The Passing Of The Inflation Reduction Act By The U.S. Senate Is 5 Decades Late And Flawed, But A Big Step Forward Despite Partisan Gridlock On The Issue.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 8th, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: Cody Rogers

305-573-5251

After almost 5 decades of failed sounding alarms and calls to action by climate scientists, the Senate passed yesterday a landmark climate and energy bill. The Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to turbocharge the U.S. decarbonization efforts to cut emissions 40% of 2005 levels by the end of the decade and brings us closer to cutting global heating gases by half by 2030, target scientists say must be achieved by the whole world if catastrophic escalating temperatures, heatwaves, droughts, and floods, are to be avoided.

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is not a small achievement by the Democrats. It is a big deal. Still, it is far from what we need to cope with the climate emergency, nor enough to undo the legacy pollution underserved communities and communities of color have endured despite the 60 billion dollars for environmental justice alone. This bill is not perfect, but it is long overdue and a necessary step to ensure the US takes decisive action on a rapidly warming climate.

Senator Bernie Sanders stated that “if we are going to make our planet healthy and habitable, we should not give Billions of dollars in new tax breaks to the same companies that are currently destroying the planet.” We agree wholeheartedly.

Yet here we are celebrating a less than perfect bill -which is deeply compromised- after decades of climate inaction. Why? Because our house is on fire, and every bucket of water and every extinguisher matters to get some relief until we wait for a fire brigade that merits this climate emergency and perhaps brings firefighters from both sides of the aisle, not just one.

In the meantime, we keep demanding more. We call on President Biden to Declare a Climate Emergency utilizing his executive powers to get us further to our goal of ensuring a safe, just, and healthy environment for all.

###

The CLEO Institute’s mission is to educate and empower communities to demand climate action, ensuring a safe, just, and healthy environment for all. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, The CLEO Institute offers educational programs, advocacy programs and campaigns, and undertakes policy work in order to achieve a world in which all people, governments, and organizations are informed, engaged, and taking action on critical climate issues. CLEOInstitute.org