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Friend,
This year, families across the country are facing skyrocketing utility bills — and on top of that, numerous climate disasters. Puerto Rico and southwest Florida were especially hard-hit by recent hurricanes, and thousands are still disconnected from electricity, internet and running water.
All of these crises are deepening the cracks in our already fragile utility system — putting more families at risk of losing access to broadband, electricity, water and other essential services.
That’s why Reps. Cori Bush (Missouri-01), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan-13) and Jamaal Bowman (New York-16) introduced the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities to ensure that equitable access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet, power and water is recognized as a human right.
Could you call on your representative to co-sponsor the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities by signing our petition today?
Access to water, electricity AND broadband is a human right.
Living without home-internet access makes it harder to apply for jobs, access health care, reach social and educational services, stay informed and organize for social change.
As we moved to a largely online world at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of affordable and reliable internet made it difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to attend school, access government services or even attend their own remote eviction hearings over Zoom.1 And this crisis disproportionately impacted people of color and low-income communities.
It’s clear: Our utility model is incapable of providing people in the United States with a basic human right — and now it’s time to change that. If you believe like we do that every person should have access to quality, affordable drinking water, electricity and internet services — please call on your representative to co-sponsor the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities today.
Thanks for all that you do,
Heather and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. At a time of compounding crises, no one — no matter who they are or where they live — should have to worry about their ability to call for help, communicate with their loved ones, or safely turn on the lights or faucet. Your signature has power — take action with us today.
1. “30 Second trials. Judges Muting Tenants. The Problems with Virtual Evictions,” CNBC, May 1, 2021
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