U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) are introducing the “Healthy Climate and Family Security Act” in Congress on Monday. I wanted to invite you to join a conference call with the legislators to talk about the bill at 3:15 EST on Monday, January 29th. Speakers will also include the Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus and myself. A Q&A session will follow.
The Healthy Climate and Family Security Act is the strongest federal climate bill introduced so far in 2018. Last year, taxpayers footed an unprecedented $300 billion in climate-driven disaster relief to cope with record mega fires, hurricanes, mudslides, and droughts. This represents a giant subsidy to Big Oil, Coal, and Gas to cover external costs foisted on the US public by the energy companies.
A strong “price signal” attached to carbon shifts the burden of climate damages back to the responsible parties: polluting energy corporations. Van Hollen and Beyer’s bill would cap carbon and return the revenues of the pollution permit auctions to all U.S. families in the form of a quarterly “dividend” payment. This approach ratchets pollution down to scientifically safer levels while confronting the dangerously concentrated power of the fossil fuel industry. Polluter-paid revenue is returned as carbon dividends for all, creating a progressive and universal incentive to save energy and switch to clean power.
In the face of mounting climate disasters and the Trump tax plan that harms the middle class, Americans are hungry for transparent and intuitive solutions like The Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2018.
What: Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Don Beyer speak live to a national call-in audience in announcing introduction of the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act. The legislators will be joined by supportive grassroots advocates, including the Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus and Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and CCAN Action Fund.
When: Monday, January 29, 2018, 3:15-4:15 PM EST
Where: Dial in to the conference call at: 202-800-9984. Enter the access code: 408475
More about the legislators:Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Senate Climate Task Force, is a leading supporter of congressional efforts to address global climate change. Congressman Don Beyer is a longtime environmental champion who represents Virginia’s 8th District. He is the Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and is co-Chair of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus.