Tell Your Members of Congress: No Dirty Deals in the Continuing Resolution!

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Call Script

My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.

For President Biden:

President Biden, we strongly support your declarations that "Climate change is a clear and present danger to the United States" and "There is little time left to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory. Responding to the climate crisis will require both significant short-term global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century or before."

For those reasons, we adamantly oppose the Manchin payoff "side-deal" that was originally characterized as permission for completion of one pipeline but now turns out to be a major restructuring of the energy permitting process that makes it easier for Big Oil to build yet more fossil fuel infrastructure and significantly harder for environmentalists to oppose new projects on health, safety, environment, and global-warming grounds.

We also oppose including the Manchin bill, or any other significant weakening of environmental and green-energy programs, in a Continuing Resolution that must be enacted in just two weeks under threat of government shut-down. That tactic limits full debate, prevents amendments, and allows members of Congress to conceal their pro-Big Oil, anti-environment votes behind a curtain of obscure process decisions. The Manchin bill should be brought up, debated, amended, and voted on in the regular order of business, so that we the public can see what's going on and hold our elected representatives responsible for the votes they cast.

For Speaker Pelosi:

Speaker Pelosi, we agree with what you wrote to a constituent on September 7: "The climate crisis is the existential threat of our time – and our future depends on taking action now. As the climate crisis accelerates, we face what the United Nations calls Code Red for Humanity: with extreme weather devastating communities around the world and here at home, while disproportionately impacting our most vulnerable communities. Californians are acutely aware of the climate crisis’ impacts, as we continue to experience life-threatening wildfires, severe droughts and record-high temperatures."

For the Senators and Representative Speier:

We strongly support President Biden's declarations that "Climate change is a clear and present danger to the United States" and "There is little time left to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory. Responding to the climate crisis will require both significant short-term global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century or before."

Background

It is a self-evident reality that the climate emergency caused by global warming is America's most serious immediate and long-term national-security threat. In the words of the Director of National Intelligence: "Ecological degradation and a changing climate will continue to fuel disease outbreaks, threaten food and water security, and exacerbate political instability and humanitarian crises ... [including] direct, immediate impacts—for example, through more intense storms, flooding, and permafrost melting."

There is no question that global warming is being driven by human use of fossil fuels—oil, coal, and gas. As we swelter in heat, choke on smoke, slog through flood waters, and dread the coming of the wind, we know that our survival and well-being depend on a rapid shift away from fossil fuels and shifting our economy to green, renewable energy.

Even a child understands that if you're trapped in a deep hole, the first step towards survival is to stop digging the hole deeper. We need to drastically and quickly reduce the use of fossil fuels, not make it easier for the energy cartels to drill more wells, build more refineries, lay more leaky pipelines, and export more dirty coal to poor nations. But Manchin, Big Oil, the Coal Barons, and their investors and apologists place their short-term profits ahead of the lives of us and our children. It's time to call a halt! It's time for Congress to do the right thing!

References

Letter to Pelosi signed by 70+ House Members, (view or download PDF file) 9/9/22

Progressives flex against Manchin side-deal on permitting reform, The Hill, 9/13/22

More than 70 House Democrats join push against Manchin’s permitting reform, The Hill, 9/9/22

72 Democrats sign letter opposing Manchin permitting bill, Roll Call, 9/9/22

Greenpeace USA Supports Calls From Members Of Congress To Stop Dirty Permitting Deal, 9/9/22

Over 650 Groups Call on Congressional Leaders to Reject Manchin’s Dirty Pipeline Deal, Center for Biological Diversity, 8/24/22

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