The Evangelical Environmental Network commends the release of the report entitled Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy and Just America by the Democratic majority of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. We thank Chair Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) for their leadership on the committee. We are at a pivotal moment, and it is vital that we create bold plans to ensure a safe, healthy future for our children and grandchildren and jump start the economy with clean, sustainable jobs. This plan will help to create a path forward.
Addressing the climate crisis is crucial to safeguard our families’ health and children’s future. Without bold action, more and more communities across the United States will continue to be hit with more intense extreme weather, farther-reaching wildfires, and hotter and longer-lasting heat waves. The consequences of these devastating events have a long-lasting impact on lives, livelihoods, and local economies.
Fossil fuel pollution endangers our children’s health and future. This pollution not only fuels the climate crisis, but causes over 200,000 deaths per year in America alone. A recent study connects our warming climate to health threats for pregnant women and their unborn children, and these impacts are disproportionately borne among women of color. Jesus calls us to care for the most vulnerable among us and “for the least of these.” Low-income families, communities of color, and children—born and unborn—are among the most impacted and threatened by the climate crisis.
Through American ingenuity and innovation, we have the tools and know-how to slow down climate change while cutting back on pollution, boosting our economy with clean and sustainable jobs, and making our communities safer and more resilient all at the same time. But clear and comprehensive climate strategy is needed to put all the pieces into place. Today’s report represents an important step towards developing such a comprehensive plan.
For major climate action to be truly lasting and effective, solutions must be bipartisan. Now is the time to come together around bipartisan solutions for a cleaner, brighter, and healthy future. Our God transforms bad into good, and we must do the same for our country. We encourage members from both sides of the aisle to carefully consider this plan and work together to develop robust bipartisan climate solutions that create high-paying, stable jobs in a clean energy economy, protect the most vulnerable in our communities, and pass down a cleaner, safer, and healthy future to the next generation.
