Casten Joins Chair Castor in Introducing the Climate Action Now Act
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06), member of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, continued his fight for climate change by joining Chair of the Select Committee, Kathy Castor (FL-14), in introducing H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. The legislation demands action on the climate crisis by ensuring America honors its Paris Agreement commitments and laying the groundwork for further action. Casten also serves as a Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force.
Rep. Casten joins Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Rep. Eliot Engel (NY-16), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30), Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49), and Rep. Neguse (CO-2) at the Climate Action Now Press Conference. To watch the full conference click here or click the image above.
Casten said, in part, "I came to Congress after working for 16 years as a Clean Energy Executive. If I learned one thing from my time in the energy sector, it is that there are no economic and there are no technical barriers to lowering CO2. Anything we do to lower C02 means we are going to burn less fuel, which means we are going to save money. This is not a cost to be feared. This is an investment opportunity that we would be fools to miss out on.
We have the tools. We have the ability. What we've lacked is leadership. Instead of rising to this challenge, President Trump ran away from it.
Instead of harnessing American ingenuity, on companies like ours have done, this Administration walked away from the Paris Agreement.
American leadership is not about kowtowing to despots, it's not about declaring phony emergencies to build unnecessary walls, and it's not about ignoring the single most serious threat to the existence of human life on Earth.
From Normandy to the Cold War, American leadership has been about identifying long-term existential threats to the entire population and then leading the rest of the world to mobilize around a shared set of goals and values. That's what we need.
H.R. 9 challenges the Trump administration to step up and show us their plan for combatting climate change. I am proud to be a member of the Select Committee where we will shape this chamber's vision of how to transition to a low and ultimately zero carbon economy.
The Climate Action NOW Act is the first step of many we will need. But it is an important one, and I am proud to lead this effort under our strong Democratic House Leaders."
The Climate Action Now Act would prohibit any federal funds from being used to take any action to advance the withdrawal of the U.S. from the landmark Paris Agreement. It also calls on the President to develop and make public a plan for how the United States will meet our commitment to reduce pollution. Despite the President's unilateral declaration withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement and his refusal to take the threat of the climate crisis seriously, the United States remains obligated to uphold our commitments to our global partners.