10 Major Environmental Organizations Hosting Week of Action to Push Members of Congress to Speak Out on Climate & Justice Investments

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, ten of the nation’s leading environmental organizations, including League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund, Climate Power, NRDC Action Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Climate Reality Project, Interfaith Power & Light, Earthjustice, Environment America, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, are kicking off a week of action on climate change. The groups will be rallying their millions of members to contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to speak out on the importance of climate and justice investments in President Biden’s landmark American Jobs Plan. 

With a summer of extreme heat, unprecedented drought, record-breaking superstorms, and devastating wildfires already underway, the American public is calling for bold action to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change and accelerate the transition to clean energy.  The American Jobs Plan would transform American infrastructure, rebuild the economy, create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, jumpstart clean energy development, and fight climate change in the process. It also commits 40% of the benefits of these investments to communities who’ve historically borne the brunt of pollution and environmental injustices.

“The American Jobs Plan highlights the importance of building a comprehensive infrastructure plan that centers climate, resilience, workers, and local communities,” said Abby Tinsley, Associate Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs at the National Wildlife Federation. “This transformative proposal represents a significant step forward for addressing climate change, investing in natural infrastructure, and moving toward a carbon-free economy.”

“The Clean Electricity Standard (CES) is a critical element in the American Jobs Plan that would propel our nation towards 21st century infrastructure, economic growth, and environmental equity,” said Jennifer Rennicks, Senior Policy and Communications Director at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “A Clean Electricity Standard will help us get to a 100% carbon-free electric grid by 2035 and serve as the cornerstone for our broader clean energy transformation that could create millions of well-paying jobs, improve public health, and reduce bills.” 

“The American people deserve a healthier and more secure future, and that requires an economy that embraces the clean energy revolution,” said John Bowman, senior advisor to the NRDC Action Fund. “The American Jobs Plan is a promise to our kids and their kids that they will inherit a stronger country and a planet on the mend. We can’t let them down.”

“We’re asking our two million members to go all-in to demand action. Congress needs to go bold and pass an American Jobs Plan that dramatically cuts climate pollution from transportation and power plants, prioritizes environmental justice, and creates good jobs. This is a pivotal moment for climate action,” says Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President Political Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

“We need to be quick, sweeping, and ambitious if we want to stem the impacts of the climate crisis and secure Americans’ rights to clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate,” said Jessica Ennis, Legislative Director for Climate and Energy at Earthjustice. “The American Jobs Plan is the kind of bold legislation we need to quickly and equitably reduce our emissions and create a booming clean energy economy that leaves none of our underserved communities behind.”

“This is our climate moment, the moment we can create millions of jobs AND tackle climate change,” said Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes. “Halting the worst impacts of the climate crisis means passing the American Jobs Plan. And it means we need lawmakers in Washington DC to understand their constituents are demanding they support this plan to build a better future that stops climate change, creates jobs, and brings justice to people long left behind.”

“Climate action is our greatest chance to stimulate economic growth and enable an equitable national recovery from COVID-19,” said Hal Connolly, policy director at The Climate Reality Project. “The American Jobs Plan is a necessary investment in our collective future, and voters overwhelmingly support these common-sense measures to create good-paying, green jobs, fight the climate crisis, and support equity and opportunity in communities most impacted by environmental injustice. This is a make-or-break moment to finally modernize our national infrastructure and accelerate a just transition to a clean energy economy. We can’t afford to let this critical opportunity pass us by.”

“Ever-worsening hurricanes, droughts and forest fires don’t have to be our future,” said Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America’s Washington Legislative Office. “We can power our lives with clean, green, renewable energy, and we can do it more easily and cheaply than ever before. Environment America, our 29 state offices and our members across the country are urging Congress to tackle the two largest sources of global warming pollution by investing in clean energy and clean transportation this year.”

“This summer is our best chance in history to enact transformational economic recovery and climate legislation into law,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “It’s time for Congress to pass the full American Jobs Plan — the plan that centers climate, clean energy, high-quality jobs, and justice and has the backing of labor unions, environmental justice leaders, businesses, local leaders from across the country, and the vast majority of voters on both sides of the aisle.”

“We need bold economic recovery and infrastructure legislation that safeguards Creation, addresses the harms of climate change and pollution caused by fossil fuel extraction and related industries, and creates family and community sustaining jobs while fulfilling our moral obligation to leave a habitable world for future generations,” saidRev. Susan Hendershot, President at Interfaith Power & Light.