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Dear John,

Decades of tireless organizing work by communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis have put climate justice on the political agenda. Last month, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and even though the bill includes some beneficial provisions, it most definitely was not the kind of legislation we asked for. By allocating billions to unproven geoengineering projects, nuclear energy, “green” hydrogen, and carbon markets, and by handcuffing investments for clean energy to new fossil fuel projects, the authors and cheerleaders of the IRA used the lives and well-being of our communities as bargaining chips to be sacrificed.

Now communities of color, Indigenous communities, and poor communities are facing another threat from Congress that serves the outdated dirty energy industry - a side deal that we must stop.

As part of the backroom negotiations around the IRA, Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are planning to introduce a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for new fossil fuel projects, and gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which ensures communities’ rights to protect themselves. Democratic Leadership in the Senate might try to attach this legislation to a must-pass government spending bill this month.

To avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis, the remaining fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground and we have to reduce emissions at source. We cannot afford this dirty side deal bill to pass; we must do everything we can to stop this legislation. Our lives and the well-being of our communities depends on it. Here’s what you can do now:

  1. Call your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121 to urge them to work against the passage of Manchin’s dirty deal. If you want to do this with others, join us this Thursday (details below!)
  2. Sign the petition here. 
  3. Check out our toolkit with talking points, draft text if you’d prefer to write a letter, and other actions you can take and please share with your networks.
  4. If you happen to be in DC, register for the People v Fossil Fuel Sept. 8 Day of Action!

AND JOIN US TOMORROW, Thurs. 9/8 at 5pm ET/ 2pm PT for a special Virtual Community Mobilization Call. Register now!

We’ll practice calling our members of Congress and go over talking points together, in solidarity with those in Washington DC at the People v. Fossil Fuels rally in front of Congress. There will be time for you to practice and then call your representatives in Congress during the call!

We need politicians, philanthropy, and well-funded environmental nonprofit corporations to do more than just pay lip service to climate justice, and actually follow the lead of frontline communities. Those who endure environmental racism and the worst impacts of the climate crisis today are closest to the problems and are closest to the solutions. Locally, tribally, and regionally-based racial and economic justice organizations of Indigenous Peoples, Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and poor white communities that make up the Climate Justice Alliance, are operationalizing a Just Transition in their communities, putting clean energy infrastructure on the ground, moving policy, and centering climate justice.

In the face of the harmful legislation that was passed in Congress, we have to increase and expand our resistance to dirty energy infrastructure that is harming people and ecosystems, while continuing to build local, community-led alternatives that center traditional ecological and cultural knowledge to create pathways for a regenerative future. Climate Justice Alliance member groups have won significant victories against polluting and extractive industries, preventing new carbon emissions from reaching our atmosphere. 

In short, we are calling on the Biden administration to declare a Climate Emergency, phase out fossil fuels, and increase support for local, community-controlled clean energy projects that truly foster a Just Transition. No side deal will do!

With gratitude,

CJA's Co-Executive Directors

Ozawa Bineshi Albert

Monica Atkins

Marion Gee
Support CJA

Climate Justice Alliance

1960A University Ave
Berkeley, CA, 94704
United States


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