Today, the Sierra Club announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies that will effectively retire one-third of the nation’s aging coal fleet by 2020, replacing it with clean energy. The partnership includes a $50 million commitment over four years to the Beyond Coal Campaign that will fuel the Sierra Club’s effort to clean the air, end the coal era, and accelerate the transition to cleaner, cost-effective energy sources. 

• The New York Times reported on the campaign’s goals, including cutting “electricity production from coal by 30 percent by 2020 and to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent.”
• Environmental news website Grist offered its take on the issue, highlighting the Sierra Club’s anti-coal campaign as “one of the few national environmental initiatives to have substantial success in the last five years, blocking 153 coal plants and counting.”
• The Washington Post reports on how the partnership reflects a new approach to effecting environmental change.
• Rolling Stone, meanwhile, has the story on how the funds will help the campaign.
• And NPR’s Morning Edition also did a story on the donation, calling Mayor Bloomberg’s support “a big boost.”