Senate passes largest-ever climate and environmental justice investment package

Today, the Senate passed the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” the biggest climate and environmental justice investment package in U.S. history. 

Investing close to $370 billion in renewable energy, environmental justice programs, old-growth forest protections and other measures, the bill is projected to reduce U.S. climate emissions approximately 40 percent below 2005 levels over the next eight years.

In response, The Wilderness Society issued this statement. 

Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society said: 

“Today is a huge day. With climate alarm bells blaring across the country, we are both celebrating and sighing in relief at the Senate passage of the largest climate and environmental justice investment in U.S. history. 

“We know this bill is a compromise and while celebrating the many public lands wins and historic emissions reductions it contains, we are committed to working urgently with our Indigenous and other community partners, Congress and the Biden administration to rectify the missed opportunities, help fully sever our dependency on fossil fuels, and make public lands an even bigger part of the climate solution.” 

While the bill includes big investments in protecting public lands, there are also missed opportunities and provisions that keep the U.S. tied to a dangerous dependency on fossil fuels in the near term. Among the biggest is the bill’s failure to repeal the oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which would have been a huge step in ensuring the rights, culture, and sacred lands of Gwich’in and Iñupiat peoples remain intact.

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For more information, contact Tony Iallonardo at newsmedia@tws.org