350.org Reacts to Senate's Surprise Climate Deal; No Bait and Switch Tactics on Climate Legislation!

By Jessel Thomas First Posted: Jul 29, 2022 12:26 AM EDT

Today, after weeks of back and forth, Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced they had reached a long-sought agreement on climate and energy legislation. Climate activists have given limited support, but immediately raised concerns about the bill.

(Photo: 350.org)

As a global organization working for climate justice, 350.org praises efforts to help the climate, and supports all efforts to phase in clean energy technologies, while phasing out dirty fossil fuels. It is outdated fossil fuels that cause climate chaos, massive human suffering, lead to a loss of billions of dollars to the US economy, while driving up food prices and inflation that especially hit BIPOC communities.

JL Andrepont, MPA, PhDc. Senior Policy Campaigner and Policy Analyst at 350.org (they/them), stated,

"This latest bill has a few good pieces: lengthening the tax credits for green energy projects from two to ten years to ensure steady growth in the wind and solar industry; providing incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles; and installing heat pumps to make green energy use more widespread. However, the amount of giveaways to the fossil fuel industry, and specifically to Sen. Joe Manchin, is so wide in scope, that it turns all of the gains in addressing the climate crisis into a moot point."

"The bill ensures the Mountain Valley Pipeline project will move forward, which will negatively impact rural communities and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The bill guarantees new fossil fuel leasing in the Gulf Coast, contributing to the Black, brown, and Indigenous communities who live there as being a sacrifice zone to the fossil fuel industry. And, the bill props up false solutions, like the technological carbon capture scam industry, which will only contribute to the further pollution of the planet by providing more giveaways to the fossil fuel industry."

"Enough is enough! The Biden Administration, in a desperate need to capitulate to Manchin, is engaging in a bait and switch tactic on climate legislation. With these and the many other underhanded gifts to him and the fossil fuel industry, this bill is more of a climate scam bill than a climate change bill. How are we supposed to hit our emission reduction targets, be a beacon to the rest of the world, and show that we are committed to addressing climate change if our best efforts are two steps backward? This bill is a sham, and while we are grateful for the meager crumbs Manchin has allowed us to have to try to save the planet, his pocketbook is the real winner here."

"Our goal at 350.org continues to be to address the global climate crisis through a climate justice lens. What the world needs now is an unequivocal commitment by those in power to shut down the fossil fuel industry and do everything possible to support the frontline communities who contribute the least to this crisis, but are already suffering the most from it."