Keep the Climate Ball Rolling!

Movement Monday 8/1/22

Artwork by David Solnit (People vs. Fossil Fuels)

Hi, all.

As Lucy mentioned in her Climate Culture newsletter this past Friday, the federal climate deal has been revived–now, wearing the hat of the “Inflation Reduction Act” (which kinda feels like naming your child “Genetic Material Propagator,” but I digress). Though the bill has yet to actually pass, Senator Joe Manchin seems to be on board, so it’s looking pretty likely that it will go through.

This is mostly exciting and encouraging! It appears to put the 2030 climate goals within reach for the US (if we’re able to properly execute what’s laid out in the bill). The most promising policies in the IRA have to do with tax credits for clean energy, carbon capture, and clean transportation (EVs). 

Nevertheless, despite the IRA being the biggest climate bill to hopefully be passed in the US, it’s hard to label it as a total victory for the climate movement. Yes, we should all be proud of convincing Joe Manchin that climate is a dire threat that needs action now, but a lot of sacrifices (or “poison pills” as the Center for Biological Diversity termed them) had to be made to get him on board. In addition to slashing billions meant to go towards environmental justice efforts from the original proposed bill, this version requires millions of acres of public lands to be offered up to the fossil fuel industry every year. Ugh. 

For more on the IRA, check out Amy Westervelt’s analysis of “What’s Good and Bad for Climate” in the bill. 

Without delving further into the weeds of the IRA here (which is still not yet passed as of the writing of this newsletter), I think there are a couple of big takeaways from this episode in climate politics for the average climate-concerned citizen:

1. Our voices matter! This will be the largest climate package to be passed by a long shot, and it’s because we made enough of an uproar to finally get our politicians to listen and put something together. Savor it! But also…

2. There’s still plenty of work to be done. As I outlined above, this bill is a big step forward in a lot of ways, but it also falls short in important places, like pouring money into programs that advance environmental justice and actually stopping extracting fossil fuels. 

So, on that note, here are a few ways to keep the ball rolling this week:

• Take action TOMORROW with People vs. Fossil Fuels to demand President Biden officially declare a climate emergency during their national day of action. If you’re busy tomorrow, you can still take action by signing their petition here! (See last week’s Movement Monday for more on the semantics of declaring an emergency.)

• Check out this Art Kit put together by People vs. Fossil Fuels! We’re about to dive headfirst into midterm season, so it’s the perfect time to print out some of this artwork and stick it in your yard, or in your window, or on a water bottle, or wherever people will see it. Spark some climate thoughts and conversations with this awesome artwork!

• Hop on board with Bill McKibben’s group Third Act and take on the finance sector by signing the Banking on Our Future Pledge. 

• Get inspired to act by an op-ed co-authored by Rebecca Solnit and Terry Tempest-Williams (two of my favorite climate authors!)

Thanks for reading!