Reasons We’re Still Fighting to Pass a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Reconciliation bill

It’s been a long and hard-fought effort to pass the largest investments in history in clean energy, climate action, and environmental justice. It’s been well over a year, in fact, and the work is not yet complete. But we’re more determined than ever to get the job done. In November 2021, the Sierra Club celebrated the House passing its version of the reconciliation bill, the largest investments in climate and justice in history and we’re still waiting on the Senate to pass a version of the bill to get these critical investments to the American people. As the impacts of climate change intensify, including droughts, floods, wildfires, heat waves, we know that if we don't act now, we'll be locking ourselves into a world with greater climate devastation. This is our last best chance to put ourselves on the path to addressing the climate crisis and assuring the world we’re serious about our commitments to climate action. 

This is a list of just a few of the reasons we’re still fighting for a climate, jobs, and justice reconciliation package, but your senators need to hear why you’re still fighting! Tell them by clicking here.

• The Electric Sector: To support our goal of an electric grid powered by 100% clean energy, we must pass an expansion of 10-year clean energy tax credits for solar, wind, offshore wind, geothermal, standalone energy storage, and transmission deployment. Doing so must be supported by a direct payment from the government and connected to requirements for “made in America” domestic content and a prevailing wage. Congress must also boost the clean energy incentives to cover up to 50% of the cost of projects that serve low-income communities, that are integrated into affordable housing, or that are sited in former energy communities. Tax credits for individual consumers for rooftop solar and residential batteries should also be made refundable, enabling low- and moderate income Americans to take advantage of government support. And with direct pay, for the first time, these credits should be available to state, local, and tribal governments, as well as to other non-taxed entities like universities, hospitals, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. If Congress makes this investment, it will lead to a 64%-73% emissions reduction in the power sector by 2031, create up to 600,000 jobs a year, and because renewables are inherently deflationary, it will lower energy costs for American families starting in year one by a total of $5 billion according to RMI and Rhodium’s analysis. 

• Clean Energy Manufacturing: The clean energy supply chain can and must be based in the USA with strong labor, environmental, and equity standards. We need to incentivize the clean energy industry to be based in the US and permanently set up shop to deliver the promise of family-sustaining clean energy jobs to every American. Including billions of dollars of production-based clean energy manufacturing tax credits in a reconciliation bill would strengthen our energy security by responsibly sourcing raw materials domestically as well as by vastly increasing our capacity to manufacture clean energy equipment such as solar panels, on- and offshore wind turbines, batteries and energy storage, high-voltage transmission lines, and energy efficiency materials like insulation and heat pumps. The world needs more clean energy products, and with these incentive investments, the United States can grow its manufacturing base, create family-sustaining jobs, support environmental justice, and become a global center of clean energy production — including to supply our own rapidly increasing demand.

• The Transportation Sector: Transportation is the biggest climate emitter in the U.S. and a significant source of toxic air pollution. That’s all the more reason why we must fully electrify cars, trucks, and buses while making it easier for people to get around without driving — through reliable public transit and infrastructure for safe walking and biking. Electric vehicles and clean transportation are slated to receive a host of refundable tax credits in this bill that will benefit consumers, including one that can cut the price of a new electric vehicle by $12,500 for working and middle-class families. This wouldn’t just cut the cost, but will also support electric vehicle manufacturing at unionized U.S. factories. Additionally, credits for used EVs, electric bicycles, and a bicycle commuting benefit can and must be created. Collectively, these proposed credits could cut transportation emissions by an estimated 27% of 2005 levels by 2031.

• Industrial Sector: The United States is one of the world’s leading polluters in the industrial sector alone, emitting more than 1.5 gigatons of climate pollution every year. Beyond greenhouse gases, many industries generate highly toxic pollution that causes respiratory illnesses and diseases like cancer and in communities near the fencelines of industrial plants. A reconciliation package must include billions of dollars for advanced clean domestic manufacturing projects that will allow the U.S. to reduce carbon emissions from the production of highly-polluting, energy-intensive materials such as steel, cement, and aluminum, thereby reducing air and climate pollution and improving the health of our communities while supporting hundreds of thousands of good union jobs. 

