The Climate Crisis Report in Focus

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing on the climate action report released by the majority staff of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis on June 30. The full title of the report is: Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.

The Climate Crisis Committee, chaired by Rep. Kathy Castor (Fla.-14), was established at the beginning of the 116th Congress in 2019 to provide a comprehensive framework for future climate legislation. The Committee held 17 hearings on a wide variety of climate change issues and received hundreds of suggestions from stakeholders, including EESI, and the public to inform the report’s recommendations.

This briefing focused on four core areas of climate policy: climate mitigation, climate adaptation, environmental justice, and public health. Through presentations and a Q&A session, panelists unpacked the key elements of the 538-page report and highlighted next steps for congressional action to address the climate crisis.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Daniel Bresette, Executive Director, Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

• The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was created at the beginning of the 116th Congress to investigate and develop policy recommendations for responding to the climate crisis. It held 17 hearings and six policy roundtables, solicited feedback and suggestions from stakeholders, and released a majority staff report on June 30, 2020.
• EESI’s response to the Select Committee’s request for information suggested that, along with a number of specific policies, the report follow three overarching principles: 
  • Take near-term actions while developing and implementing longer-term policies,
  • Develop a cohesive, coordinated set of interconnected policies, and
  • Recognize and support efforts by state and local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work towards climate adaptation.
• The staff report organized policy recommendations around 12 pillars, including infrastructure, clean energy, environmental justice, public health, and resilience.

 

Michele Roberts, National Co-Coordinator, Environmental Justice and Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform

• The Environmental Justice and Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) is an affiliate network of environmental justice advocacy groups.
• EJHA always begins with stories, such as the story of Mossville, Louisiana. Mossville was founded by former slaves, and its rich biodiversity and community have been destroyed by pollution from the 18 industrial facilities surrounding it. Mossville is an example of how a community formed out of injustice continues to be the target of injustice based on its residents’ race and socioeconomic status.
• Select Committee staff efforts to engage with communities are appreciated by environmental justice advocates and frontline communities.
• Communities have been asking for policies that address legacy and cumulative environmental impacts for decades, since many have been made sick and vulnerable to pollution by the policies that built the U.S. economy.
• Communities of color are currently facing four pandemics: racism, attacks on democracy, COVID-19, and climate change.
• The COVID-19 pandemic intersects with environmental justice since many vulnerable communities do not have access to clean water for handwashing, and many chemical facilities have not been providing safe conditions for workers and surrounding communities.
• A comprehensive approach to environmental justice would include mandatory emission reductions, addressing cumulative impacts and legacy pollution, and providing equitable infrastructure, housing, and healthcare access.
• We know what the solutions must be, and what can be done. What is necessary is moral and political courage to ensure no communities are left behind.

 

Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association

• Most of the nation is currently experiencing a heat wave, and as the planet warms, the health impacts of heat will be exacerbated.
• The COVID-19 crisis is complicating responses to heat waves, since traditional responses to extreme heat involve bringing people into cooling centers, in which masking and social distancing are difficult.
• Climate change will increase the risk of both acute injuries from storms, floods, and wildfires, and of infectious diseases and chronic conditions. Warming conditions expands the territory for disease vectors, and makes flooding, drought, and storms both more likely and more intense. Declining air quality increases the risk of conditions such as asthma, heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, and mental health problems.
• The staff report includes many public health solutions, beginning with strengthening federal planning to address climate risks to public health. It is important to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Climate and Health Program; develop a strategic plan for addressing climate health impacts; and support state, local, territorial, and tribal health departments.
• The nation needs to collect data on climate-related health impacts. In particular, data on the impacts felt by frontline communities is necessary to reduce disparate health burdens.
• The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the need to strengthen public health supply chains.
• The United States should enhance its global leadership by strengthening its participation in the World Health Organization and the Global Health Security Agenda.
• The federal government must support community preparation for the health impacts of natural disasters, and increase planning and preparedness in hospital infrastructure through climate-informed building codes and standards. Past natural disasters, particularly Hurricane Katrina, revealed the need to revitalize all hospitals to ensure climate resilience.
• Climate change creates a range of acute and chronic mental health impacts on adults, children, and entire communities. These impacts are lifelong, and must be addressed.

