As HECHO enters 2022, we look at the conservation work that must be carried out to protect our public lands while tackling the growing climate crisis which disproportionately impacts the Hispanic community and communities of color in the United States.

The Build Back Better Act still stands as the largest opportunity before us to enact transformative legislation to address this work with over $555 billion in climate investments including necessary funding to protect forests and watersheds from wildfires, provide drought impact support, and land and water resources; and mitigate major climate events which have drastically increased in severity. HECHO reaffirms its support for the Build Back Better Act in 2022 and urges the Senate, specifically Senator Manchin, to revisit negotiations.

Climate disasters cost the United States a total of $145 billion in 2021, alone, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Western wildfires exacerbated by winds and dry conditions, late-season tornadoes decimating the Midwest, harsher hurricanes pummeling the gulf, and eastern seaboard bringing record flooding as far north as New York City as in the case with Hurricane Ida; in the last 10 years, climate disasters have cost the U.S. over $1 trillion which is double the proposed spending on the Build Back Better Act’s climate provisions over the next 10 years. These events are growing in severity and cost, and the Build Back Better Act is a critical step in addressing the causes of runaway climate change.

The Build Back Better Act priorities must include updating federal oil and gas bonding standards to be consistent with closure costs; updating minimum bids, rents, and royalty rates; ending noncompetitive leasing, and ending the leasing of lands with low or no potential for oil and gas development. Currently, oil and gas producers are not only let off the hook for cleaning up their polluting legacies, but they also enjoy subsidies and handouts in the form of inordinately-low royalty rates, minimum bids, and rents. This contributes to continuing to prop up an industry that is especially harmful to southwestern states. Without immediate reform to the industry and a strong investment in the advancement of renewable energy technology, our communities will continue to bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change, and in particular, our agricultural communities, our Hispanic and Native American communities, and communities of color.

Each of these important reforms will help advance responsible management of our shared public resources and will protect the interests of taxpayers, frontline communities, and future generations. Without these critical reforms, we will continue to exacerbate the impacts of climate change, enrich the wealthiest in this country, and miss a critical opportunity to invest in the health and wellbeing of all Americans.

References:

Text - H.R.5376 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Build Back Better Act. (2021, November 19). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022, January 10). U.S. saw its 4th-warmest year on record, fueled by a record-warm December. https://www.noaa.gov/news/us-saw-its-4th-warmest-year-on-record-fueled-by-record-warm-december

Blog: Counting on Leaders to Deliver on the Build Back Better Act