July 07, 2020

ICYMI: House Climate Crisis Action Plan Highlights 3 Gallego Bills

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, the house Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its congressional climate action plan aimed at achieving net-zero carbon pollution by 2050 and addressing the legacy of environmental injustice harming America's low-income communities and communities of color.

The report identifies three bills authored by Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) as important legislation to pass in order to successfully address climate change by conserving old growth forests, protecting special places from exploitation and help wildlife adapt to the impacts of climate change. The bills highlighted were:

  • H.R. 2491, the Roadless Area Conservation Act, which would codify the 2001 Forest Service Roadless Rule to preserve roadless areas and limit roadbuilding and commercial logging in tens of millions of acres of undeveloped forests throughout the country.
  • H.R. 871, the Bears Ears Expansion and Respect for Sovereignty Act, which would expand the boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument and protect that area from drilling and mining. In 2017, the Trump administration took steps to shrink Bears Ears National Monument, opening the area to drilling and mining activity.
  • H.R. 5179, the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act of 2019, which would improve federal support for the creation and maintenance of wildlife corridors on and around Tribal lands and require land management agencies to consider opportunities to link Tribal Wildlife Corridors to adjacent public lands. This provision was also included in H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which the House passed last week.

Rep. Gallego made the following statement:

"In order to turn the tide of the climate crisis in our lifetime, we must prioritize bold policies that sustainably address emissions, public lands, clean air and water, and renewable energy development while boosting our economy, creating jobs, and empowering communities that have long borne the brunt of environmental neglect and exploitation.

"That's why I will continue to work tirelessly in Congress to author and pass legislation like the bills highlighted in this report. Future generations are counting on us."

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was created at the outset of the 116th Congress to deliver policy recommendations to other House committees on how to solve the climate crisis. The full Select Committee report is viewable here.

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