? ? ? ? ? Dear Friend,

Last week, the House of Representatives voted for the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Budget Resolution [link removed], with extensive climate and clean energy investments, and set up a timeline for late September for a House vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. While there are still more negotiations to settle before this legislation becomes law, this most recent win belongs to you, the voters, and all the advocates pushing for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the climate crisis in a way that addresses racial and economic inequality.

From the 'code red for humanity [link removed] ' IPCC report to devastating extreme weather ? including Hurricane Ida, which the Washington Post recently called "the poster child for a climate change-driven disaster" [link removed] ? and long-standing environmental and racial injustice and economic inequality, it's never been more urgent or more important to act on climate at the scale that science and justice require [link removed]. It is imperative that the House and Senate deliver for the people and enact President Biden's Build Back Better agenda into law.

In addition to voting on the $3.5 trillion Budget Resolution, the House of Representatives passed the H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act [link removed], an updated version of the historically bipartisan Voting Rights Act that addresses current-day voter suppression tactics.
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For more than 50 years, the Voting Rights Act has been a crucial bipartisan line of defense against discriminatory voting laws and racial gerrymandering that has empowered Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous communities to participate in our democracy. This vote is an important step towards restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, which has been undermined over the past few years by a number of court rulings.

Now, the Senate must take up and pass both H.R. 4 and S. 1, the For the People Act, to ensure an equitable redistricting process and free and fair elections in 2022. LCV has already called upon Senate leadership to reform or eliminate the filibuster [link removed] to ensure the continued protection of all voters, regardless of their race or geography. Our nation will never achieve environmental justice if the communities most affected by climate change and pollution do not have full access to and representation in our democracy.

These are significant steps forward and the next few weeks are an absolutely critical period in the campaign to get climate, jobs, and justice priorities across the finish line. There is so very much at stake. To help you sort through it all, here is your LCV Top 5 for August: The Top Story LCV, Climate Power August Activity Recap ? More Than $14 Million Invested ? [link removed]

With members back home for the next couple of weeks, and Congressional committees getting to work marking up portions of the reconciliation bill, LCV's advocacy in the states and D.C. could not be more important. This is a make-or-break period to ensure the Build Back Better Act includes the climate, clean energy, jobs, and justice provisions we've been fighting for.

LCV and Climate Power are investing even more in our push for the passage of bold, transformative policies that center on climate, justice, and jobs. In the first half of August alone, we have invested more than $14 million [link removed] in our Climate Action Now efforts, including countering the false narratives from climate action opponents. Through our multi-state Great American Build tour, led by LCV's state affiliates, we have taken our movement's message to key Congressional districts to make it clear that voters overwhelmingly want Congress to act on climate now.

Across the country, our Climate Action Now teams, in coordination with LCV's 30+ state affiliates [link removed], have been applying pressure and demonstrating strong support for climate, justice, and jobs legislation by: organizing more than 60 events with members of Congress [link removed], cabinet officials [link removed], and other federal and local leaders [link removed] ; knocking on nearly 140,000 doors in key states; garnering visible support from more than 5,000 small businesses; distributing more than 9,600 yard signs in key areas where members of Congress will see this in-district support as they return home during August recess; recruiting volunteers to be climate action advocates at town halls [link removed] ; engaging citizens [link removed] and raising awareness through one-of-a-kind community-based art activations; and placing opinion editorials [link removed] in papers across the nation to support bold, just climate action. ? For a detailed update on our work in the first half of August, read our latest Interested Parties Memo here. [link removed] ? Rounding out the Top 5
LCV, Chispa, and The Redford Center Partner to Build Community Power Through New Short Film Series [link removed]

Energy Secretary Graholm Joins LCV for Virtual Discussion on Building a Clean Energy Future [link removed]

New Poll: Three in Four Voters Support Build Back Better Reconciliation Package [link removed]

ICYMI: Highlights from the Climate Action Now Tour [link removed]

If you'd like to learn more about these stories, click here for more details [link removed].

? ? THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

President Biden announced that his administration will update clean vehicle standards, reversing some of the damage done by the Trump administration and making much-needed progress to cut carbon pollution from cars and trucks.

As part of the process, the EPA opened a comment period and will take input from the public until September 27 before reviewing it and setting a final emissions rule. But corporate polluters are going all-in to protect the Trump-era tailpipe standards and prevent innovation. Please, send a message to the EPA today demanding the strongest emissions standards possible, of the options EPA analyzed, Alternative 2. [link removed]

Clean car manufacturing has the potential to bring good automotive manufacturing jobs back to the United States and provide well-paying jobs for workers in America, while also combating climate change. Moreover, increasing vehicle emissions standards will also help fight environmental injustice. Because of decades of racist housing policy, communities of color and low-wealth communities are more likely to have highways cut through their neighborhoods ? leading to disproportionate harm from vehicle emissions, including unequally high rates of asthma and other illnesses. It's an injustice that must end, and cleaner cars can help us get there. We need 5,000 LCV members to act now.

Click here to provide your comment ? we'll deliver it to the EPA immediately to support the strongest near-term clean car standards and to require that all new vehicles sold by 2035 be zero emission vehicles. [link removed]
? Sign On [link removed] ? ? ? In Case You Missed It - LCV in the News Roll Call: Climate groups launch $1M ad campaign aimed at six battleground Republicans [link removed] Axios: Pelosi stares down dissenters [link removed] ABQJournal Online: We must act now to manage the looming crisis of climate change [link removed] LCV Shop Corner [link removed]

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