We are in the middle of a climate emergency. The increasing intensity of wildfires and other natural disasters in New Mexico and around the world is a clear sign that we need urgent climate action. And we need it now.
But while Republicans in Congress are still debating the very existence of climate change and downplaying the science, Democrats are tackling this issue head-on in our Build Back Better agenda — and it may be the last chance we get to take meaningful action on climate and avert the worst disasters of this crisis.
The Build Back Better budget reconciliation bill and the bipartisan infrastructure package will provide a direct investment in clean energy, creating millions of green jobs, and make polluters clean up the worst of their greenhouse gas emissions — including methane flares, a practice I have long called to end.
We can’t afford inaction or any watered down climate protections in these bills. Every day we don’t take action on climate change, we make it harder to stop the worst impacts on our planet and in our communities.