Recognizing the critical moment we are in with the Build Back Better Act and infrastructure bills in their potentially final days of negotiation, Sierra Club Montana and eleven other Montana-based organizations that work on climate and conservation issues, sent a letter to Senator Tester last week (October 28, 2021) asking him to continue to support the Build Back Better Act and to urge him to be an active champion for our collective priorities. These final days will be crucial for getting some climate and justice solutions passed at the federal level. Check out our letter below, and give Senator Tester a call so he continues to hear from Montanans that we want this investment in a healthy, livable climate and a care economy! You can call Senator Tester at (1-844-906-0777).
Our sign-on letter ~
Dear Senator Tester:
On behalf of our thousands of members and supporters in Montana, we, the organizations listed below, thank you for your ongoing commitment to addressing the climate crisis. We urge you to continue those efforts by fighting for a bold, substantial budget reconciliation bill with strong climate provisions and investments to make our society more equitable.
As you know, our organizations work to protect Montana’s communities, wild places, air and water, wildlife, and climate. Our members are business owners, faith leaders, Native leaders, farmers, youth leaders, hikers, hunters, anglers, wildlife enthusiasts, and climate justice advocates.
Thank you for speaking to the importance of addressing the climate crisis, especially after this summer’s drought emergency and for advocating for improved water infrastructure for Montana. We know you’ve seen the impacts hit home in Montana, on your family farm. Montana faces increasingly intense and expensive wildfire seasons, along with serious threats to our food security, water availability, and the resilience of our communities. Multiple Montana communities aiming to pursue local greenhouse gas mitigation and climate adaptation measures are restrained by lack of funding and a regulatory structure that incentivizes our for-profit public utilities to develop new fossil fuel resources. Meanwhile, our current federal policies still favor corporate profits over the health, resilience, and a clean energy transition in Montana.
The budget reconciliation bill currently up for debate in Congress is the best opportunity we have at the federal level, maybe for years to come, to correct our national course and invest in a stable climate, while increasing access to basic resources like housing, healthcare, and childcare. As the latest IPCC report detailed, the actions we take— or fail to take — to stop rocketing global emissions in the next few years will determine the severity of the climate crisis for decades to come. We can no longer prevent 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, and we’re on track for far greater levels of climate instability. In order to limit global warming to 1.5 C, global emissions need to drop 45% below 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. More than ever, we need substantial investments that could truly transform the infrastructure in our country and set us on a path out of the climate crisis. There’s a real possibility we may not be able to avert worst case climate scenarios if we do not take this opportunity to adjust harmful incentive structures and invest in a more resilient, low-emissions society this year.
At this time of great ecological and economic instability, we urge you to continue to be a bold advocate for a just and livable future for all Montanans. You’ve shown you’re willing to fight hard for the bipartisan infrastructure package, and we’re now calling on you to advocate just as hard for bold climate solutions that address the scale and scope of the climate crisis.
The Build Back Better Act will help shore up communities as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, create jobs to build out the clean energy infrastructure we need, help clean up abandoned mines and wells, and improve access to clean air across Montana. Measures like the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) could help adjust incentive structures so utilities like NorthWestern Energy are no longer incentivized to pursue new expensive, polluting energy sources at the expense of ratepayers, surrounding communities, and our collective future. If the CEPP is removed from the bill, it’s important that we replace it with measures that will ensure equal or greater emissions reductions.
As negotiations continue, we believe this bill should include a bold investment in transforming our society that enables a transition to 100% clean electricity for all by 2035 and makes our communities more resilient to the crises we face. We are running out of time and cannot settle for half-measures or policies that continue to divert billions of dollars in federal funding to companies like ExxonMobil, a corporation that has misled the public about climate change for decades. As you have noted in remarks on the Senate floor, we are also paying out necessary climate-related disaster assistance in larger and larger amounts. As your constituents, we’re urging you to fight for the boldest version possible of this budget reconciliation bill. It is too costly not to.
Specifically, we’re asking you to advocate for investments and policies that include:
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Achieving 100% clean electricity by 2035 with a Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) and clean energy tax incentives, or equivalent near-term solutions to reduce emissions;
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Repealing federal fossil fuel subsidies;
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Investing in improved access to public transit and union-built electric cars, trucks, and buses;
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Replacing 100% of lead pipes;
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Retrofitting and electrifying public housing, schools, and hospitals; and
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Creating a Civilian Climate Corps dedicated to work like cleaning up abandoned mines and wells.
Please don’t miss this opportunity to transform Montana’s future and invest in transformative infrastructure, as well as other community mitigation and resilience measures, that could help us avert climate collapse. There has never been a more important time to step up and advocate for meaningful, near-term action for climate and the health of our communities as we face the impacts of climate instability we can no longer prevent. Once again, we are counting on your leadership to address the climate crisis.