 

Dr. Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director, Climate and Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

• Multiple crises—COVID-19, the economy, and climate change—are all revealing inequities in society. Confronting these crises will require centering science, equity, environmental justice, working people, community health, and the future of young people.
• The staff report sets a goal for the United States to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050, and net-negative emissions throughout the second half of the 21st century. The report also sets interim targets, goals for reducing pollution in environmental justice communities, and investments in job creation and workers’ rights.
• The Climate Action Plan detailed in the report would cut emissions, reduce premature deaths from pollution, and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
• The pillars of deep decarbonization are energy efficiency, decarbonizing electricity, economy-wide electrification, carbon capture and storage, and carbon dioxide removal. These pillars are long established; we have been lacking in political will, not knowledge.
• The report recommends an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard [which would require utilities to achieve specific levels of customer energy savings], energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment, and tax incentives and grants for energy efficiency with a focus on environmental justice communities.
• The Clean Energy Standard aims for a net-zero power sector by 2040, and allows for states and tribes to create more ambitious targets.
• The transmission grid must be updated and expanded to fully integrate renewables and to be climate-resilient. The staff report directs agencies to design a modernized grid and recommends funding to assist in building out the electricity grid.
• The report’s clean transportation policies include a national sales standard to reach 100 percent sales of zero-emission cars by 2035, investments in mass transit, and port pollution cleanup.
• New buildings must be as efficient as possible, and investments should be made to weatherize and improve efficiency in existing buildings, particularly in low-income and environmental justice communities.
• Climate-smart agriculture that cuts emissions and contributes to carbon sequestration provides opportunities to benefit the environment, farmers, and the nation’s food supply.
• Policies should promote equitable clean energy investments that serve rural, tribal, and environmental justice communities and reduce energy poverty.
• Investments should emphasize the rights of workers by ensuring well-paying jobs, labor standards, and assistance to coal miners and communities.
• The report calls for the strengthening of international climate action through contributions to the Green Climate Fund and other avenues of international cooperation.
• The recent economic downturn has caused a dip in emissions that is temporary at best. Emissions will rebound if investments are not made to keep them down in a way that benefits communities rather than causing harm.
• Congress has a choice to make between investing in economic recovery plans that prioritize clean energy, resilience, and a just recovery and plans that reinforce fossil fuel dependence and current inequities.
• Recognizing the connections between crises and pushing Congress to do the right thing on all fronts is necessary to achieve the outcomes we want.

 

Jessie Ritter, Director, Water Resources and Coastal Policy, National Wildlife Federation

