I emailed Senator Charles E. Schumer sharing my concerns about climate change. This is his response. In short, I was happy that he responded and that he does care about climate change. I still have questions.
“Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about climate change and your support for bold and ambitious climate legislation. We live in unprecedented times. We are witnessing human-caused climate change-in the form of increased severe storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather events-causing loss of life and damage to people's livelihoods all over the country and world. The threat of climate change requires concerted, integrated, and urgent legislative and administrative action.
Climate change matters to all of us and we need bold policies now if we are to address this crisis. This includes reducing fossil fuel use and pollution, accelerating a transition to clean-energy transportation systems and clean energy in our electrical grid, and ensuring our communities are resilient to the changes that climate change has already wrought.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the inequities that disproportionately impact low income and minority communities who also continue to bear the consequences of climate change. In March 2020, I was proud to lead the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) that provided targeted relief to address and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and provide resources to the hardest hit communities. This $1.9 trillion bill included $100 million for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update our national air quality monitoring system and reduce air and toxic pollution with $50 million of this funding targeted to low income communities and communities of color who are significantly more likely to live with poor air quality. The ARP also included research relief funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure their important research continues.
I believe we must prioritize the urgency of climate change and as Leader I am committed to championing bold and ambitious climate policy. That is why I led the Inflation Reduction Act which was signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022. This historic legislation made a $369 billion investment in energy security and climate change and set the United States on a path to reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. Additionally, I ushered the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. This landmark legislation not only included billions of dollars to improve our Nation's crumbling infrastructure but also made a robust investment in electric vehicles, climate resilience, and a more reliable and resilient electric grid. Protecting our environment for future generations is critically important and as Leader I am ready and willing to work collaboratively for climate action and protections for our environment.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please keep in touch with your thoughts and opinions.”
Wtrite to your pliticians
✍️📝
Wtrite to your pliticians ✍️📝
I urge everyone to write to your legislators and office-holders. State your concerns and log their progress. You can write to them using an organization’s auto-generated templates or start from scratch; at least that is what I did. I need to read more about his efforts, as I have been distracted as of late.
I do have some questions!
What is his take on AI data centers? What is he doing to prevent more exploitation of resources and communities? This will be discussed in a different blog post. Stay tuned. 🎵
