Letter: Our Climate Moment

Dear President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer and members of the 117th Congress:

As many of you join world leaders in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), at home, we are at a pivotal, history-making moment for climate action and the future of our nation. We can either meet this “code red moment for humanity” or miss our last, best chance to tackle the climate crisis and to build a more equitable and just economy with millions of good-paying union jobs. The decision is in your hands as you consider the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

As environmental, climate justice and progressive leaders, we often write to you to support or oppose critical policies to protect our communities, our families, our natural resources and our planet, but today, we are writing to you because this moment is different. This is it. This is our climate moment. This is YOUR climate moment.

If enacted, the Build Back Better Act will be the most significant climate and environmental justice action in history. It will meet the Climate Test by putting us on a path to cutting emissions in half by 2030 while creating millions of good-paying jobs, making historic investments in environmental justice, saving families at least $500 a year on their energy bills, and putting our clean energy economy into hyperdrive.

Congress needs to get this done and failure is not an option. We cannot miss this moment

Put simply: A vote against the Build Back Better Act will be a vote against climate action, environmental justice, and the future of our nation.

It is clear the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are linked together. While concerns remain with some provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we are calling on Congress to move immediately to pass both packages. That is what is necessary to meet this moment to protect families today and build a clean energy future and healthy communities for generations to come.

Now is the time to get these packages to the floor and vote to tackle the climate crisis, address environmental injustice, support working families, and build an equitable clean energy economy. Let’s get it done.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Black Millennials for Flint, Center for American Progress, Clean Wisconsin, Climate Action Campaign, Climate Power, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Defend Our Future, Earthjustice, Environment America, Environmental Defense Fund, GreenLatinos, Green The Church, Interfaith Power & Light, League of Conservation Voters, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance, Sierra Club, The CLEO Institute, The Climate Reality Project, The Wilderness Society, Union of Concerned Scientists, WE ACT for Environmental Justice