Rep. Mike Levin Leads Letter Urging President Biden to Retain Climate Investments in Build Back Better Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) led a letter signed by 22 House colleagues to President Biden outlining the urgent need to act on climate and ensure clean energy and climate investments remain a central part of any upcoming comprehensive legislative package.
“The $555 billion in climate investments that passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Build Back Better Act will help our nation meet the test of cutting climate pollution in half by 2030, a goal that you set and that science and justice require. As the deadly and devastating consequences of the climate crisis made clear throughout 2021, the time for transformational climate action is right now,” the Members wrote. “We urge you in the strongest possible terms to move swiftly to finalize the most comprehensive legislation that can pass the Senate and get this historic progress to your desk for your signature in the coming weeks.”
The letter was signed by Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Angie Craig (D-MN), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Antonio Delgado (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Josh Harder (D-CA), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Tom O'Halleran (D-AZ), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Katie Porter (D-CA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Susan Wild (D-PA).
Click here or see below for their full letter:
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
At this moment of profound importance for the future of our nation and our planet, we have been heartened to work in collaboration with you and your Administration on the most consequential climate change legislation in history. The $555 billion in climate investments that passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Build Back Better Act will help our nation meet the test of cutting climate pollution in half by 2030, a goal that you set and that science and justice require. As the deadly and devastating consequences of the climate crisis made clear throughout 2021, the time for transformational climate action is right now.
We urge you in the strongest possible terms to move swiftly to finalize the most comprehensive legislation that can pass the Senate and get this historic progress to your desk for your signature in the coming weeks.
The need to act on the climate crisis while centering environmental justice and creating and sustaining millions of good-paying union jobs has never been more important. In communities across the country, we are already seeing staggering climate damages. Climate change is driving more severe drought and wildfires in the West, larger and more frequent floods in the Midwest, and sea level rise and greater storm damage along our coasts. Vulnerable populations, including frontline and communities of color, children with asthma, and the elderly, are suffering from higher levels of smog in our cities and longer and more severe heat waves. Farmers and ranchers are struggling with crop and livestock losses from drought. Increasingly acidic oceans are harming shellfish populations and threatening fisheries.
Fortunately, there are proven solutions in the House-passed Build Back Better Act climate provisions. These clean energy and climate investments will grow a strong clean energy industrial base that can improve the long-term security of our nation while also ensuring that the clean energy technology of the future is made right here in America. These provisions will also save Americans money on their energy bills and other monthly expenses, invest in the frontline and communities of color that have suffered the most from toxic pollution, and create and sustain millions of good-paying union jobs in the clean energy economy.
In the two months since the House passed the Build Back Better Act, mid-December tornadoes killed at least 78 people in Kentucky and late December wildfires destroyed 1,000 homes in Colorado. The time for you to work with the Senate to finalize and pass the strongest and most comprehensive version of the Build Back Better Act that can get 50 Senate votes is right now. We must seize this moment for all Americans and enact these vitally important climate investments into law in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your leadership in addressing the climate crisis, which impacts all Americans.
Sincerely,