August, 12 2022, 05:56pm EDT
![Environment America](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012644/origin.jpg)
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lisa Frank, Environment America Washington Legislative Office Executive Director, (503) 758-0712, lfrank@environmentamerica.org Â
Matt Casale, U.S. PIRG Environment Campaigns Director, (609) 610-8002, mcasale@pirg.orgÂ
Taran Volckhausen, Communications Associate, (720) 212-9955, tvolckhausen@
Congress Passes Historic Climate Investment
Inflation Reduction Act aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
WASHINGTON
Legislation containing the country's largest climate investment ever is now headed to President Joe Biden's desk after the U.S. House voted 220-207 on Friday to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill had already cleared the Senate on Sunday. The Inflation Reduction Act includes roughly $369 billion in climate spending, designed to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030 and put the United States' Paris Climate Accord goals within reach.
The bill includes key provisions related to:
Clean energy: $9 billion in consumer home energy rebate programs to electrify home appliances and for energy efficient retrofits; ten years of consumer tax credits to make heat pumps, rooftop solar, electric HVAC and water heaters more affordable so homes can be more energy efficient and run on clean energy; and a $10 billion investment tax credit to build clean technology manufacturing facilities, including facilities that make electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.
Electric vehicles: A $4,000 tax credit for consumers to buy used electric vehicles and up to a $7,500 tax credit for consumers to buy new EVs; $3 billion for electric U.S. Postal Service trucks; $1 billion for electric heavy duty vehicles, such as school buses and garbage trucks; and $3 billion for zero-emission technology at U.S. ports.
Pollution reduction and natural climate solutions: A methane emissions reduction program, a reinstated "polluter pays" tax to increase funding to clean up Superfund toxic waste sites and $50 million to inventory and protect old-growth forests, which absorb global-warming carbon emissions, on National Forest System land.
The bill represents a compromise and includes some provisions that will benefit fossil fuel development, including requiring lease sales for offshore drilling and providing tax incentives that would help coal and gas plants. However, modeling by Energy Innovation found emissions increases from these provisions are offset 24 to 1 by the bill's climate-friendly provisions. The group also found that the bill could prevent 3,700 to 3,900 deaths in 2030, and prevent 99,000 to 100,000 asthma attacks.
Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America's Washington Legislative Office, released the following statement:
"Nature and human ingenuity have made it increasingly possible for us to power our homes, cars and businesses with clean, renewable sources such as the sun and wind. And as the climate warms, making this transition is of the utmost urgency. The renewable energy and electric vehicle tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act are a real game-changer that will make it cheaper and easier for individuals, businesses, school districts and more to 'go solar,' swap out old, polluting vehicles and save energy.
"Climate change affects every one of us. Now, this bill helps us all to be part of the solution. It's also a compromise and does far too much for fossil fuels, but it's a big step forward.
"We're glad to see the House pass this hard-fought legislation that will make it easier for Americans to transition to clean, renewable energy. It's a huge step, but it's a start, not an end, to our work to reduce global warming pollution and ensure clean air, clean water and the preservation of open spaces. Progress towards a greener, healthier America depends on our bedrock environmental protections, including the National Environmental Policy Act. We oppose any attempts to weaken core environmental protections, such as those being floated for follow-up legislation, and call on lawmakers to do the same."
U.S. PIRG Environment Campaigns Director Matt Casale issued the following statement:
"This is a big deal. Congress just passed an historic investment in a clean and healthy future for Americans. Climate change is the challenge of our times and what we do to address it today will have lasting effects on generations to come.
"Not everything in the bill is perfect, and there remains work to do, but the clean energy tax credits in particular will inject a jolt of (renewable) energy into state and local efforts to reduce emissions and clean the air. They will help make it affordable for Americans of all stripes to switch to electric vehicles, put solar panels on their roofs and purchase cleaner, healthier electric appliances that don't pump pollution in our homes and air. The funding in the bill will help electrify the U.S. Postal fleet and help communities clean up toxic Superfund sites, while requiring polluters to bear the cost. In addition to making major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, these provisions will significantly reduce air pollution that makes people sick.
