Looking at the above photo of me after a climate meeting in Paris in 2017 -- it feels like forever ago. It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on four years since the climate agreement was adopted during international negotiations in Paris in 2015. I was filled with hope after both of those climate moments in Paris, as I know millions of others were. Since then, it’s been hard to watch the Trump administration continue to deny climate disruption and delay any climate action whatsoever.
But I’ve still been finding so much hope in the climate progress that’s underway in communities nationwide -- and this time it’s coming from Washington, DC. Today, US Representative Donald McEachin (VA-4) introduced the 100% Clean Economy Act, a bill that seeks to move America to a 100% clean economy with net-zero emissions by 2050 across all sectors of the economy, including transportation, buildings, and manufacturing. Rep. McEachin worked closely with a core group of lead sponsors who represent different constituencies, Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Deb Haaland (NM-1), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), to draft the bill. These key members were joined by a geographically and politically diverse group of 150 House Democrats as original cosponsors of the legislation.
There is a clean energy movement in the House of Representatives, as more than half of the Democratic Caucus has cosponsored the 100% Clean Economy Act. This should be no surprise, as currently one in four people live in a community committed to a transition to 100% clean energy. I was honored to join residents of some of those communities who traveled to Washington, DC, in late October to call on their representatives in Congress to support this legislation.
Why are so many communities going 100% clean? It’s because that’s what their residents are demanding -- and because clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuel power across the country. Communities are taking action, and every day I see our Sierra Club activists and partners making big strides toward a 100% clean economy. Scientists, families, students, local political officials, business leaders, clergy members, and so many others know that coal and other fossil fuels are the most dangerous way to power our economy. Fossil fuels cause climate disruption, and we’re already seeing people worldwide facing deadly hurricanes, floods, massive wildfires, and devastating droughts. We are demanding climate action.
The House has already taken action by passing a bill to support the Paris climate agreement, and now House members have introduced this bold new 100% Clean Economy Act, which calls on the federal government to set a plan to reach net-zero carbon pollution by 2050. It enables federal agencies, including the EPA, to use existing authorities to regulate dangerous carbon pollution in order to meet the 2050 goal. It also directs those federal agencies to develop climate plans to improve public health and climate resilience, help communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, and enhance job creation in an equitable way for workers who are exiting the fossil fuel industry. Importantly, the bill creates a new advisory committee that represents a diverse cross section of the population, including representatives from environmental justice and tribal communities, labor unions, youth organizations, public health, agriculture, scientists, and state and local leaders, all of whom will review and guide these new climate plans.
We cannot wait to act: Our nation’s Fourth National Climate Assessment and the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report both made clear that we must achieve net-zero climate pollution by 2050. That means we must replace carbon-polluting energy with wind, solar, and other clean sources of energy across all sectors of our economy -- from transportation and manufacturing to electricity. This draft legislation proposes to do just that.
I’m proud that the Sierra Club supports the 100% Clean Energy Act. A 100% clean economy means better outcomes for our health and environment, good-paying careers in clean energy, and an economy that works for everyone, all while helping us avoid the worst effects of climate change.