The OFF Act You’ve Been Hearing About Is Officially On The Table
10.27.17
Building Momentum
With millions of Americans still suffering the impacts of climate change, supercharged hurricanes in the east and wildfires in the west, momentum is building around the Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act (OFF Act) - and with good reason.
The OFF Act is an environmental justice bill that will move us to 100% clean renewable energy by 2035, with 80% of the transition taking place in the first ten years. This is aggressive, visionary and downright necessary. The catastrophic effects of climate chaos become worse every day, so we’re doing something about it and we’re doing it now.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (D-HI) OFF Act lays out the path forward - it ends oil and gas subsidies, closes offshore tax breaks for corporations, creates a substantial pot of money for a just transition, halts fossil fuel projects, bans oil and gas exports, and creates millions of jobs. And support for the bill is growing. There are now over 400 groups across the country that support the OFF Act.
We Must Act Fast
The consequences of inaction in the face of environmental degradation are real. During Thursday's press conference, Representative Barbara Lee spoke about her friends and family dying in El Paso Texas because of climate emergencies. David Galarza-Sosa of Casa Puebla spoke of the same destruction in Puerto Rico, where 3.5 million U.S. citizens still do not have access to water, food and basic medicines after being slammed by category 5 Hurricane Maria.
In low-income communities, which are often communities of color, these climate catastrophes often mean weeks and months of food loss, wage loss, and dignity loss. The OFF Act looks to promote racial and economic justice by ensuring a just transition and prioritizing those communities most impacted by climate devastation.
And as our friend Rita Collins from National Nurses United reminds us, public health is on the line. Nurses across the country are seeing elevated rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses as pollution and toxic emissions caused by our reliance on fossil fuels continue to aggravate our health.
We’re re-envisioning environmental strategy, led by the people, to ensure a just transition off of climate-damaging fossil fuels.
We’re organizing town by town, city by city, state by state to build courageous leaders to demand urgent climate action with the OFF Act. Let’s get this thing passed!
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