{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/ranking-member-stansbury-house-democrats-discuss-climate-justice-expert", "Ranking Member Stansbury, House Democrats Discuss Climate Justice with Expert Panelists at Roundtable", "2024-08-13", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Melanie A. Stansbury", "S001218", "stansbury.house.gov", "stansbury", "https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) hosted a roundtable discussion with nationally-recognized changemakers titled, \u201cClimate Justice: Community Perspectives and Where We Go from Here.\u201d Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-06) also joined the roundtable.\n\nWATCH the recorded livestream of the roundtable here.\n\n\u201cLet me be clear: the climate crisis is happening now \u2014 not in five years or ten years \u2014 and it is critical that we have plans in place to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable future for our communities,\u201d said Rep. Melanie Stansbury. \u201cMy home state is ground zero for climate change and our communities are on the frontlines. This roundtable is part of our ongoing work to listen directly to our communities to find solutions that work, and build a climate resilient future for our communities and the planet.\u201d\n\n\u201cI appreciate Ranking Member Stansbury for hosting this important event with some of the nation\u2019s leading tribal, labor, and environmental justice advocates,\u201d said Rep. Castor. \u201cClimate justice must be central to the nation\u2019s efforts to transition to clean energy and adapt to the increasingly severe impacts of our warming planet. For too long, our nation\u2019s most vulnerable populations have been exposed to the worst consequences of the fossil fuel economy \u2014 now, we must chart a path forward that ensures the health, resilience, and economic success of historically-disadvantaged communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cClimate justice must be a central piece of our clean energy transition,\u201d said Rep. Dingell. \u201cLast Congress, we passed the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included the greatest investments in climate and environmental justice in history. We must continue to build on these successes by making it easier for states and local governments to access federal funds and ensuring these investments are getting to the places that need them most. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in Congress to advance a just transition in reaching our climate goals.\u201d\n\nAdditional Background\n\nClimate change is disproportionately impacting low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous peoples. Through historic investments in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), as well as the Justice 40 initiative, the Biden-Harris administration is working to ensure climate and environmental justice for these overburdened communities by deploying clean energy technologies, creating new jobs, and increasing tribal consultation, among other efforts.\n\nThe roundtable\u2019s expert panelists discussed ongoing IRA and IIJA implementation and offered additional recommendations for equitable and accessible solutions to address the growing climate crisis.\n\nPanelist Quotes & Statements\n\n\"From coastal fishermen to waiters in the city of New Orleans, Louisianans and people all over the world are being crushed by the weight of climate change,\u201d said Jessica Dandridge, Executive Director of The Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans. \u201cWhile the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law unlocked unprecedented federal funding for fighting flood mitigation, forever chemicals, and drought, we must also stop bad actors and industries at the source if we want to live up to the ideals of the Justice40 Initiative and protect our nation's most vulnerable communities. Divesting from fossil fuels is the only sustainable solution for environmental injustice.\"\n\nREAD Jessica Dandridge\u2019s full written statement here.\n\n\"State and federal policymakers must make early investments with braided funding in renewable energy and infrastructure projects AND robust education and training programs,\u201d said Marcela D\u00edaz, Founding Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido. \u201cThis will prepare frontline workers for a transition away from oil and gas and give them a fair shot at new jobs in emerging industries resulting from IRA and BIL economic investments. Policy solutions must not leave behind immigrant workers, undocumented workers, women, rural youth, and adjacent industry workers. Not only would that be unjust, but it would also result in a less robust and diversified economy that our whole state deserves.\u201d\n\nREAD Marcela D\u00edaz\u2019s full written statement here.\n\n\"In a nutshell, historic investments in clean energy projects and climate crisis mitigation, combined with robust workforce development pipelines, that lead to good jobs with quality drivers like higher wages, health care, and retirement security ensure American competitiveness in markets already realized in other nations,\u201d said John Doherty, Senior Advisor on Infrastructure, Workforce, Climate, and Equity for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) and Steering Committee Member of the BlueGreen Alliance. \u201cWe, Labor Unions, are very excited to help build the next wave of highly skilled workers, who contribute to the U.S. economy and make the nation fairer, both economically and socially.\"\n\nREAD John Doherty\u2019s full written statement here.\n\n\u201cWe have the opportunity to build out a just clean energy future shoulder to shoulder with impacted communities,\u201d said Chris Espinosa, Legislative Director for the Climate and Energy Program at Earthjustice. \u201cNow is the time to build on the bold actions of the Biden-Harris administration and the historic investments of the Inflation Reduction Act with new policies that will advance environmental justice for communities that have long experienced the disproportionate impacts of climate change and pollution. To make that future a reality, Congress must pass the Environmental Justice for All Act to ensure that environmental justice isn\u2019t just a buzzword, but the foundation of our climate policy.\u201d\n\nREAD Chris Espinosa\u2019s full written statement here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/ranking-member-stansbury-house-democrats-discuss-climate-justice-expert"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.400213222950697, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}