(Washington, D.C.) – Today U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the climate provisions included in the newly released framework for Senate Democrats’ Build Back Better budget that will help protect our planet for current and future generations while creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs.
“Washington state is on the frontlines of the climate crisis—wildfires have wiped entire towns off the map, droughts are getting longer and more severe, and a heat wave this summer literally made the pavement on our highways buckle. The clock is ticking, and the Build Back Better framework includes necessary steps to help us tackle the climate crisis head on. From clean energy tax credits and incentives to the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps, this framework will mobilize our entire country to take bold climate action and cut emissions in a meaningful way,” said Senator Murray. “This will be the largest investment in climate action in American history, and I’m committed to doing everything I can to build on this important progress to ensure our investments in climate action meet the full scope of the climate crisis.”
The Build Back Better budget framework positions Democrats to make the largest investment in climate action in American history—expanding and extending clean energy tax credits, incentives for purchasing electric vehicles, investments in clean energy technology, environmental resiliency, and cleaning up legacy pollution, a Civilian Climate Corps, and the federal procurement of clean technologies. The proposed provisions would help cut greenhouse gas pollution by well over a billion metric tons in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs, give our kids cleaner air and water, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, and advance environmental justice by investing in a 21st century clean energy economy. The framework will set the U.S. on course to meet its climate targets, achieving a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels.Senator Murray has been a longtime leader in the fight to address the climate crisis. Last month, she led her Senate Democratic colleagues from across the Western U.S. in calling for urgently needed investments in climate action through Senate Democrats’ Build Back Better budget, particularly as the Western U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in extreme weather as a result of the climate crisis. Earlier this summer, Senator Murray also wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times calling for a landmark investment in climate action, and reiterating her determination to secure major provisions to address the climate crisis in upcoming legislation. Senator Murray was also instrumental in passing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which includes a $65 billion investment in clean energy, $7.5 billion investment electric vehicles (EVs) and EV infrastructure, a $21 billion investment in environmental remediation as well as other environmental justice provisions, and more than $50 billion towards climate resiliency improvements, including $8 billion for wildfire recovery and prevention efforts.
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