– "It might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency."
That’s what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in an interview earlier this month, John.
We have good news for Senator Schumer. Congress can pass legislation that would require President Biden to declare a climate emergency right now.
In fact, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Earl Blumenauer introduced a bill last week that would do just that. Now, we need more members of Congress to sign on and join them.
We’ll be honest, John: passing this bill will be an uphill battle – but the surest way to fail is to not try. The stakes are too high not to give it everything we’ve got.
If Congress demands a climate emergency, Biden would have the power to reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, send emergency climate aid packages to states, and even redirect billions of dollars of funding toward the production of renewable energy.
38 countries around the world – including Japan, New Zealand, and the European Union — have declared similar “climate emergencies.” But unlike these resolutions, evoking the National Emergencies Act would unlock more than 100 presidential powers to address this crisis head on.
We are powerful when we act together, John. If enough of us send messages, we could make members of Congress reconsider their stance on this bill – or at the very least, put more pressure on Biden to act on his own.
Please send a letter now and it will be delivered immediately to your representatives.
We don’t take invoking the National Emergencies Act lightly. We know that it’s been used in the past to abuse power, support militarization, and more. We remember when Trump tried to use the Act to funnel money from the Pentagon to build his “border wall.”
But if there ever was an emergency, the climate crisis is it. We must act quickly and peacefully to stop the worst of this crisis now.
Thank you for taking action.
Natalie Mebane
Associate Director of U.S. Policy
350.org
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PO Box 843004, Boston, MA 02284-3004
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