Last night's election gives way to a Republican Majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats will retain control of the Senate.

This split control of Congress will be a challenge, but we have no intention of ceding America's future to Big Oil.

Do you?

We've worked too hard to turn back now.

I want to thank and acknowledge the tens of thousands of you who volunteered with the Sierra Club and local campaigns across the country. While there were some painful losses, your presence in campaigns across the country bolstered our champions and helped drive our agenda forward.

The question is, which side will the new House Republican Majority choose? Will they bow to the Big Oil and Coal interests who expect a return on their $247 million investment in the elections? Or will they listen to what Americans want: clean energy jobs that will lift our economy up.

While the punditry spins away on the meaning of the election, a few things are clear:

Americans still want more jobs, less pollution and greater security. Americans still want to hold polluters accountable, they still want EPA to regulate global warming pollution, and they still want Congress to pass clean energy provisions.

As we saw in California in the rejection of Proposition 23, which would have rolled back that state's historic global warming legislation, voters side with clean energy.

We are confident that over the next several years we will make significant progress at the federal, state and local levels to build a clean energy economy made in America. We will push for strong regulations from the Obama Administration, vigorously supporting leadership in the EPA and other agencies that can advance our clean energy agenda and hold polluters accountable.

While it's easy to be disappointed and discouraged by last night's results, we must continue onward. The stakes are too high. The growing trend of global warming-deniers, Big Oil and Coal backers, coming into Congress is cause for alarm.

Please become a member of the Sierra Club today to keep the fight for clean energy moving forward.

Thanks for all that you do to protect the environment,

Michael Brune
Sierra Club Executive Director