PA Climate Equity Table Responds to the Inflation Reduction Act

From Crawford County to Chester, Pennsylvanians of all races, genders, and backgrounds want a future where our communities are thriving, our families are whole and earn a good living, and the land, air, and water we depend on are healthy and beautiful. Unfortunately, some politicians have stood in the way, backed by the fossil fuel industries that damaged our climate and put us in this mess. They want to point fingers, assign blame, and turn us against each other while oil companies profit off polluting our rivers, land, and air. But we aren’t going to fall for it. All working people – Black, brown, and white – can come together to take action to heal our climate and create the country we need: one where everyone is cared for and our communities have what we need to be healthy.

The Inflation Reduction Act takes significant steps toward that future – making corporations pay what they owe in taxes, tackling healthcare affordability, and creating a better, clean energy-powered future for our families. In Pennsylvania, the bill could bring additional resources to clean up abandoned mines, create clean energy jobs, and make our farms more sustainable. While we celebrate every step forward, the law lets the fossil fuel industry continue to call the shots on the climate and further devastate frontline communities. Pennsylvanians’ desire for prosperity and healthy places to call home will still be unnecessarily forced to compete against pipelines and petrochemical plants. Climate investments should not be handcuffed to corporate subsidies for fossil fuel development and unproven technologies that will poison our communities for decades. Environmental justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias. No legislation increasing fossil fuel production will solve our climate crisis. We cannot continue to sacrifice the lives and health of communities at the frontlines of toxic projects.

As the Inflation Reduction Act gets implemented, we will have to fight for the resources we need and continue to defend communities facing environmental injustices. This bill is a start toward investing in climate solutions, and we must do much better to protect our families from the expansion of oil and gas, and build the healthy, clean future we deserve.

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The PA Climate Equity Table is a coalition of community partners, advocates, and workers from across the state working to build power in communities across Pennsylvania that have been impacted by climate and environmental injustice.