Press Release: Hispanic and Hispanic-Serving Community and Elected Leaders Urge Senate to Pass the Build Back Better Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2021
Contact: Amy Dominguez, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO), Amy@HECHOonline.org, 801-928-9157
Hispanic and Hispanic-Serving Community and Elected Leaders Urge Senate to Pass the Build Back Better Act
The Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives with bold investments to Create Jobs, Restore Public Lands, Act on Climate, and Reform the Federal Gas Leasing Program
(Arizona/Washington, DC) -- A group of Hispanic and Hispanic-serving community and elected leaders, including Hispanics Enjoying Camping Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO), sent a letter to Members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources urging them to pass the Build Back Better Act with nature-based investments that will restore natural systems, protect communities against climate-fueled disasters, create millions of jobs, and reform the federal oil and gas leasing program.
Camilla Simon, Executive Director, HECHO
“The Senate needs to do something about the fact that the federal oil and gas program is outdated and is essentially a subsidy program for oil and gas companies. We recognize a broken system when we see it. Look around– oil and gas companies are raising prices on consumers while they use windfall profits toward multi-billion dollar stock buybacks. Our letter to SENR is signed by 40 leaders from across the southwest and calls for reasonable reforms, such as ending inordinately-low royalty rates and updating insufficient bonding standards. By passing the Build Back Better Act, the Senate will be taking an important step to address these broken oil and gas fiscal policies.”
Provisions in the Build Back Better Act would help the average family save $500 a year in utility bills, update fiscal policies to ensure taxpayers receive a fair return on fossil fuel extraction on public lands, and boost access to renewable energy in rural and Indigenous communities.
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November 2, 2021
The Honorable Joe Manchin Chairman Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
.United States Senate 306 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable John Barrasso Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
United States Senate 307 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Members of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
As Hispanic and Hispanic-serving community and elected leaders, we write to you to request your assistance in ensuring that nature-based investments that restore our natural systems and protect our communities against climate-fueled disasters while creating millions of jobs are included in the Build Back Better Act. The United States and our planet are facing an unparalleled and unprecedented era of concurrent and urgent crises. Hispanic and frontline communities are disproportionately harmed by the extant and emerging crises. We also urge you to include in the reconciliation package long-overdue fiscal reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program that would help raise billions of dollars for the U.S.
Climate change is a global threat that is impacting all of us at a community level. In the Southwest, we have seen devastating wildfires, extended periods of drought, record heatwaves, the alteration of our watersheds, and the threat of massive flash flooding events resulting from climate-driven changes caused in large part by uncurbed fossil fuel extraction.
It is critical that the Build Back Better Act includes investments in programs such as a 21st century Civilian Climate Corps that will put people to work immediately to restore degraded public lands and wildlife habitat, strengthen community resilience and help address racial inequities exacerbated by the pandemic and economic crisis.
A $3 billion investment in a Civilian Climate Corps will be particularly beneficial with wildfires becoming more common and more dangerous than ever. The CCC will tackle projects that can work to mitigate the effects of climate change and weather-induced events. Some of the projects would consist of fire prevention such as forest thinning and improving trail conditions in order to lower the chances of fires starting and spreading. Additionally, in case of a fire outbreak, the CCC can work on the restoration of the burned areas in order to prevent flash floods from occurring. The CCC can also work on projects in urban areas to strengthen community resilience, increase access to the outdoors through trail protection, and educating community members on climate resilience.
It is imperative that the Build Back Better Act include ample funding for forest restoration and that forest restoration funds can be expended on areas of national forests that are at high risk for wildfires that will result in post-wildfire flooding. These very high-risk areas are characterized generally by steep slopes and significant dead and down trees, which increases the cost of the restoration projects. These areas should be of the utmost importance when downstream values are at risk.
It is critical that additional long-term Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP) funds in the amount of $300 million are included in any final version of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Equally important to this funding is the ability to use those funds on federal lands, specifically Forest Service lands. If local jurisdictions can’t build flood mitigation measures on public land, then it limits their ability to mitigate flooding.
Finally, Congress’ reconciliation 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 our urban 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. We thank you for your attention to these important issues.
Sincerely,
Ylenia Aguilar, Osborn Elementary School District Governing Board President, Arizona Alex Alvarez, Community Leader, Arizona Patrick Berrett, Community Leader, Arizona Natacha Chavez, Community Leader, Arizona Alejandro Chavez, Community Leader & grandson of 20th century civil rights leader Cesar Chavez Adrian P. Fontes, Maricopa County Recorder, Arizona Ne’Lexia Galloway, Community Leader, Arizona AdrianaGarcia, Chief of Staff at the City of Phoenix, Arizona Jennifer Longdon, Arizona State Representative, District 25 Analise Ortiz, Phoenix Community Advocate, Arizona Jacqueline Sandoval, Community Activist and Arizona State University Program Director, Arizona Raquel Teran, Arizona State Senator, District 31 Rosanna Gabaldon, Arizona State Senator, District 2 Aaron Marquez, Governing Board Member, Phoenix Union High School District, Arizona Evelyn Steyer, HECHO Advisory Board Member, California Lynn Baca, Adams County Commissioner, Colorado Carlos López, Business Owner, Colorado Mo Denis, Nevada State Senator, District 2 Jocelyn Torres, Senior Field Director, Conservation Lands Foundation, Nevada Ambrose Castellano, New Mexico State Representatives, District 70 Harold Garcia, San Miguel County Commissioner/Chairman, New Mexico Geraldine Gutierrez, San Miguel County Clerk, New Mexico Anna Hansen, Santa Fe County Commissioner, New Mexico Jennifer LaFebre, San Miguel County Treasurer, New Mexico Leanne Montoya, Executive Director ALAS de New Mexico David Romero, Las Vegas City Councilman, New Mexico Kent Salazar, Community Leader, New Mexico Martin Sena, San Miguel County Commissioner, District 4, New Mexico Veronica Serna Farmer and Mora County Commissioner, New Mexico Louie Trujillo, Mayor, Las Vegas, New Mexico Max Trujillo, San Miguel County Commissioner, District 3, New Mexico Janice Varela, San Miguel County Commissioner, District 2, New Mexico Darlene Vigil, Taos County Commissioner, District 3, New Mexico Maria Farrington, HECHO Advisory Board Member, Utah Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Former Utah State Representative, District 24 Donald Valdez, Colorado House of Representatives, District 3 Devon Suarez, President, Suarez Forestry, LLC, Arizona Jeronimo Vasquez, Coconino County Supervisor, District 2, Arizona Gabriel Vasquez, Las Cruces City Councilor, District 3, New Mexico Camilla Simon, Executive Director, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO)