A Big Betrayal of a Bill

The US Senate narrowly passed its version of the federal budget reconciliation bill on July 1st, but there may still be time to reduce some of the damage to healthy people and a healthy planet that this bill will cause if enough people speak out.

The Big Betrayal of a Bill harms millions of people to benefit the most privileged, committing egregious acts against vulnerable people in the form of cuts to healthcare and food assistance.

It’s been less widely reported, but the bill also undertakes an egregious decimation of environmental protections for clean air and clean water, and does horrific damage to a booming clean energy industry and advanced automotive sector that provides Americans with good-paying jobs while securing energy independence for our country.

Instead of bolstering America’s opportunity to gain energy independence, lower energy costs, ensure energy stability for growing energy needs, and minimize the environmental harm caused by energy use and production, this bill once again doubles down on outdated, polluting sources of energy - coal and gas. It also doubles down on using more petroleum for powering our cars and trucks, rather than supporting a transition to cleaner and increasingly electric vehicles.

This bill will increase energy costs – raising Americans’ electricity bills by 10% or $400/year.
The bill will kill energy and manufacturing jobs – eliminating over 800,000 jobs & threatening over $500 billion in investment in the U.S.
The bill will undermine grid reliability – at a time of rapid load growth and heat waves it will reduce energy capacity installed on the grid by 50% over the next 10 years.
The bill eliminates tax credits for new and used electric vehicles, commercial clean vehicles, and fueling infrastructure. This could cost consumers up to $200/year in increased transportation costs, and would stall the American-made EV industry, resulting in significant job losses across the auto industry.

According to Climate Power, the bill will kill jobs and send energy costs skyrocketing. The full repeal of energy tax credits will disrupt hundreds of new factories poised to provide thousands of good-paying jobs for Michigan. Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, private companies have announced $39.8 billion in new clean energy projects, creating over 25,357 jobs. This bill’s repeals to the IRA puts Michigan’s economy in jeopardy, threatening these new investments and employment. It’s estimated that as many as 226,610 jobs in Michigan will be put at risk. Unfortunately, Michiganders’ energy bills are already going up. Further increases will force many to choose between paying for energy, food, or taking care of their health.

For Michigan’s healthy climate future to be realized, this bill must be stopped, and there may still be time. Contact your representative in the House, especially if they are a Republican. Many Republican legislators are nervous about passing a bill that gives tax cuts to the super-wealthy while harming many of their constituents through job losses, Medicaid, and food assistance cuts. There may be time to sway more NO votes and force amendments to this bill or stop it altogether.

For a detailed account of this bill's impacts, check out this 20+ page doc from S2 strategies.

Sample Script to Make a Call to MI Representatives:

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] from [TOWN/CITY].

I’m calling about the budget bill that is before the House right now

I’m urging you to stand against the aggressive attacks on our health and our pocketbooks that are in this bill.

It is simply outrageous to me that the bill would take billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits and investments away from Michigan households, workers, and businesses, on top of ripping away Medicaid and nutrition assistance for the most vulnerable.

In Michigan alone, $39.85 billion in investments and 25,357 good-paying jobs are at risk if clean energy programs are repealed. We could see our energy bills increase by hundreds of dollars.

You must not vote to pass any version of the budget reconciliation bill with cuts to these vital programs that are lowering energy costs for families, reducing deadly pollution, and making it easier for businesses to transition into the clean energy future.

Stand up for the health and safety of our communities. Stand up for lower energy costs. Do what’s right and oppose attacks on these critical programs and our health.

Thank you for your time.

Sample Script to Make a Call for all US States