Sierra Club on Senate Budget: Good Start, but House Must Go Bigger and Bolder

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Late yesterday, Senate Budget Committee Democrats announced an agreement on a $3.5 trillion topline budget number for a reconciliation-based infrastructure package. This is the first step in the process toward crafting a reconciliation package with bold investments in climate action, clean energy, and President Biden’s American Families Plan. 

The Sierra Club and the greater progressive community have long been advocating for investments totaling $1 trillion per year for a decade in order to adequately address inequity, racial injustice, and the climate crisis. See here for a detailed breakdown of specific investment needs that add up to that topline number. 

In Response, Ben Beachy, Director of the Sierra Club’s Living Economy Program, Released the Following Statement:

“This Senate offer is a significant step in moving this process forward. Now all eyes are on the House to go bolder and deliver investments as big as the crises we face. 

“Day after day, we’re witnessing climate disasters in communities across the country, exacerbating the inequalities already plaguing millions of our friends, families, and neighbors. We urge House Democrats to go even bigger and bolder and produce a budget that fully addresses the physical reality of the climate crisis, the economic reality of millions of struggling families, and the structural reality of systemic racism. This is our moment. We have no time to waste. The choices we make together now will shape the health of our communities and planet for decades to come.”