"We thank President Biden for his climate leadership and each member of Congress who voted yes for this historic legislation to address climate change."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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AFT Signs On to UAW's Push for 2028 General Strike
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain applauded the teachers union for helping to push for a "mass movement" for workers' rights.
Jul 24, 2024
At the American Federation of Teachers' annual convention in Houston on Wednesday, the AFT's 1.8 million members got a round of applause from one of the country's top union leaders—United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who has called on the U.S. labor movement to join a nationwide strike in 2028.
"We want to create a mass movement—a general strike if we have to—to win our fair share not just for workers here but for... working-class people all over this globe," said Fain. "You guys passed a resolution to push unions to do just that... And that's how we do this. When we fight and when we win, people want to be a part of that, they want to join the movement."
Fain's comments came a day after the AFT passed a resolution to support May 1, 2028 as the expiration of all contracts for local unions—the same date chosen by the UAW when Fain led negotiations with the Big Three automakers after the union's historic "stand-up strike" late last year.
The strategic date would ensure union contacts end on May Day, 2028—the holiday marking the struggles and successes of the international labor movement—setting the stage for a nationwide work stoppage across the U.S., where, as the AFT said in its resolution, "big business and their political allies have waged a war on workers."
"We want to create a mass movement—a general strike if we have to—to win our fair share not just for workers here but for... working-class people all over this globe... You guys passed a resolution to push unions to do just that."
Fain said earlier this year that the nation's workers "should have stood up and walked the hell out" in 1980 when then-President Ronald Reagan fired air traffic controllers who went on strike.
"We missed the opportunity then, but we're not going to miss it in 2028. That's the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries," said Fain in January.
In the AFT's resolution passed on Tuesday, the teachers union noted that "union workers are fighting back, in order to secure fair contracts for themselves and for their communities," and called on labor organizations to "find creative ways to maximize our economic power and fight against corporate greed."
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), part of the AFT, had already proposed a May 1, 2028 expiration date for its next contract in negotiations with Chicago Public Schools.
The AFT said in its resolution that it would encourage all of its locals "to consider this common expiration as a useful tactic in the fight to advance racial, economic, and social justice."
The adoption of the resolution, said CTU vice president Jackson Potter, is s step toward winning "more for working people in bargaining, at the statehouse, and all the way up to the White House."
The pro-labor media organization More Perfect Union added that the AFT's move "adds significant power" to Fain's call for a general strike.
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March for Our Lives, which was launched six years ago after yet another U.S. mass shooting, announced its first-ever political endorsement on Wednesday, backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the White House.
"The stakes couldn't be higher," said the group, which was founded in the wake of the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. "As one of the largest youth-led movements in the nation, we are clear-eyed about the challenge ahead and we believe that Kamala Harris is uniquely suited to meet this moment."
Warning of the threat posed by Republican former President Donald Trump—who just survived an assassination attempt—and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), March for Our Lives said that "the country that young people will soon inherit stands at the precipice—on one side, authoritarianism that threatens our fundamental rights, including our right to live freely without fear of gun violence; on the other, a world where we can keep fighting to build the future that young people know we deserve."
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"Young people are inheriting an increasingly precarious world," the group added, highlighting youth deaths from gun violence, Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, the escalating climate emergency, and far-right politicians pushing extremist policies. "We have been struggling to feel excited about voting in this election, and are increasingly pessimistic that change is possible. But we know that another Trump presidency is simply not an option that young people can afford—our lives are literally at stake."
Harris began seeking the Democratic nomination for November after President Joe Biden dropped out and endorsed her on Sunday. March for Our Lives said that "we call on her to run a campaign that fights for the policy solutions that young people want, like an assault weapons ban, action on climate change, a vigorous defense of abortion, court reform, and an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza. Young people are savvy voters, who will see through empty promises and cynical horsetrading. We believe that Kamala will step above that and fight for a bold, progressive future—and we will hold her accountable for that."
