17 Members of Congress Introduce House “Keep It In the Ground Act”
Builds on Senate Bill Introduced by Senator Merkley and Senator Sanders
WASHINGTON, DC — 350.org Co-Founder Bill McKibben and grassroots leaders joined Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and 16 other members of Congress this afternoon to introduce the “Keep It In the Ground Bill,” in the U.S. House of Representatives.
This legislation would prohibit new leases for coal, oil, and gas on all federal lands and waters, halting new leases for offshore drilling in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, and permanently protecting the Arctic and Atlantic coasts.
“Anyone who does the math of climate change knows we need to keep most fossil fuel underground,” said Bill McKibben, Co-Founder of 350.org. “Public lands — as multiple presidential candidates have pointed out — are the logical place to start, and this is even more obvious in the wake of the Supreme Court stay on the president’s Clean Power Plan. In a record hot world, let’s hope Congress acts on this at record speed; we will do all we can to make it happen.”
Coming on the heels of the Paris climate accord, the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the moratorium on new coal leases announced by President Obama, this new legislation adds significant momentum to the Senate Bill introduced in November by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Over the coming months, activists around the world are gearing up for a wave of resistance in May to break free from fossil fuels to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground, and demonstrate the urgency of a just transition to a renewable energy future.
The 17 House Cosponsors of the “Keep It In The Ground Act” include:
Jared Huffman (CA-2),
Ted Lieu (CA-33),
Mike Honda (CA-17),
Barbara Lee (CA-13),
Bill Keating (MA-09),
Hank Johnson (GA-04),
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC),
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12),
Donna Edwards (MD-04),
Alan Grayson (FL-09),
Jim McDermott (WA-07),
Alcee Hastings (FL-20),
Chris Van Hollen (MD-08),
Luis Gutierrez (IL-04),
Jim McGovern (MA-02),
Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11),
Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03)
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To view the press release from Congressman Huffman’s office online, visit: https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-huffman-introduces-keep-it-in-the-ground-act-0
Contact: Lindsay Meiman, [email protected], (347) 460-9082