Thomas Meyer / Food and Water Watch and a Broad Coalition of Organizations
(December 8, 2021) — We have very exciting news: the Future Generations Protection Act has been introduced in Congress!
This bill will ban fracking by 2025, stop oil and gas exports, and stop power plants run on fossil fuels or that otherwise emit greenhouse gases. This is the only bill currently in Congress that directly stop fossil fuel production, transport, and combustion! Here’s the press release.
If your organization hasn’t signed on yet, fill out this form to endorse the bill: https://forms.gle/xpC1UxjGsyX3f5m97
Help amplify this news on social media! Here’s a toolkit with graphics and sample posts you can use, graphics also attached.
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More information on the Future Generations Protection Act:
Co-leads: Jan Schakowsky, Nanette Barragán
Original cosponsors: Adriano Espaillat, Rashida Tlaib, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Barbara Lee, Jesús “Chuy” García, Jared Huffman, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Alan Lowenthal, Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Marie Newman, Grace Napolitano, Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin, Zoe Lofgren, Ayanna Pressley, Carolyn Maloney, Ritchie Torres, Darren Soto, and Nydia M. Velazquez.
Endorsing organizations include: Food & Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Indigenous Environmental Network, Friends of the Earth, GreenFaith, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Oil Change International, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Progressive Democrats of America, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, and Zero Hour – and more! Add your organization here.
Please reach out if you have questions. We look forward to working together to keep building the movement that will end fossil fuels!
Thomas Meyer is the National Organizing Manager at Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch
THE LETTER
Organizational Sign-On Letter:
Endorse the Future Generations Protection Act
Dear Member of Congress,
At a time when study after study reveals the urgent need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels and onto 100% renewable energy, we write to express our strong support for the Future Generations Protection Act (Schakowsky, D-IL and Barragán, D-CA).
As we witness increasingly extreme impacts of the climate crisis, the federal government must act to stop the expansion of fossil fuels. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut nearly in half by 2030. For over 15 years, fracking has delayed a transition to renewable energy and contributed to dangerously accelerating levels of atmospheric methane. Methane traps 86 times more heat over a 20-year period than carbon dioxide, and the rapid growth of fracking in the past decade has led to a surge in methane emissions. Pervasive leaks of methane make fracked gas as dangerous as coal: even if every coal plant were replaced by gas-generated electricity by 2030, emissions would continue to grow through 2050.
Fracking has a devastating impact on public health at the local level. According to the annual compendium of the science on fracking and public health compiled by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility, living near fracking is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. At least 55 known or possible carcinogens may be released into our air and water during fracking operations. Living near fracking sites adversely affects health and pregnancy, raising risks for preterm birth and low birth weights as well as asthma, skin and sinus conditions, and headaches.
Finally, fracking and related infrastructure projects poison our air and water and destroy our public lands and wildlife. Fracking has been found to directly contaminate groundwater, and fracking wastewater has polluted countless rivers and streams. This wastewater has also threatened food supplies in places where farming and fracking overlap.
Stopping the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure means we can create new, green jobs and a healthier future for all. New fracking and fossil fuel infrastructure consume resources that could be used to ensure a just transition and support workers in green jobs. It is a critical responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure a fair and just transition for workers and communities. The Federal Government should do this by prioritizing racial and gender equity, environmental justice, and partnering with labor unions to ensure that workers have training for and access to clean-energy jobs.
Specifically, the Future Generations Protection Act would:
• Institute a national fracking ban beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
• Prohibit greenhouse gas emissions from new electric steam generation units.
• Prohibit Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from approving new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal siting or construction unless construction would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Ban exports of crude oil, natural gas, and LNG, with a limited exception for crude oil.
The climate emergency presents an existential threat to all people on this planet, and time is running out. The Future Generations Protection Act is a critical piece of legislation that will protect millions of Americans from the dangers of fracking, and will help to finally end our dependence on fossil fuels. We urge you to co-sponsor this important legislation and publicly and forcefully advocate for its passage.
Schakowsky, Barragán Reintroduce the
Future Generations Protection Act to End
Fossil Fuel Expansion and Combat Climate Change
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) / US Congress Press Release
WASHINGTON (December 7, 2021) —Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, reintroduced the Future Generations Protection Act of 2021. This bill would help ensure a rapid shift away from fossil fuel to clean renewable energy.
Specifically, the Future Generations Protection Act would ban greenhouse gas emissions from all new power plants, stop hydraulic fracking, and ban crude oil and natural gas exports. It would also prohibit the Federal Energy Resources Commission from approving new liquified natural gas terminal siting or construction, unless doing so would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The science is clear: we are rapidly running out of time to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Just this year in the United States, we have witnessed a record number of climate and weather disasters due to climate change,” said Congresswoman Schakowsky. “During COP26 global leaders were consistently reminded that humanity is at ‘code red’ and that to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach countries must significantly reduce emissions. As the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, it is crucial that the United States lead by example. The Future Generations Protection Act is a critical step in our transition to clean energy and reaching the United States target to reduce emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.”
“I’m proud to join Rep. Schakowsky in reintroducing the Future Generations Protection Act, which recognizes that increasing our dependence on fossil fuels is incompatible with a habitable planet, now and for the future,” Congresswoman Barragán said. “Communities of color are hit first and worst by the climate crisis. This year we have experienced record wildfires, reoccurring 100-year floods, extreme drought, heat waves, and stronger storms. As Congress and President Biden work to make record investments in clean energy to reduce pollution and create millions of green jobs, we should reduce fossil fuel infrastructure, not expand it and work against the progress we’re poised to make.”
“The urgency of the climate crisis is more obvious than ever, and the most important step we must take is to cut off the supply of fossil fuels as quickly as possible. This bill is the most comprehensive approach to achieving that necessary goal – by stopping fracking, putting a halt to new fossil fuel power plants, and ending the oil and gas exports that deepen global dependence on dirty forms of energy. We thank Rep. Schakowsky and Rep. Barragán for their leadership in introducing this legislation that truly meets the challenge of the climate crisis,” said Food & Water Watch Policy Director Mitch Jones.
“Unchecked expansion of oil and fracked gas development is putting our climate, our health, and our communities at risk. We have no time to waste in moving away from dirty fossil fuels, and putting a stop to the expansion of oil and gas exports is a critical first step,” said Kelly Sheehan, Senior Director of Energy Campaigns for the Sierra Club. “We applaud Representative Schakowsky and Rep. Barragán for their leadership in proposing ambitious action to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy that works for all of us.”
The bill is cosponsored by Representatives: Adriano Espaillat, Rashida Tlaib, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Barbara Lee, Jesús “Chuy” García, Jared Huffman, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Alan Lowenthal, Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Marie Newman, Grace Napolitano, Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin, Zoe Lofgren, Ayanna Pressley, Carolyn Maloney, Ritchie Torres, Darren Soto, and Nydia M. Velazquez.
The bill is endorsed by Food & Water Watch, Sierra Club, Oil Change International, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity, Zero Hour, Progressive Democrats of America, Earthworks, and Climate Hawks Vote.
