Washington, D.C. - Ahead of Congress’s return to D.C. in September, more than 65 advocacy groups representing millions of Americans nationwide called on Congress to oppose efforts to defund, repeal, or otherwise hamstring climate and clean energy provisions, especially those in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and to oppose reductions in funding for federal agencies in the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills.
In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, the environmental justice, climate, and public health advocacy groups thanked her for her strong leadership throughout the Senate appropriations process so far and urged her to remain steadfast in fighting for climate funding and opposing attempts to further reduce spending levels. The groups spoke to the urgency of both the climate crisis itself and for Congress to protect climate investments and funding to tackle it.
“As the country bakes under record-breaking levels of heat fueled by climate change, and as drought, flood, and fire ravage communities, we cannot afford any cuts to climate funding. The climate crisis and its impacts are becoming more severe, more dangerous, and more costly with each day,” the groups wrote. “As you well know, rescissions to the IRA and lower spending levels to the agencies implementing these critical investments would be a disastrous outcome for public health, the climate, the economy, and our future. It is incumbent on our Congressional leaders to enable agencies to do their critical work to combat climate change.”
The groups outlined their priorities for defending IRA investments, critical programs to clean up pollution, and funding for key federal agencies, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and emphasized their support for the Chairwoman continuing to defend them as the appropriations process plays out. Their “joint defense priorities for the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bills” include:
Opposing measures that rescind or cap IRA funds.
Opposing measures that weaken programs aimed at alleviating pollution in overburdened communities, addressing environmental injustice, or meeting the Administration’s Justice40 goals.
Opposing measures that cut agencies’ core capacities, including staffing, and restrict their ability to efficiently and effectively distribute funds and execute environmental, public health, and other climate-related programs and regulations.
Opposing measures to limit or block agencies’ ability to implement or enforce bedrock environmental laws or regulations.
Opposing measures that weaken or undermine the climate wins gained through the IRA, redefine the IRA’s pro-climate congressional intent, or inhibit the Administration’s ability to abide by the IRA’s pro-climate congressional intent.
The letter was also shared with Biden Administration officials, Congressional Democratic leadership, and the wider Democratic Caucus. To read the full letter and see the list of more than 65 organizations, click here.
About the Climate Action Campaign CAC is a vibrant coalition of dozens of major national environment, environmental justice, and public health groups, working together to drive ambitious, durable federal action based on science, to address the climate crisis. Our goal is to reduce climate pollution and accelerate the transition to clean energy in ways that support justice, jobs, health and economic opportunity for all.
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