For the first time in eight years, there’s a select committee in the U.S. Congress to tackle the climate crisis.
Big Oil has already weakened the committee’s influence, which lacks a specific mandate to develop a Green New Deal and can’t use subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify. But there’s still crucial work on real solutions to the climate crisis for this committee to dive into – and the first step is telling the fossil fuel industry that its dirty money has no business on our climate committee.
Right now, only one member on the committee has signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge to reject contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industries. That’s Representative Mike Levin (CA-49). Meanwhile, recent reporting shows that the Democratic members of the committee have taken over $200,000 from the fossil fuel industry.
As David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director at Oil Change USA, told Bloomberg: “Rejecting the industry’s influence by taking the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge should be a prerequisite to these discussions… By joining the committee, these members have shown they’re interested in tackling this issue; they can show they’re serious about showing true climate leadership by standing up to the industry directly.”
You can take action today to tell the announced members of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
We need members of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to stand up to Big Oil, Gas, and Coal and discuss real action to reign in fossil fuel production and protect communities and the climate. That means we need them to clearly say NO to the industry’s influence on our politics by signing the pledge.
Over 40 current members of Congress have signed the pledge to reject fossil fuel money, including several Presidential contenders. Nationwide, over 1,300 politicians have signed. Last week’s Green New Deal resolutions showed that huge public momentum is building for true climate leadership and solutions at the scale the crisis demands. But the fossil fuel industry wants to shut us down and drown out our movement with its dirty money.
The bar for climate leadership is being redefined because of the hard work of people across the country who are standing up and raising their voices. Any politician who wants to be taken seriously on climate must reject fossil fuel money and sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
Learn more about the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge by visiting nofossilfuelmoney.org.