Washington, D.C. — Today, 20 national environmental, public health, and climate advocacy organizations called on Congress to pass the “Climate Test” by putting the country on a clear path to cutting in half planet-warming pollution by 2030.
The message to Congress clearly lays out the investments that must be included to achieve this science-backed goal, while also creating good-paying jobs, reducing costs for families, and building a more equitable clean energy economy. Anything less doesn’t pass the test.
“The climate investments included in the Build Back Better Act put us on a clear path to cut climate pollution in half by 2030 by creating new clean energy tax incentives, transforming our power sector to achieve 100% clean electricity and investing in communities too often left behind,” the letter reads. “Anything less fails the Climate Test that science and this moment demand. If we don’t act now, communities will face even more devastating and extreme droughts, fires, hurricanes, flooding and storms.”
If Congress passes the Climate Test, it would “create millions of good-paying, clean energy jobs that American workers can raise their families on and that keep their children and grandchildren safe from climate change.” The letter outlines the key categories of investments—including funding levels and associated predicted emissions reductions—that are critical to slashing emissions in half by 2030.
The letter is signed by Black Millennials for Flint, the Center for American Progress, the CLEO Institute, the Climate Action Campaign, Climate Power, the Climate Reality Project, Earthjustice, the Environmental Defense Fund, Evergreen Action, Generation Progress, Interfaith Power & Light, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Audubon Society, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, NextGen America, Poder Latinx, the Sierra Club, and the Wilderness Society.
Read the letter here.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or Jason Phelps at [email protected].