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‘Build Back Better’ Act Advances Through the U.S. House of Representatives
The historic proposal would represent a significant opportunity to address climate risks to birds, people, and places we need.
WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act today. The legislation moves onto the Senate for consideration.
“From state to state this bill will help birds and people by making coastal communities more resilient, addressing drought in the West, increasing deployment of clean energy and vehicles, and building natural climate solutions across the nation’s working lands in partnership with farmers and ranchers and Indigenous leaders,” said Marshall Johnson, acting chief conservation officer, National Audubon Society. “This generational investment is a big step forward to reducing carbon pollution and protecting people and wildlife from the climate risks we face.”
A 2019 Audubon report found that two-thirds of North American bird species will be vulnerable to extinction unless global temperature rise is slowed. In a recent review of public and private lands, Audubon experts found significant overlap between the places that are important for birds’ survival and the ability to naturally store carbon, provided these places are restored and maintained.
“While passage of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation represented a significant step forward for many conservation issues, further steps must be taken now, including the Build Back Better Act, to address the magnitude of the challenge we face as a nation from a changing climate,” added Johnson.
The Build Back Better Act also contains a single sentence that would help protect one of the world’s wildest places: a provision that would end a mandate to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“This opportunity to protect the Arctic Refuge can’t be wasted,” said Johnson. “Congress must come together and pass the Build Back Better Act.”
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The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Learn more at www.audubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.
Media Contact: Matt Smelser, matt.smelser@audubon.org