Since Sunday, Parkland shooting survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg has been fiercely supporting Harris, posting on his social media frequent updates about her historic fundraising successes over the past few days.
"Kamala Harris has proven herself to be a thoughtful and forceful leader on gun violence, who has time and again listened to young people and fought for our lives," Hogg said in a statement Wednesday. "Given her strong record on gun safety and prioritizing youth voices during her time in office, I'm proud that Kamala Harris will receive March for Our Lives' first-ever endorsement, and I'm so excited for our work to mobilize young people for her campaign."
Natalie Fall, the group's executive director, toldABC News—which first reported on the endorsement—that "we see a lot of energy around Vice President Harris in this election; there's no denying that. I think everybody's seeing it right now."
"I just think young people in particular didn't really see themselves represented or reflected in the Biden ticket in the way that they wanted. It's not to say that President Biden hasn't had great accomplishments," she explained. "But I think we need someone who can meet this moment and who is up to the challenge of taking Donald Trump to task and really defeating his effort to erode all of our institutions and our democracy."
March for Our Lives members plan to participate in this year's election through creative campaigns, door-knocking, and phone banks, Fall said. In a statement, she added that the group aims to elect not only Harris but also candidates "up and down the ballot" who support its priorities.
"March for Our Lives will work to mobilize young people across the country to support Vice President Harris and other down-ballot candidates, with a particular focus on the states and races where we can make up the margin of victory—in Arizona, New York, Michigan, and Florida," she pledged. "We are ready to double down on this commitment and elect the first woman, first Black woman, and the first person of South Asian descent to become our next president."
The gun violence prevention group's endorsement adds to Harris' mounting pile. Throughout the week, she has also received support from many Democratic governors and members of Congress as well as climate, labor, and reproductive rights groups.
As young people rally behind Harris, she is also seeing support from advocates for older Americans. Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, wrote in a Wednesday opinion piece for Common Dreams that "Joe Biden has been the best president for seniors in over half a century. Kamala Harris will be even better."
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The Israeli security minister, who leads the far-right Jewish Power party, accused the Biden administration of thwarting Israel's victory against Hamas.
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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir endorsed former U.S. President Donald Trump—the 2024 Republican nominee—for the White House in an interview published Wednesday in which he accused the Biden administration of preventing Israel from winning its war on Gaza.
"I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran," Ben-Gvir, who heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, toldBloomberg. "With Trump, it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated."
"A cabinet minister is supposed to maintain neutrality," the 48-year-old minister conceded, "but that's impossible to do after [U.S. President Joe] Biden."
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While Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other administration officials have decried Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and high civilian casualties—at least 140,000 Palestinians killed, injured, or missing, according to local and international agencies—the U.S. has approved billions of dollars in new military aid and more than 100 arms sales to Israel since October.
During his White House tenure, Trump—who boasted that he "fought for Israel like no president ever before"—moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and brokered the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump has said that Israel should "get the job done" in Gaza, while criticizing the Israel Defense Forces for posting videos showing its obliteration of the embattled Palestinian enclave.
"I don't know why they released wartime shots like that. I guess it makes them look tough. But to me, it doesn't make them look tough," Trump said in April. "They're losing the PR war. They're losing it big. But they've got to finish what they started, and they've got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life."
While Trump says he wants a deal with Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, as president he unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—also known as the Iran nuclear deal—and oversaw a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran featuring deadly economic sanctions.
On the advice of Iran hawks in his administration including then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump also ordered the January 2020 assassination of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.
Ben-Gvir's interview was published as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to address a joint meeting of U.S. Congress Wednesday in Washington, D.C. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for not only a cease-fire in Gaza but also a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, whose conduct in the war is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have signaled they will skip Netanyahu's speech. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also the Senate president, said she will not preside over Wednesday's session. Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the wake of Biden's withdrawal from the race on Sunday, said she will meet privately with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Echoing calls from groups including CodePink and the Council on American Islamic Relations, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said this week that the prime minister should be arrested for war crimes and genocide.
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