Congress: Act Now to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change

Targets: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Goal: Take action on climate change to prevent more extreme weather disasters.

After a summer of extreme weather devastating the country, the U.S. faces a choice: invest in clean energy and solutions to the climate crisis, or remain saddled to dirty fossil fuels and ever-worsening climate change-fueled disasters. The reconciliation bill proposed in Congress is our best opportunity to avoid a climate catastrophe while creating thousands of clean energy jobs. The bill includes massive investments in electric vehicle infrastructure and energy efficiency, incentives for utilities to shift to renewable energy, and programs to protect consumers from high energy costs. This same piece of legislation also prioritizes funding for public education, healthcare, and the social safety net, making it an historic investment in people’s and the planet’s wellbeing. Yet, even as the bill moves forward in Congress, polluting industries and their lawmaker allies are doing their best to stop it.

Despite provisions in the reconciliation bill earning widespread support from the public and Democratic lawmakers, a few holdouts in Congress with ties to fossil fuel lobbyists are standing in the way. Foremost is Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a longtime coal industry ally who has threatened to oppose the bill’s most important clean energy measures. Congressional leaders must stand up to Manchin and others who would see the legislation stopped or stripped of its most important policies, or once-in-a-generation opportunity to stave off climate disaster will slip by.

There is no time to waste. The year 2021 has seen record-smashing heat waves, supercharged hurricanes, massive wildfires, and deadly floods devastate the United States and the globe. Almost no part of the U.S. remains untouched by extreme weather disasters, and experts agree the climate crisis is largely to blame. For example, researchers found that the June 2021 Pacific Northwest heatwave–which killed hundreds of people and billions of animals–would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. Time is running out fast, and lawmakers must seize this critical moment to act.

Add your name to the below petition and tell leaders in Congress to act on climate by passing the reconciliation bill.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi,

The U.S. is experiencing a devastating year of heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other climate change-fueled weather disasters. Never before have the costs of our dependence on fossil fuels been so apparent–yet now polluting industries are trying to sink our best chance at avoiding still worse catastrophes. Do not let Senator Joe Manchin and other allies of fossil fuel lobbyists block crucial climate investments in the reconciliation bill.

To stave off worsening disaster, we need a reconciliation bill that includes incentives for utilities to shift to clean energy, funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, and programs that help consumers use less energy by investing in efficiency. Anything less is a recipe for catastrophe and worsening extreme weather events. We, the undersigned, urge you to do everything in your power to negotiate a compromise with Manchin and other detractors that preserves these necessary climate policies.

This opportunity will not come again, and we cannot afford to let it slip by. Please, invest in a healthy climate for this and all future generations.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: NOAA