• Resilience is not only about bouncing back, but also the capability to be ready for an event. Adapting is not only about moderating the impacts of climate change, but doing so in a way that improves environmental health and resolves inequities.
• Key adaptation and resilience concepts in the staff report were that all investments and actions should be climate resilient, that nature is a key part of the solution, that climate vulnerability is not evenly distributed, and that adaptation solutions should be targeted to resolve inequity.
• Pillar 9 of the report focuses on building community resilience to climate change. Many states and localities are taking action on their own, but federal action is essential.
  • Communities need actionable climate risk information to prepare for climate impacts. The report recommends establishing a National Climate Risk Information Service, expanding real-time monitoring and data collection, and providing federal guidance on climate-informed codes and standards.
  • The report recommends supporting community leadership in climate resilience and equity by establishing a National Climate Adaptation Program and Commission, requiring Climate Resilience Plans, providing assistance to support planning, and establishing grant and loan programs to implement resilience projects.
  • To reduce disaster costs and accelerate recovery, the federal government should increase pre-disaster mitigation investment, provide housing and relocation assistance, strengthen the National Flood Insurance Program, develop a national wildfire risk mitigation strategy, and require federal agencies to plan for climate resilience.
• Pillar 10 of the report focuses on lands, waters, oceans, and wildlife. Nature is one of the most cost-effective, enduring solutions to climate change; healthy natural systems are both more resilient to climate impacts and more able to provide protective services to communities.
  • The report recommends capturing the full potential of natural climate solutions by protecting 30 percent of U.S. lands and oceans by 2030, fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, investing in national parks, protecting and restoring ocean and wetland ecosystems, investing in and prioritizing natural infrastructure, and establishing a Civilian Conservation Corps to create jobs and restore natural systems.
  • To help wildlife adapt to a changing climate, Congress should create a national wildlife corridor and habitat connectivity system; increase funding to state and tribal wildlife agencies and managers; and restore legislation such as the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act that have been rolled back by the Trump administration.
• Adaptation is an opportunity to minimize risks and emerge stronger.

 

Q&A

 

What should the next steps in this report’s life be?

• Roberts: We are ready to engage and work on the pieces of the report. It will take a lot of trust and respect among the variety of perspectives necessary to implement the report, but we can build on the challenges of the past to move forward.
• Benjamin: Congress is debating the budget right now, and they need to include funding to help the CDC begin the planning process for climate health impacts. We have to think strategically about environmental justice and talk to communities about what they need so we can begin building a stronger nation.
• Cleetus: The report is a blueprint for action, and stakeholders are already engaged. Congress must step up, demonstrate political will, and do what communities are asking for.
• Ritter: The report points to specific, tangible pieces of legislation already introduced to help advance policy goals. People from all different areas can find entry points to engage and move the conversation forward.

 

What are your perspectives on implementing a price on carbon?

• Benjamin: Minority communities pay more for energy, so carbon pricing should not be done in a way that penalizes people for having to drive further to go to work or having to pay a disproportionate amount of their income for energy. There have to be offsets that address that, so it doesn’t create a regressive tax system.
• Cleetus: We need a large suite of policies, and carbon pricing is only one tool. On its own, carbon pricing is not enough, and, if implemented, it has to come with equity and justice considerations.
• Roberts: Carbon pricing is not a silver bullet solution, and in some modeling it increases emissions in other areas.

 

Where does the staff report fit into a landscape populated with many other proposals, for example, the Green New Deal?

• Benjamin: There is a lot of overlap between the plans, and lots of low hanging fruit in the form of clean energy and infrastructure. Congress just has to start doing it.
• Roberts: It is important that people see themselves in the plans being proposed. These plans are an opportunity for people to see themselves and to have a renewed sense of hope and optimism to bring about a better nation. This is a tipping point to reach deeper in our moral and political courage and get rid of the old systems that have failed many communities.
• Cleetus: Responding to climate change should not be partisan, since the role of government is to take care of people. The solutions are there, and only the lack of political will is preventing them from happening.
• Ritter: It is encouraging to see ideas and plans crop up from a variety of places, to see people seeing themselves in solutions, and to see plans coming from different places saying similar things.

 

What are your final takeaways from the report?

• Roberts: George Floyd should be the last person who says “I can’t breathe.” We must dig deep, and make this report a reality.
• Benjamin: Climate change is real, and is affecting the health of all of us today. We have solutions; we must implement them in an equitable and just way.
• Cleetus: This is a challenging time, but it is also a hopeful time since we are talking about the real problems. If we focus on people in their daily lives, we can make a better nation for everyone.
• Ritter: Focusing on intersectionality is key to success in confronting the climate crisis. In every decision, we must ask what the implications are for environmental justice, public health, climate change, and the environment as a whole.

Highlights compiled by Abby Neal

 

Report: climatecrisis.house.gov/report

EESI Recommendations to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis