With the departure from Washington D.C. of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) celebrate the administration’s historic climate and clean energy wins for Americans.
SEEC Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko, and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin and Chellie Pingree, released a statement last week.
“When it comes to pivotal moments in the fight against the climate crisis, history will remember the bold leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration in helping lay the groundwork for America’s clean energy economy,” the leaders said.
The SEEC is a coalition of 90 members of the U.S. House of Representatives founded in January 2009 to be a focused, active and effective coalition for advancing policies that address climate change, promote clean energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, create family-sustaining clean jobs, protect our nation’s air, water, and natural environment, and promote environmental justice.
“The Biden-Harris Administration, with our support in Congress, laid the foundation for a new era of American innovation — from the bottom up and the middle out. Our transformative investments in the American people brought union workers, farmers, manufacturers, businesses, local governments, rural cooperatives and other stakeholders to the table in the fight for a safer and cleaner future. By building strong partnerships across every sector of the American economy, we have driven $422 billion in private investments, created more than 400,000 new jobs and cemented America’s leadership and competitiveness in the global clean energy economy.”
The SEEC said the Biden-Harris Administration in the last four years took “more than 300 climate and environmental actions to expand domestic clean technology manufacturing, make clean vehicles more affordable and accessible, deliver clean drinking water and air for all Americans, and hold Big Polluters accountable for damage done to America’s treasured public lands. As a result, hardworking Americans were able to reduce home energy costs, breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water, enjoy our iconic national parks, and so much more. We have witnessed a whole-of-government commitment to ensure our historic progress on climate and the environment reaches all corners of the United States.”
The coalition thanked the administration for their work in responding to climate change and laying out a vision for a cleaner, greener future.
“America has fundamentally changed for the better, and there is no stopping the clean energy future that is now underway.”
Even near the end of his term as president, Biden continued fighting for climate change. On December 19 2024, he announced on X a plan to build on the Biden-Harris Administration‘s “historic climate record by setting an ambitious new goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 percent by 2035.” Biden said the goal will create more affordable jobs and cleaner air and water for Americans.
Biden said that state, local and tribal governments will step up to reach the goal.
“And together we’re going to turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nations for generations to come. I know we can do this. We’re the United States of America. There’s nothing beyond our capacity if we work together,” Biden shared in a video on X.
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Rebecca Barnabi
