On Climate Action and the “Inflation Reduction Act”

Dear [representative],

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to take strong action to confront the climate crisis and to comment on the Inflation Reduction Act, which I would support if amended to address my concerns.

I was pleased to hear that Senators Manchin and Schumer have reached an agreement on a bill that would invest $369 billion to address the climate crisis over a decade. This would be the most substantial investment to solve the climate emergency in U.S. history, although the bar is low, since our nation, sadly, has never really taken serious action to correct this problem in the past. I’ve reviewed summaries and news articles about the bill and I like what it would do to incentivize clean energy, electric vehicles, building electrification, energy efficiency and sustainable aviation fuels.

However, I do have some concerns as well. Firstly, the scale of the investment is inadequate. We need to do more to meet the climate goals science says are necessary to keep us as safe as possible and below 1.5 degrees celsius of heating, namely reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 1990 levels by 2030 and going net zero by 2050. Secondly, the bill ties renewable energy subsidies to provisions that make it easier to drill for fossil fuels off the coast of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico, which is bad for climate and the environment generally. Thirdly, the bill should invest in electric bicycles, protected bike lanes, public transportation, high-speed rail, urbanism (dense, mixed use urban development that saves natural habitats and reduces the need to drive) and affordable housing near transit.

I hope the bill can be made stronger, but I also recognize the fragile political position it is in. I understand if this is the best we can do for now. It would be progress. But this isn’t really good enough to solve the problem. If this is the best we can do for now, we’ll have to do better later, and we’re running out of time.

Sincerely,

David J. Barboza (he/him)