Climate Power: Congress Should Keep Choosing People Over Polluters

Washington, D.C. – Today, Climate Power released a new digital ad, “Write the Rules,” highlighting how frontline communities have been subject to decades of environmental racism and polluted air and water because of oil and gas CEOs putting their profits ahead of people. The spot underscores why now is not the time for Congress to pass so-called permitting reforms that will let fossil fuel executives rewrite the rules in order to sidestep environmental reviews.   

Lori Lodes, Executive Director of Climate Power, issued the following statement on proposed permitting reforms:

“The Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant climate legislation to ever pass in the U.S. It will lower costs for families, invest in a robust clean energy economy, create millions of good-paying jobs and set us on the path to cut carbon pollution by 40% by 2030. This immense success should not be overshadowed with more unnecessary handouts to fossil fuel CEOs that have made record profits by price gouging and taking advantage of families’ pain at the pump.

“The must-pass continuing resolution should not be used for so-called permitting reform. Worse yet, Senate Republicans are pushing an even more extreme package of changes that would gut our bedrock environmental laws, including protections for clean air and clean water. Once again, Republicans have shown there is nothing they won’t do to protect polluters instead of putting people first.“

Write the Rules (:30)

Poisoning water.

Polluting Air. 

Leaking chemicals.

And dividing neighborhoods. 

For decades fossil fuel executives and their Washington lobbyists have put profits over people.

Destroying Black and Latino communities.

Now they want to write the rules in their favor to build more pipelines and shatter more communities.

Not on our watch.

We must build a clean energy future that is…

Equitable.

Fair.

And includes everybody.

We need Congress to keep putting people over polluters. 

Voters overwhelmingly support Congress listening to communities over fossil fuel corporations. In a new poll conducted by Data for Progress, nearly two thirds of voters agree that Congress should detach permitting reforms from a must pass continuing resolution.