Inside the Greenhouse

The House passed the Build Back Better Act on Nov. 19. In a victory for climate advocates, all of the climate provisions mentioned in last month’s newsletter made it into the House version of the bill.

In late October, the White House and congressional leaders agreed to a preliminary framework for the Build Back Better Act. The framework contains some critical climate policies that FCNL has advocated for.

The initial draft of the recovery package will be revised and slimmed down before a vote in the full House and Senate. As Congress decides what policies to prioritize, we need to keep the pressure to ensure the legislation includes bold climate provisions, including the Clean Electricity Performance Program.

The month of August is normally a quiet time on Capitol Hill, as members of Congress return to their home states for the Congressional Recess. This August, however, was busy with lawmakers working to advance infrastructure and climate-focused legislation.

The White House recently issued guidelines for its Justice40 initiative. It seeks to direct at least 40% of all benefits from federal energy and environmental spending to disadvantaged communities.

The Environmental Justice for All Act (S. 872/H.R. 2021) is a much-needed response to a long history of environmental wrongs.

On June 1, the Interior Department announced that it suspended all oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it reviews the environmental impacts and legality of previous lease sales.

On April 22-23, President Joe Biden convened 40 world leaders for a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate to build support to address the climate crisis.

On March 18, Rep. Donald McEachin (VA-04), Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL) reintroduced the Environmental Justice for All Act.

FCNL is honored to support Rep. Deb Haaland’s (NM-01) historic nomination for secretary of the interior.