Chair Castor: House Democrats Passed Hundreds Of Climate Solutions In 2021

WASHINGTON - Chair Kathy Castor of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the following statement on Tuesday:

"A new year provides an opportunity to start fresh on clean energy and climate solutions, and build on the progress we made in 2021," said Chair Castor. "In a year and a half since the release of our Climate Crisis Action Plan, House Democrats have successfully turned more than 200 of the climate solutions in our report into law, while also passing more than half of our 715 climate recommendations. That includes passing the largest clean energy and climate investment in American history through the Build Back Better Act, which the Senate must deliver in order to lower energy costs and create family-sustaining jobs.

"While we're proud of this progress, we will not take our foot off the (electric) pedal until we reach our goal of net zero. We have a moral obligation to reduce pollution, protect our communities, and create good jobs across America. You can keep track of our progress and help urge policymakers to act with urgency to solve the climate crisis."

Since the June 2020 release of the majority staff report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America — which includes a Climate Crisis Action Plan with 715 climate policy recommendations that provide a comprehensive response to the climate crisis and would help the United States reach net zero by no later than 2050 — House Democrats have worked to turn those recommendations into bills and into law.

Specifically:

• 377 of the 715 recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan have already passed the House of Representatives; and
• 201 of the 715 recommendations have been signed into law.

For more details on the progress made on the recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan, visit climatecrisis.house.gov/tracker.

Many of these solutions were addressed in President Biden's bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which includes historic investments to strengthen the electric grid, support electric vehicles, advance environmental justice, and prepare communities for costly weather disasters.

Signed by President Biden in November, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes:

• $7.5 billion to build a network of 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles across America, the largest such federal investment in history;
• $7.5 billion for clean school buses and ferries;
• Historic investments in rail ($66 billion), transit ($39 billion), and a program to reduce transportation pollution ($6.4 billion); and
• The largest investment in clean drinking water in American history, including $15 billion to replace lead service lines.

A full fact sheet on climate progress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is available here.

Additional climate solutions that were signed into law since the release of the Climate Crisis Action Plan include:

• The American Rescue Plan, which invested $100 million for environmental justice grants, including $50 million to increase air quality monitoring, and $50 million to identify and address disproportionate environmental or public health harms and risks in vulnerable populations;
• The bipartisan FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes important climate and resilience provisions that will help military installations reach net-zero on energy, water, and waste by 2035; strengthen military preparedness to the growing threats of wildfire and floods; and expand long-duration energy storage; and
• The 2020 year-end omnibus bill, which will help the United States phase down the production and consumption of harmful hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) while also extending critical clean energy tax credits to support hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

Democrats expect to make further progress through the House-passed Build Back Better Act, which makes up the largest climate investment in history with $550 billion in clean energy, resilience, and climate solutions. These investments build on the IIJA in order to reduce energy costs for Americans - expanding the reach of cleaner energy sources like wind and solar, which are already cheaper than coal and natural gas. The Build Back Better Act could save the average American household $500 a year on energy costs - and families who switch to electric vehicles will save an additional $700 a year on fuel and maintenance costs.

Importantly, the Build Back Better Act also invests directly in clean energy grants and loans for rural communities, and it will direct 40% of investments to environmental justice communities, including communities of color and Tribes. That means every community will see the benefits of our clean energy economy, whether it’s new jobs through the Civilian Climate Corps or cleaner air through zero-emission school buses and trash trucks.

A full fact sheet on climate progress in the Build Back Better Act is available here.
 

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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.
• For more details on the progress made on the recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan, visit climatecrisis.house.gov/tracker.