The Climate Crisis
Democrats strongly believe in our responsibility to address the climate crisis head-on and to serve as stewards of our environment and public lands for current and future generations. Democrats are working with President Biden to restore protections for our environment and natural resources, promote cleaner air and water, and ensure America is a leader in confronting the climate crisis. During the 117th Congress, House Democrats delivered a historic slate of legislation to address the climate crisis. These include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in November 2021, a generational infrastructure package that is estimated to create nearly 1.5 million jobs annually throughout the next decade, turbocharge our clean energy economy, and take action on environmental justice and legacy pollution initiatives. The landmark Inflation Reduction Act is America’s single-largest investment in combatting the climate crisis and puts the U.S. on a path to roughly 40% emissions reduction by 2030. It includes historic investments in the clean energy economy that will lower energy costs, increase our energy security, and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This legislation also promotes alternative energy and electric vehicle production. The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, invests in science and technology of the future, bolstering efforts to manufacture clean energy technology in the United States and providing access to training programs that will help to develop the STEM workforce of tomorrow. House Democrats also passed a number of bills that act to protect and conserve our planet, including the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, the Water Resources Development Act, and the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act. In addition, House Democrats overturned a dangerous methane emissions rule put into place by the Trump Administration. We will continue to partner with the Biden Administration to combat catastrophic climate change and protect our natural resources for future generations.
When Republicans took the House majority, they pledged to create jobs and immediately start cutting the deficit. But they still haven’t put forward a real agenda to create jobs or to address the deficit in a serious way. A look at the past two months shows Republicans have failed to address Americans’ top priorities:
We need to cut spending but make critical investments that allow our nation to out-innovate and out-build our competitors throughout the world, and Republicans fail that test.
President Obama delivered a compelling vision of how we can work together to address America’s challenges. While our economy is on the road back to health, we know we still have a long way to go—and tonight, the president discussed a strategy for getting us there.
Today the House passed the Rural Energy Savings Program Act, also known as the RuralStar program. RuralStar establishes loans that help rural families, and families all over the country, retrofit their homes and enhance energy efficiency. It is part of the Make It In America agenda, a plan to boost manufacturing and create secure, middle-class jobs for American workers. The House has passed 10 Make It In America bills to strengthen job-creating industries at home, invest in our workforce, and fight for a fair playing field for American companies; three have already been signed into law.
Today, President Obama is signing into law the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act, a key piece of Democrats’ “Make it in America” agenda that supports increased manufacturing in the U.S. and creating more manufacturing jobs right here at home. Yesterday, he signed two other Make it in America bills into law, meaning three components of the manufacturing agenda have now been enacted: