Friends of the Earth Condemns Senate Vote on Growing Climate Solutions Act
WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has placed the Growing Climate Solutions Act on the Senate floor calendar for a vote. This tees up a deeply flawed bill that would establish soil carbon markets that threaten the climate, environmental justice communities, and our farm economy.
This vote is announced the same day the Senate begins a budget reconciliation process, which could lead to real climate solutions for American agriculture that do not rely on faulty carbon markets.
Jason Davidson, Senior Food and Agriculture Campaigner with Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement in response:
We’re extremely disappointed to see a forced vote on this massive corporate handout package. The Growing Climate Solutions Act allows polluters from Big Ag to Big Oil to continue business as usual, while greenwashing their operations and harming low income communities and communities of color.
Carbon markets, like California’s Cap and Trade, are environmental justice disasters that benefit polluters and increase emissions. Congress should invest in programs that help farmers sequester carbon without legitimizing schemes that only benefit the largest agribusinesses.
Communications contact: Kerry Skiff, [email protected]