Washington, DC: The Sierra Club today praised voters across the country for electing new local, state and national leaders who are ready to move America's energy future in a dramatically different direction.

"Voters clearly voted for big change, not Big Oil.  They want new leadership to move America in a dramatically different direction," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director.  "And a big part of that change concerns energy security and enacting smart energy solutions that decrease our oil dependence, clean up our environment, curb global warming and create jobs."

"Voters elected a greener Congress and several greener governors.  Now America can move forward in a new direction," said Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club Political Director.  "That means ending subsidies to big oil and coal companies and instead reducing our oil addiction, reducing pollution, and taking meaningful steps to curb global warming.  Americans want an energy plan that invests in wind and solar and other clean renewable energy sources; makes our cars go farther on a gallon of gas and uses American technological know how to make better, more efficient products and create better jobs."

Never have more candidates, of both parties, run on energy and environmental issues.  Voter concerns earlier this year over high gas prices deepened over the course of the election cycle into doubts about our current energy policy, about the lack of responsible leadership, the shortage of forward-looking solutions the corrupting influence of the oil and gas interests, and finally to widespread voter concern about our energy security--the fact that our dependence on oil ties our fate to the most unstable parts of the world and increases the threat of global warming.

"This year, the Sierra Club ran one of the largest grassroots organizing effort in competitive House, Senate and Governor's races," said Duvall.  "Sierra Club took our message of a new direction on energy door to door, neighbor to neighbor in hundreds of communities across America. We had thousands of members from our 450 groups working on the ground to educate voters and to get out the vote. "

Sierra Club and Sierra Club Political Committee's activities included:

* Actively working in more than 30 races including 7 Senate, 19 House and 5 Governor races, and a handful of state legislative races

* Micro-targeting 310,000 environmental-first voters in seven states.

* Recruiting more than 2,600 Sierra Club volunteers.

* Organizing close to 2,400 final weekend get-out-the-vote canvass and phone shifts manned by approximately 1,400 staff and volunteers

* Making 2,246,000 voter impressions including mail, phone and door knocks.

* Mail = 1,150,000 (54 different pieces on 31 different races); Phone calls = 974,000; Doors = 122,000.

* Educating our 750,000 members through the magazine and chapter newsletters.

* Contacting 294,000 members directly through phone calls, mail, and e-mail.

* Gathering signatures, organized coalitions and educated voters about renewable energy initiatives in Washington and California, and educated voters about the hazards of takings initiatives in those two states as well as in Idaho, Arizona and Montana.

* Running radio ads in CA-11, PA-4, and VA-2

* Organizing Latino voters in AZ-8 and CA-11,

* Highlighting on mobile billboards the traffic problems created by development by Pombo Realty development, the Republican Chair of the Natural Resources Committee Congressman Richard Pombo's family business.

* Barnstorming of Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and the head of the Steelworkers union, Leo Gerard.

Following the election, Sierra Club volunteers will now help federal and state lawmakers act quickly and wisely on this call for a new direction in our energy policies. The group will be identifying and recommending smart , safe, clean, cheaper energy solutions that can be adopted quickly to break our oil addiction and curb global warming.  This will include solutions like increasing fuel economy for cars and trucks and energy-efficient buildings, and stopping the rush to build coal-fired power plants.

"We are looking forward to working with newly elected officials in statehouses and in Washington to enact policies that create a new energy economy that cuts pollution and creates jobs," said Pope.

In terms of 2008, this year's Election Day was also a kick-off of our 2008 strategy to make energy security and curbing global warming priorities in the next Administration.  On Tuesday In New Hampshire 250 volunteers fanned out across the state to collect the 8,000 signatures needed to put a Climate Change Resolution on the ballot of 200 New Hampshire town meetings.  The resolution calls on President Bush and Congress to address global warming and empowers each town's governing body to appoint an energy committee to recommend local smart energy solutions.  In additional to assisting local communities to do their part in curbing global warming, the goal of the NH Climate Change Resolution Project is to make global warming a priority issue among NH citizens and consequently, a major issue for presidential candidates in both parties.

Additional Activity Background:

Environmental Voter Campaigns: The Sierra Club ran intensive ground campaigns encouraging people to vote for:

* CA--House Challenger Jerry McNerney against Rep. Richard Pombo

* MI --Governor Jennifer Granholm and State Senator Andy Levin.

* OH--Senate Candidate Sherrod Brown, Gubernatorial Candidate Ted Strickland, House Challenger John Cranley and House Challenger Mary Jo Kilroy.

* PA--Senate Challenger Bob Casey, Governor Ed Rendell, and House Challenger Joe Sestak in Seventh District and House Challenger Jason Altmire in the Fourth District.

* VA--House Challenger Phil Kellam against Rep. Thelma Drake

* WA--Senator Maria Cantwell, House Challenger Darcy Burner, State Senator Rodney Tom and State Rep. Deb Wallace

(These campaigns involve intense door-to-door, phone bank and direct mail efforts targeting tens of thousands of voters in each site.)

Additional Efforts:

The Sierra Club placed staff and mobilized our members to volunteer with the following campaigns: Maryland, Ben Cardin for Senate; Tennessee, Harold Ford Jr. for Senate; Arizona, Harry Mitchell for Congress and Gabrielle Giffords for Congress; Florida, Christine Jennings for Congress and Ron Klein for Congress; Illinois, Tammy Duckworth for Congress; New Jersey, Linda Stender for Congress; New York, Kirsten Gillibrand for Congress; North Carolina, Heath Shuler for Congress and Texas, Nick Lampson for Congress.

The Sierra Club also engaged in member-to-member communications through mail and volunteer phone banks to support endorsed candidates in AZ, CT, MD, MI, MO, NJ, NY, NV, NC, OH, OR, TN, TX, VA, WI.

For a listing of Sierra Club-endorsed Senate and House candidates http://www.sierraclub.org/endorsements/2006/

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