Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Lee Joins Congresswoman Bush and Other Colleagues to Urge President Biden to End Fossil Fuel Expansion
Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) joined Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and other progressive colleagues in calling on President Biden to live up to his campaign promises to protect our environment & mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) joined Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and other progressive colleagues in calling on President Biden to live up to his campaign promises to protect our environment & mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis.
“We write to you to express our grave concern that ongoing actions by your administration threaten to undermine our shared goal to further climate, racial, and economic justice,” the Members wrote. “Now is the time to use your authority under existing law to immediately stop fossil fuel expansion and declare a climate emergency as a fundamental part of your push to invest in good jobs, environmental justice, a just transition, and a future powered by renewable energy.”
“The failure of the United States government to phase out fossil fuels,” the Members continued, “is inextricably related to rising asthma rates and the fact that nearly every household in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley has lost someone to the deadly disease . . . The mistakes and failures that allowed Line 3 and other pipelines to proceed must not be repeated. Our communities demand better.”
Today’s letter is the latest step in the members’ efforts to hold the Biden Administration accountable to delivering on the platform it promised during the election. In April, Congresswoman Lee co-sponsored the Green New Deal for Cities Act introduced by Congresswoman Bush and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The legislation will make sure every city, town, county and tribe can have a federally funded Green New Deal.
The letter written by Congresswoman Bush is co-signed by Rep. Lee and Reps. Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), and Chairman James P. McGovern (MA-02).
“With every fossil fuel project approval, this administration pushes us closer to irreversible climate catastrophe,” said Kassie Siegel, Director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “President Biden needs to declare a national climate emergency and stop fueling it with oil, gas and coal.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as Co-Chair of the Steering & Policy Committee, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as Chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest ranking woman of color in the U.S. Congress.
