WASHINGTON – In response to President Biden’s executive actions on climate, Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, released the following statement:
“President Biden’s announcement is a major step forward in beginning to tackle the magnitude of the climate crisis and decades of wage stagnation. After years of pushing Democratic Party leaders to embrace a more aggressive agenda on climate, inequality, and systemic racism, progressives are beginning to be heard.
“But President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must eliminate the filibuster to truly seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver results for working families. Ending the tireless gridlock would allow Democrats to seize the economic argument from Republicans ahead of the midterm elections while protecting vulnerable communities from wildfires, hurricanes, and toxic pollution.”
Major victories include: the establishment of a White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and National Climate Task Force with the full mandate and scope of powers and authority we called for in an Office of Climate Mobilization; the creation of “Civilian Climate Corps” modeled after the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps through executive action to put Americans to work in government jobs tackling the climate crisis; working alongside environmental justice leaders and communities to ensure a whole-of-government approach to Environmental Justice and assuring that 40% of climate investments go to frontline communities; using the federal government’s power of the purse to raise labor standards while spurring production of 100% clean energy technology; working alongside farmers to create jobs in sustainable agriculture and wealth in rural America; ensuring economic development and a just transition for fossil fuel communities; and aggressively pursuing renewable energy development while putting all fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and waters under review and stopping all new leasing.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
