LEADER JEFFRIES: “REPUBLICANS HAVE TAKEN A SLEDGEHAMMER TO THE CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY”
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for a press conference where they called out the Trump administration for their failure to address the climate crisis with the seriousness and urgency that it deserves, while reiterating that Democrats are committed to defending the clean energy economy and fighting for lower costs.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Now, from the very beginning of this Congress, the very beginning of this presidency, there's been an unwillingness by Donald Trump and House Republicans and Senate Republicans to deal with issues of importance to the American people, particularly as it relates to the cost-of-living crisis that we have in this country, and the various reasons why it continues to get worse in the United States of America. It's shameful that the Trump administration and the United States government chose not to be involved and engaged at the most recent COP conference, essentially ceding leadership on this issue in the world to our rival China and the Chinese Communist Party while leaving America and Americans behind.
Now there's a direct connection between the climate crisis, which continues to grow more urgent by the day, and the rise of extreme weather events that are not a partisan issue—because they hit blue states, purple states and red states all across America—a direct connection between the climate crisis and the rise of extreme weather events that threaten the health, the safety and the well-being of the American people, and a direct connection between the rise of extreme weather events and the homeowners insurance crisis that exists now in state after state after state. Homeownership has become unaffordable in far too many places, ripping away the possibility of homeownership for millions of Americans. And we know that homeownership has always been central to the great American dream.
And so, it's incredibly important that we deal with the climate crisis because there is only one Earth. There is no planet B. We have no other option. We have to deal with protecting God's green Earth, but we also have to deal with the climate crisis, because the absence of doing it causes life in America to just continue to become more unaffordable, particularly in this instance as it relates to both the home insurance prices and the rise in electricity costs and utility bills all across the country because of the administration's assault on the progress that was made related to standing up a clean energy economy, under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Senator Whitehouse, Democrats in the House and the Senate and, of course, the Biden administration. Republicans have taken a sledgehammer to the clean energy economy, which hurts our ability to both deal with the climate crisis and hurts our ability to drive down costs for everyday Americans.
Remarks by Leader Jeffries at the press conference can be watched here.