Adam Beitman, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org
Nation’s Largest Environmental Organization Asks Reps to “Keep Your Word” and Vote for Build Back Better This Week in Newspaper Ad Takeovers
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Sierra Club has launched an expansive ad campaign in leading news outlets across the five congressional districts of prior holdouts to passing President Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
The ad campaign includes coordinated homepage and newsletters takeovers on Tuesday, November 16 of the Orlando Sentinel (Stephanie Murphy, FL-07), the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Ed Case, HI-01), the Statesman Journal(Kurt Schrader, OR-05), POLITICO’s Trenton Brief (Josh Gottheimer, NJ-05) Sierra Club will take over all advertising on each homepage this Tuesday, November 16, ahead of this week’s crucial House vote on the Build Back Better Act.
In addition, Sierra Club will launch a significant digital buy to advertise across the Long Island Herald (Kathleen Rice, NY-04), and will supplement the Trenton Brief takeover with a digital buy for New Jersey based readers of POLITICO throughout NJ-05.
The ads come as part of a national effort to enlist key prior holdouts on President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, Reps. Case, Murphy, Rice, Schrader and Gottheimer, to keep their word and vote for the bill no later than this week without making any cuts to its programs.
“The Sierra Club calls on the five Democrats in the House who’ve signed a commitment to vote yes on President Biden’s transformational climate action bill to keep their word and do so immediately this week when it comes to the House floor,” said Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce. “Our message is clear: Keep your word and vote for these transformational investments in climate, jobs, protecting the Arctic Refuge, childcare and justice without cutting a dollar.”
Examples of the ads, running in a variety of sizes on each paper’s site in each district, appear here:
ABOUT THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT:
THE HOUSE BILL INCLUDES OVER 100 SPECIFIC INVESTMENTS IN BOLD CLIMATE ACTION spanning scores of policy areas and on a scale never before seen in Congress.
TOP AMONG THE CLIMATE ACTION INVESTMENTS IS A SWEEPING PACKAGE OF CLEAN ENERGY AND CLEAN TRANSPORTATION TAX INCENTIVES that are a game changer for the clean economy in the United States, and a game changer for climate action at home and abroad. The investment in the 10-year tax incentive package will dramatically expand access to clean electricity like solar, electric vehicles, efficiency and electrification improvements for homes and workplaces, and clean manufacturing, forming the backbone of the Build Back Better Act’s climate action and accounting for a major reduction in carbon emissions nearing our national goals. Turbocharging investments in clean electricity, and energy efficiency are key to saving the average household $500 annually in lower energy costs.
The framework’s vision for bold investments in CLEAN ENERGY MANUFACTURING would slash industrial pollution, create good manufacturing jobs, and bolster the supply chains we need for a swift transition to 100% clean energy.
Build Back Better PROTECTS THE COASTAL PLAIN OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE from oil and gas drilling and safeguards the way of life of the Gwich’in people by repealing the 2017 drilling language included in the 2017 Tax Act.
ADDITIONAL MAJOR CLIMATE ACTION INVESTMENTS INCLUDE: transportation investments that would expand access to union-built electric vehicles, clean public transit and passenger rail; retrofits of homes and schools to cut pollution and energy costs; protections against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; a methane emissions reduction program; natural climate solutions that provide protection for communities from heat waves and storms while growing carbon sinks; new investments to slash industrial pollution and boost manufacturing of clean energy goods; and a Civilian Climate Corps that would help communities clean up pollution and adapt to the climate crisis.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE INVESTMENTS IN THE BILL WOULD BE EQUALLY HISTORIC, including environmental and climate justice grants, nationwide lead service line replacement, electrification of diesel school buses, funding for cleaning up dirty ports and heavy-duty trucks, community investments to close the nature equity gap, funding for pollution monitoring and cleanup, robust support for equitable and sustainable community development, and increased investments for community engagement under the National Environmental Policy Act.
FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES ABROAD AND AT HOME: Based on estimates from the President’s budget, the Act’s repeal of international fossil fuel subsidies included in the package would represent a potential $86.2 billion in revenue over the next decade. Still, the failure to repeal domestic fossil fuel subsidies is a shortcoming that can and must be addressed by Congress.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.