Sierra Club chief: Green groups getting their ‘asses kicked’ in Washington

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said “clean energy” advocates are getting their “asses kicked” inside the Beltway and is calling on environmental groups to rethink their strategies following the collapse of climate change legislation.

The comments, in a blunt interview with the online magazine Yale Environment 360, come as the environmental movement is plotting its next steps now that long-sought legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions appears dead in Congress.

“The first thing we need to do is a good assessment of what went wrong. We should not try to do the same thing and expect a different result. We need to rethink what the best way is to build momentum to fight climate change. Just as it was clear that one single bill wasn’t going to stop climate change, it’s also clear that there are many different avenues that we can take,” said Brune, who took over as head of the nation’s largest green group in March.

In the wide-ranging interview, Brune also emphasized collaboration with Silicon Valley renewable energy companies and venture capitalists to help counter the influence of the more established oil and coal lobbies.

“As advocates for clean energy we’re getting our asses kicked inside the Beltway, and part of the reason is that the oil and coal companies and, in many cases, the natural gas companies, have a much more powerful, much more dominant voice,” he said.

Brune and other green group leaders say a top priority will be protecting EPA’s existing power to limit greenhouse gases, which is under attack by some lawmakers, including Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who is seeking a vote on plans to block EPA rules for two years.

The 38-year-old Brune cited this and other goals when laying out the group’s priorities.

“I think clearly right now focusing on administrative actions, regulatory actions, and perhaps more narrow but stronger legislation that would focus on reducing oil consumption and increasing the inventory of clean energy that is available. There’s a lot that can happen through the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] to protect the public health that will accelerate a transition away from dirty coal-fired power plants,” he said.

Brune also suggested that during negotiations over climate legislation, green groups risked making too many compromises, warning that the relationship with power companies can become “much too accommodationist.” He warned against climate legislation that heaps subsidies on "clean" coal and nuclear power, blocks EPA’s climate powers or delays rules addressing other pollutants such as mercury.

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