Chair Castor Calls For Congress To Act With Urgency In Response To New IPCC Report

WASHINGTON - On Monday, Chair Kathy Castor of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the following statement in response to an alarming new report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

“Clean energy solutions and the rapid phase out of carbon dioxide and methane pollution cannot wait any longer,” said Chair Castor. “This report confirms what Americans are experiencing firsthand – the devastating impacts of the climate crisis are here, and they are getting worse. Right now, over 100 major wildfires are burning across 15 states. Red tide is plaguing Florida’s coasts, hurricane season is getting longer, and deadly heat waves are scorching communities. Although the situation is dire, today’s report serves as a call to action. Leading experts from around the world are telling us that if we act now, it is not too late to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
 
“The stakes of this crisis demand nothing less than the most ambitious plan for clean energy and resilient infrastructure in American history. We cannot afford to squander this once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in affordable clean energy, deliver good-paying union jobs, and finally secure environmental justice for our communities. Americans understand this, and it’s why they elected President Joe Biden. With his Build Back Better Agenda and our Climate Crisis Action Plan, we know what it will take to solve this crisis. Congress must act with the urgency this moment demands, and get President Biden’s climate plan across the finish line.”
 

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Background:

• In June of 2020, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Democrats released the majority staff report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. This report provides a roadmap for Congress—a Climate Crisis Action Plan—to build a prosperous, clean energy economy that values workers, advances environmental justice, and is prepared to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
• House Democrats have already passed more than 250 of the recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan, and have successfully worked to turn over 100 of them into law.