• Building Decarbonization: Eighty-five percent of households in the United States – more than 100 million households total – would save hundreds of dollars if they switched from a fossil fuel furnace or an outdated resistance heater to an electric heat pump. That’s why we’ve been working with a broad coalition of stakeholders to make household electrification and clean energy upgrades significantly more affordable for consumers, especially in low- and moderate income communities. By expanding existing home energy and efficiency tax credits, and providing point of sale rebates for the purchase and installation of heat pumps, water heaters, induction cooktops, and other everyday household electric appliances, we can rapidly enable home electrification. These investments in residential electrification will cut indoor air pollution and make American homes healthier, safer, and more energy affordable.

• Environmental Justice: Congress is in a position to provide long-overdue investments in environmental justice that are essential to improving the health and economic vitality of communities that have long borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution and racial injustice. Sierra Club is a proud co-author and inaugural signatory of the Equitable and Just Climate Platform and has worked closely with national and environmental justice allies to push for more than one billion in investments in the reconciliation bill that will benefit EJ communities. Together, these investments would support environmental and climate justice block grants and other programs that will clean up pollution and create healthy, toxic-free communities, healthy ports, and climate-resilient and energy-efficient affordable housing. A bold reconciliation package must invest in pollution-free energy and transit, trucks and buses, a Civilian Climate Corps to create clean energy and resilience jobs in communities, research and development infrastructure at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), community engagement to implement the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and more. 

• Public Lands: Congress can and must strive to implement President Biden’s commitment to protect 30% of the U.S. by 2030 and fight the climate crisis. A critical piece to this effort is to protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling and development by buying back leases sold by the Trump Administration. But that work cannot stop there, as Congress must also repeal the Arctic Refuge leasing program passed in the 2017 Tax Act. 

• Black Lung Disability Trust Fund: Congress has missed an opportunity to extend the Black Lung Excise Tax as its historic rate, leaving coal miners who rely on the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund in the dark – they don’t know if benefits or insurance will be cut as the fund debt rises. So far this year, we estimate over $50 million has been lost due to Congressional inaction. Passing the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund Act would extend the Black Lung Excise Tax on coal sales at the current tax rates for 10 years. A 10-year extension provides longer-term security for the fund, and for the miners who depend on it compared to short-term, one year extensions. 

• Methane Emissions Reduction Program: Methane, the primary component of gas, is responsible for nearly 30% of the impacts of climate change we are experiencing today. A recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasizes that swift action to reduce methane emissions is necessary to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. A strong Methane Emissions Reduction Program could raise up to $20 billion, which would improve methane monitoring, fund environmental restoration, and help communities reduce the health effects of pollution and increase their climate resilience.

• NEPA Implementation Funding: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is our bedrock environmental law that gives communities with local and environmental concerns a voice in the process during permitting and construction of federally funded infrastructure projects. These standards ensure local and environmental justice leaders have the information they need to understand a project's impacts on their community and a process for getting their concerns addressed. Instead of rolling back NEPA standards, Congress must dedicate adequate funding and resources for effective review and community engagement. Providing agencies with adequate staff, resources, and training is the key to promoting equity in federal decisionmaking and advancing projects that fulfill President Biden’s promises to environmental justice communities.

• Raise Revenue by Eliminating Fossil Fuel Subsidies: At a time when oil companies are making record profits, we must eliminate the billions of subsidies that they receive from the federal government. Congress cannot continue to ignore that as gas prices reached high levels in 2021, the largest oil and gas companies made a combined $237 billion in record profits. All the while, the fossil fuel industry remains one of the most heavily subsidized sectors of our entire economy, expected to receive $121 billion in tax giveaways over the next decade. It is critical that we preserve the provisions relating to the special treatment of international fossil fuel income and other key revenue raisers that passed in the House-passed reconciliation bill (aka Build Back Better Act). This includes the reinstatement of the Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing Rate tax on oil production and import and repealing international fossil fuel subsidies such as the Foreign Oil and Gas Extraction Income (FOGEI) from Global Intangible Low-Tax Income (GILTI), and dual capacity taxpayers raising billions of dollars in revenue. Congress must protect our communities and the climate from dirty and dangerous fossil fuels.

We know the potential of what a reconciliation bill can be and the enormous impact it will have on protecting our communities from the climate crisis, supporting family-sustaining jobs, and completing our transition onto a 100% clean economy. Now let’s get the job done!

What are you most excited about seeing included in this reconciliation bill? Tell your senators!  Write them an email or call them today.