POLITICO • August 13, 2021
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune resigned Friday from the organization he helmed for 11 years — in a major blow to the U.S. environmental movement and the Democratic Party's green base. Without elaborating, Brune wrote that he apologized "for any instance" in which staff and volunteers of the major green group did not "feel safe, supported and valued." The group says it has 3.8 million members and supporters. His resignation is effective at the end of the year. Brune oversaw an expansion of the 129-year-old group’s scope to include social justice, labor rights and racial equity, pushing the traditionally conservation-minded organization to embrace progressive policies.