold strong EPA authority to limit carbon pollution from power plants
Today, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a settlement agreement between DTE, the Sierra Club, Ecology Center, Earthjustice, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), National Housing Trust, and other parties regarding DTE’s electric and gas energy efficiency plans (referred to in Michigan as “energy waste reduction”). Through the process mandated by state law, Michigan utilities must file plans to allocate resources that improve energy efficiency and reduce wasted electricity in their service territory. DTE is required to deliver customers at least 2% energy savings annually, following the outcome of their most recent Integrated Resource Plan. As Michigan’s largest utility, DTE serves millions of customers and how it funds and prioritizes energy efficiency spending has huge impacts on the communities affected.
RICHMOND -- Yesterday afternoon, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced that he would withdraw his office from a lawsuit in which the Commonwealth of Virginia was previously defending life-saving climate action and clean air safeguards before the Supreme Court. 
ATLANTA, GA –  Today, the Sierra Club is announcing its intention to participate in the 2022 Georgia Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process. During this process, Georgia Power (owned by Southern Company) will propose its plan for how it will procure energy over the next two decades, which must be approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Oklahoma City, OK - Organizations representing concerned Oklahomans are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the state’s coal ash program. The groups argue that the EPA unlawfully failed to provide adequate public participation and allowed Oklahoma to issue dangerous “permits for life” to coal ash facilities. “Permits for life” deprive the public and regulators of predictable reviews of legal requirements and onsite conditions at coal ash facilities, like what’s required for air emissions and water discharge permits.
Sweeping Attack on EPA Authority is Based on a Policy That Was Never Enforced and Will Never Go Into Effect
Powder River Basin Resource Council, National Parks Conservation Association, and Sierra Club welcomed a decision from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposing to deny a change to a long-standing pollution control plan for the Jim Bridger coal plant in Wyoming.
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will require utilities in several Midwestern states to clean up their coal ash waste. Coal ash is toxic waste produced by coal-burning power plants. For decades, coal ash has been dumped into giant pits or ponds, where toxic chemicals have leaked into the water, contaminated soil, and poisoned air. Coal ash continues to be a serious health and safety hazard even after a coal plant is decommissioned unless the waste left behind is removed and safely disposed of.
St. Louis, MO – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Ameren Missouri failed to provide enough information to demonstrate its ability to safely operate coal waste facilities at its Meramec and Sioux coal-burning power plants.
In a filing late Friday, the Biden administration's U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) defended two Trump-era resource management plans (RMPs) that failed to comply with a court order to account for impacts from burning publicly-owned coal, including on public health, and to consider alternatives that limit coal leasing on public lands in the Powder River Basin – the largest coal-producing region in the country.