SEEC exists to be a constant advocate in Congress for climate action and to push climate policies wherever we can.

We spent the last four years standing up to the Trump Administration’s attempts to sweep climate change under the rug. From the decision to exclude climate change from infrastructure planning, to undervaluing the cost of climate change, to suspending all environmental protections during COVID-19, to rolling back auto emission standards — SEEC members were always on the front lines fighting back.

But we were also determined to make forward progress. In the 116th Congress SEEC members successfully campaigned for increased clean energy research funding, extensions for clean energy tax credits, and the phasedown of HFCs, all of which passed into law with Trump still in the White House. And our members have been a driving force behind the push for a climate-focused infrastructure bill. Our members were also heavily involved in the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis’ Climate Action Plan. SEEC members made up the majority of the Select Committee’s membership and the Climate Action Plan includes dozens of SEEC member bills. The plan is an ambitious call-to-action that would save more than 60,000 American lives every year thanks to reduced air pollution and generate nearly $8 trillion in cumulative health and climate benefits by 2050.

And the urgency couldn’t be higher. With an increase in extreme weather events and more dire climate-ravaged conditions, it’s estimated that 162 million Americans will experience a decline in the quality of their environment through their lifetimes. By 2070, at least four million Americans could be living in areas considered to be the very fringe of human life, places that are increasingly on fire, drought-stricken, or battered by relentless storms.

The cost of doing nothing in the face of global climate change is mounting. This is a defining moment for our country. This term is our chance to preserve our planet for future generations — and our aggressive and strong coalition in the House won’t let leaders forget that the climate crisis can’t be pushed to the back burner any more.