Statement on Congressional Resolution Urging Biden to Declare Climate Emergency

WASHINGTON—Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced a resolution calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency, phase out fossil fuel production and end our dirty energy dependence by massively deploying renewable, resilient energy.

The resolution follows a deluge of fossil fuel project approvals by the Biden administration this year, including huge expansions of oil drilling and gas exports in the Alaskan Arctic with the Willow Project and Alaska LNG, as well as opening more than 73 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling.

Statement from Lauren Pagel, Earthworks Policy Director:

“It is past time for President Biden to live up to his promise and use every tool in his toolbox to address the climate crisis. People most impacted by fossil fuel extraction have long demanded that President Biden use his existing authority to end the expansion of polluting industries and steer the U.S. toward a sustainable, just future by declaring a climate emergency. Instead, communities, the climate, wildlife, and future generations continue to be sacrificed to the greed of extractive industries.”