Green New Deal Letter To Congress
Green New Deal Letter To Congress
Green New Deal Letter To Congress
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, we are writing today to urge you
to consider the following principles as the 116th Congress debates climate change
legislation and momentum around the country builds for a Green New Deal. As the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned, if we are to keep global
warming below 1.5°C, we must act aggressively and quickly. At a minimum, reaching
that target requires visionary and affirmative legislative action in the following areas:
Halt all fossil fuel leasing, phase out all fossil fuel extraction, and end fossil fuel
and other dirty energy subsidies.
The science is clear that fossil fuels must be kept in the ground. Pursuing new fossil fuel
projects at this moment in history is folly. Most immediately, the federal government
must stop selling off or leasing publicly owned lands, water, and mineral rights for
development to fossil fuel producers. The government must also stop approving fossil
fuel power plants and infrastructure projects. We must reverse recent legislation that
ended the 40-year ban on the export of crude oil, end the export of all other fossil fuels,
and overhaul relevant statutes that govern fossil fuel extraction in order to pursue a
managed decline of fossil fuel production. Further, the federal government must
immediately end the massive, irrational subsidies and other financial support that fossil
fuel, and other dirty energy companies (such as nuclear, waste incineration and
biomass energy) continue to receive both domestically and overseas.
As the United States shifts away from fossil fuels, we must simultaneously ramp up
energy efficiency and transition to clean, renewable energy to power the nation’s
economy where, in addition to excluding fossil fuels, any definition of renewable energy
must also exclude all combustion-based power generation, nuclear, biomass energy,
large scale hydro and waste-to-energy technologies. To achieve this, the United States
must shift to 100 percent renewable power generation by 2035 or earlier. This shift will
necessitate upgrading our electricity grid to be smart, efficient, and decentralized, with
the ability to incorporate battery storage and distributed energy systems that are
democratically governed. In addition, Congress must bring the outdated regulation of
electricity into the twenty-first century, encouraging public and community ownership
over power infrastructure and electricity choice, as well as permitting distributed energy
sources, including rooftop and community solar programs to supply the grid.
As the transition away from fossil fuels occurs, our transportation system must also
undergo 100 percent decarbonization. To accomplish a fossil-fuel-free reality, Congress
must require and fund greater investment in renewable-energy-powered public
transportation that serves the people who need it most. The United States must also
phase out the sale of automobiles and trucks with internal fossil fuel combustion
engines as quickly as possible and phase out all existing fossil fuel mobile sources by
2040 or earlier. Federal credits for electric vehicles must be expanded.
The Clean Air Act provides powerful tools that have proven successful in protecting the
air we breathe and reducing greenhouse pollution. It can also serve as an important
backstop to ensure climate targets are met. Congress should harness the full power of
the statute by setting strict deadlines and providing adequate funding for EPA to carry
out all its duties under all applicable sections of the Act, including implementing
greenhouse pollution reduction requirements for cars, trucks, aircraft, ships,
smokestacks and other sources, as well as a science-based national pollution cap. The
Act has successfully reduced many air pollutants and can do the same for greenhouse
pollution.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) must be
upheld and implemented, along with treaties, instruments and decisions of international
law that recognize that Indigenous Peoples have the right to give or withhold “free, prior
and informed consent” to legislation and development of their lands, territories and/or
natural resources, cultural properties and heritage, and other interests, and to receive
remedies of losses and damages of property taken without consent.
Further, we will vigorously oppose any legislation that: (1) rolls back existing
environmental, health, and other protections, (2) protects fossil fuel and other dirty
energy polluters from liability, or (3) promotes corporate schemes that place profits over
community burdens and benefits, including market-based mechanisms and technology
options such as carbon and emissions trading and offsets, carbon capture and storage,
nuclear power, waste-to-energy and biomass energy. Fossil fuel companies should pay
their fair share for damages caused by climate change, rather than shifting those costs
to taxpayers.
We look forward to working with you to address the gravest environmental crisis
humanity has ever faced, to protect all present and future generations around the world,
while centering the rights of those communities and workers most impacted.
Sincerely,