The premier event for global climate action, DC Climate Week was held last week with more than 125 activities, including Policy and Advocacy Day.
House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Vice Chair Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia and SEEC Member Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida participated in Policy and Advocacy Day to highlight the role of government in shaping a climate-resilient future for America.
“Economic powerhouses in the 21st century were the ones that focused on energy. Clean energy is our future in every possible way. The key challenge we are facing right now in this new era for energy is market certainty. If our businesses don’t know what to invest in. If they are totally confused and concerned by tariffs or what’s happening in reconciliation. They just don’t know whether to invest or not. I will be fighting hard as a Democrat on Ways and Means Committee to preserve all the certainty that was built into the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Chips and Science Act. Those are three big, long-term pieces of security and they’re all at risk right now,” Beyer said.
According to Castor, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act “were enormous achievements for local communities and an opportunity for the federal government to work together with states. We have to be thinking now about what the next steps are. It’s really hard because we’re in this political moment with a new administration that is taking a chainsaw to a lot of the pillars we put in place to lower costs for consumers, lower costs for cities, to make sure that we are strengthening resilience in communities. But, if you put that aside and you recognize that many communities across the country understand that — to protect their bottom line, to protect rural communities and farmland — you have to build in resilience in everything that we are doing now.”
The SEEC is a coalition of 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that was 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.
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Rebecca Barnabi
