Never give up. Never.

 

CAMPAIGN | BUILD BACK BETTER Give Up on Climate Action? Never. It's extremely hard to pass legislation when it is strongly opposed by deep-pocketed corporate interests such as the fossil fuel industry and their allies in Congress. But as President Obama proved with the Affordable Care Act, sometimes the need is so great and the action so overdue that giving up is simply not an option. Remember, after a very tough slog through the House and Senate, Obamacare was eventually signed into law in during his 15th month in office, changing lives by adding tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of those with health insurance. Make no mistake, President Biden's Build Back Better agenda is transformative. The policy ideas contained in it will create jobs for the millions of Americans who will work to modernize and electrify our transportation systems, build new wind and solar energy plants, and retrofit buildings across America to make them more efficient. These investments will strengthen our economy, help lower costs for families, clear the air in polluted communities, and lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy. And they will serve as a huge down payment on America's commitment to help solve the climate crisis for the generations to follow. Negotiations around the Build Back Better Act up to now have been unusually public, playing out in the media as much as in private meetings, and that type of public brinksmanship led to a very public crash at the end of 2021. But the policy ideas contained in it live on, and neither the president nor his party leadership on Capitol Hill are giving up. We won't give up, either. As of this writing, negotiators are working to create a path forward. And while that dealmaking process is likely to be more muted, it remains vitally important that we continue to pressure lawmakers to keep their promises to pass bold climate action as soon as possible. The NRDC Action Fund's ongoing advocacy campaign to pass the Build Back Better agenda is the largest in our history—part of an extraordinary effort by numerous climate and environmental groups to amplify the voices of the people in the face of an onslaught from the oil, gas, and coal industries. Those industries are counting on us growing weary of the fight, which is exactly why we cannot and will not.

Read More Killer tornadoes in Kentucky and a winter firestorm in Colorado are the latest signs of climate chaos that demand federal action.

VOTE | 2022 MIDTERMS Climate and the 2022 Elections Midterm elections are always a referendum on the new president, and the 2022 elections will be no exception. Inflation and the COVID pandemic are currently top of mind in the polls and threaten the razor-thin pro-environment majorities in the House and Senate, but no outcome is set in stone at this point. Even though we don't know what the election results will be, one thing we know for certain is if we don't show up, we are guaranteed to lose. That's why the NRDC Action Fund is committed to defending climate champions this year and defeating candidates who want to take our country backward. This isn't going to be easy, but we can't leave the arena now—not after years of building up the political power of the climate and environmental movements. In 2020, that power helped defeat Donald Trump, perhaps the most anti-environment president in American history. It helped elect two Democratic senators from Georgia, who today are strong advocates for climate action. It's why serious climate legislation is even on the table in this Congress, and it's how we will ultimately win the climate action we need to secure a brighter future. Our time, energy, and passion will be even more important this fall if we are to defend democratic values and demand that our lawmakers work for us instead of Big Oil. The climate crisis is solvable, and our democracy can be strengthened, but only if people like you and me—members of the NRDC Action Fund and like-minded people everywhere—stay engaged, informed, and determined. Soon, we'll be rolling out our first slate of candidate endorsements for 2022, and we'll be asking you to stand with the NRDC Action Fund in this fight...because we need you.

ROUNDUP | STATE & LOCAL ACTION Powering Our Priority Policy Campaigns The NRDC Action Fund helps to power NRDC's most important policy campaigns at the state and local levels. Recent highlights include: Save the Bees...and Our Food: In a huge victory for the environment, New Jersey lawmakers finally passed landmark legislation that bans the use of a harmful and toxic class of pesticides called neonics that are widely used in landscaping and lawn care. Neonics are a leading cause of staggering declines in bees and other insect pollinators—and we need healthy pollinator populations to ensure a robust food supply. NRDC Action Fund members and activists repeatedly sent messages to state lawmakers urging passage of the bill. Denver Passes New Limits on Buildings Emissions: The city council voted to reduce climate-wrecking emissions from buildings by 80 percent by 2040. NRDC Action Fund activists sent hundreds of letters in support of this legislation. Virginians Decry New Governor's Pick to Safeguard the Environment: The NRDC Action Fund amplified the voices of Virginians who opposed Governor Glen Youngkin's choice of former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to lead the commonwealth's environmental agency. Wheeler, a onetime coal lobbyist who tried to substantially weaken enforcement of our national environmental laws during the Trump administration, was rejected for confirmation by a closely divided Virginia legislature.

Support the NRDC Action Fund The NRDC Action Fund's mission is to build political support for advancing the goals of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): averting dangerous climate change, supporting healthy people and thriving communities, and conserving and protecting nature and wildlife. We support candidates who stand up for these goals, and we mobilize the American public to lobby lawmakers and hold them accountable for their votes, both in office and at the ballot box.   DONATE

Become an NRDC Action Fund member with a minimum donation of $10 per year. Donations to the NRDC Action Fund are used to mobilize the public and lobby Congress on behalf of our environment and are not tax deductible as a charitable contribution or as a business expense. Prefer to make a tax-deductible gift? Donate to NRDC.

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