29-04-2025
Letter: Protect public lands, clean energy in budget measure
Congress will soon vote on the budget reconciliation package that aims to massively cut investments in climate and clean energy and sell off many of our cherished public lands — all to give huge tax cuts to billionaires.
Major targets for defunding are the climate and clean-energy provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act intended to cut climate pollution 40% by 2030 while creating 9 million clean energy jobs, stimulating economic growth and contributing to a reduction in the country's reliance on fossil fuels.
The nearly $400 billion of clean energy funds in the IRA have fostered $600 billion in private investment across roughly 750 clean-energy projects, creating more than 406,000 jobs as of January.
The IRA plus the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 are funding 1,092 projects to the tune of $4.7 billion, primarily to businesses and farms, within a 50-mile radius of Reading. The BIL is providing the Reading School District $8.9 million for electric buses to replace its diesel fleet. Federal clean energy incentives also support the Reading Unitarian Universalist Church's solar installation.
Sens. John Fetterman and David McCormick and all of Pennsylvania's U.S. House representatives must protect clean-energy investments, the climate and public lands in the budget bill.
Phila Back
Kutztown
