REPUBLICAN ATTACKS ON RETIREMENT SAVINGS AND CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS ARE A SLAP IN THE FACE TO AMERICA’S WORKFORCE 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: February 28, 2023
CONTACT: Eden Alem, eden@climatepower.us

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republicans and their Big Oil backers across the country are on an anti-climate and anti-clean energy crusade aimed at harming the American workforce— devastating their families and local communities. With their national campaign to pick and choose winners in the free market gaining traction on Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers want to tell American workers how to invest their hard-earned wages. 

“Republicans in Congress attacking workers’ ability to make financial decisions for themselves proves just how little they respect America’s working class,” said Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes. “The truth of the matter is that Republicans and their fossil fuel backers know that clean energy investments are popular and smart. They are terrified that people will choose to invest in stable, clean energy, which is why they are demonizing clean energy investments. The only way forward is to veto this resolution so workers can make smart, sound decisions about their futures.”  

Not only is this campaign in contradiction to GOP’s free market principles, but additionally, members of the House Republican caucus are at odds with some of their supporters from the 2022 midterms. According to CNBC, nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers who vilified climate and clean energy investing during the 2022 midterms received $140,000 in campaign contributions from companies and corporations who are making efforts to factor the climate crisis into their financial decisions. 

Criticizing responsible investing and limiting market choice is nothing new for Big Oil and bought out Republican politicians. In addition to HJ Res. 30 being considered in Congress, efforts to ban state funds from analyzing climate risk have passed in Texas and Florida, resulting in their residents footing hundreds of millions of dollars in additional  taxes. Due to the detrimental impacts of blocking responsible investing, states like North Dakota, Indiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi have managed to defeat similar proposals passing in their states. 

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