Sunday, January 6, 2019

The new green Congress is here – take action now

Ocasio-Cortez calls for a Green New Deal
Yesterday was the new Congress's first day in office — and the first day of our renewed fight for climate progress.
We can't afford to wait any longer for action on climate change and clean energy.

Raise your voice now: Tell Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally: Stand up to President Trump — make climate action your top priority!

Scientific evidence of climate change's impacts is mounting, but with the new vanguard of environmental champions that were sworn in to Congress yesterday, and new pro-environment leadership in the House of Representatives, there's new momentum in our fight.

Make no mistake: Congress must first end the partial government shutdown that is impacting hundreds of thousands of workers and threatening crucial protections for our air and water, public health and safety, and public lands.

But short-term politics can't slow the momentum of our long-term fight for a safe environment. And we refuse to wait until the shutdown is over to mobilize this new Congress on climate action.

We must seize this moment to remind senators and representatives that Americans demanded climate action on Election Day — and we're counting on them to break through the climate change denial and fossil fuel industry influence that plagued the last Congress.

So what would this bold climate agenda look like? Well, it could start with:
  • Moving America away from dirty fossil fuels and toward a 100% clean energy future
  • Investing in a clean energy economy, more green jobs, and 21st century infrastructure that will withstand the worsening impacts of climate change and bolster clean energy
  • Taking urgently needed steps to reduce dangerous carbon pollution and meet our Paris agreement commitments
  • Compelling the Trump administration to enforce the Clean Power Plan, Clean Car Standards, the Methane Rule, and other important policies to reduce emissions and lower energy costs for consumers
  • Fully funding the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and other key federal agencies tasked with defending our environment and health
  • Protecting our national monuments and public lands and waters from being opened to reckless oil and gas drilling that produces dirty energy we don't need and slows our progress to a clean energy future
  • Working with state and local governments to continue making key progress in slashing carbon pollution and promoting clean energy locally
Call on Congress to do all this and more — and avert climate catastrophe.

The tide in Washington is turning. President Trump and his allies in Congress will no longer get away with the scorched earth tactics and big polluter giveaways that have marked the first two years of this administration.

Americans have already been mobilizing in unprecedented numbers to turn back the Trump administration's pro-polluter attacks — and now there is exciting momentum behind a new grassroots call to arms, embodied in part by initiatives like the emerging Green New Deal to address climate change, clean energy, jobs, and economic inequality.

Help us capitalize on this growing movement by urging your members of Congress to lead on climate and clean energy.

Even if your lawmakers are already with us, we need to show them that we have their backs.

And if your legislators supported Trump's attempts to stall or even reverse clean energy progress, now's the time to put them on notice — that if they keep pushing their pro-polluter policies and climate denial, they'll be out of step with our economy, science, and the American people ... left behind on the wrong side of history.

Together on Election Day, we showed Trump and the world that Americans will not tolerate assaults on our environment from the federal government or anyone else.

Now we must hold Congress's feet to the fire to stand strong against Trump's attacks, resist the big polluter stronghold, and do right by their constituents — for our planet and our children's future. Please make your voice heard right away.
- Rhea Suh, President, NRDC Action Fund
More Information: 
Just Days Into a New Congress, Liberal Freshmen Are Shaking the Capitol - The New York Times

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