On June 30th, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released their report, “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy and Just America.” This 538 page report outlines hundreds of policy recommendations for fighting the climate crisis and is centered on 12 key pillars including public health, environmental justice and a clean economy.

This report is the result of a year-long effort, which included solutions-oriented conversations and hearings held across the country to examine tools, policies, local solutions, and actions that reduce the carbon pollution driving climate change. This blueprint for action draws on the best of U.S. innovation and ingenuity to outline smart policies that will help the country’s economy achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2050, and net negative pollution thereafter — a goal that will be necessary to avoid the worst impacts of the climate emergency

As a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Rep. Donald McEachin partnered with VCN, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light and Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action for a telepresser on the release of the report.

The following statements were made during the June 30th telepresser.

Mary Rafferty, Executive Director, Virginia Conservation Network

“Congressman McEachin and members of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis should be commended for having a plan to address the climate crisis and making climate action a priority. Every member of Congress should carefully consider this plan and support policies to fight climate change, which is already harming communities in every corner of the country. And again, we look to leaders at every level of government to take this report seriously and to take the bold action on climate & climate justice we need to build our economy today and we need to protect our children’s livelihoods in the future.”

Dr. Faith Harris, Interim Co-Director, Virginia Interfaith Power and Light

“This report is being released in the middle of the most critical global challenge we have faced in over 100 years and that is COVID-19. It is only exacerbated by the crisis of our global community that we all need to face down and that is our climate crisis. As we have seen, those most vulnerable have been hit hardest and that the only possible change for this is for us to dig down into science based decisions and policies and this report goes a long way towards that. This report is based on good climate science and does not leave out the most vulnerable, it provides a good policy road map for environmental justice, resiliency and an economy that wins for everyone. Virginia IPL strongly supports this report as a guide map for our future. We call upon Congress and for all of our legislators to support this plan and dig down into it and pass good legislation that will in fact help us all address this global crisis not only of our immediate pandemic but also of climate change.”

Dr. Homan Wai, Founding Member, Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action

“While the health care system and the front line medical workers did an amazing job to weather the (COVID-19) crisis, from a public health standpoint, America was not ready. Part of the reason that we were not ready is because we are 50 states re-inventing the wheel 50 times and we don’t have a uniform swift response to the crisis. Similarly, american is not ready to address the crisis of climate change which is on track to be the biggest public health crisis ever faced by human kind…The committee’s report on the climate crisis adds to the diagnostic test we have done so far. The climate crisis action plan put forward by Congressman McEachin is the treatment plan we need. It puts us on a path to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2050 and aims to create jobs and address racial and environmental injustice.”

Congressman Donald McEachin, Representative of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District

“I’m especially proud to see a plan that seeks to  address the historic shortcomings of federal, climate and environmental policy by placing equity and justice at the center of our work. Our climate plan recognizes that we want to achieve true justice in our country, we must center front line communities in our policy making. We must meaningfully evolve and value environmental justice communities and ensure that environment justice is in our future. Our climate plan recognizes that climate policy must do more than cut carbon pollution, it must tackle our legacy of environmental racism and build a clean energy economy that achieves tangible improvements in people’s lives. We must strengthen the force of our environmental laws, research and address the cumulative impacts of pollution on overburdened communities and prioritize front-line communities new federal spending to deploy clean energy and infrastructure. Together, we can assure a better brighter and more foreseeable future for Americans across our country while delivering justice to communities that have been long deprived of all important justice.”

The recording of the telepresser can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=297906238241963

The full “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy and Just America” report can be viewed here: https://climatecrisis.house.gov/report