Climate Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise on this historic day in which we passed and sent to the President's desk the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. It seems appropriate that we should also take a moment now to talk about climate justice as we are also talking about racial justice in our country.

Because the science is clear, we must urgently address the issues of climate change now. We must address the causes of climate change and our greenhouse gas footprint. We must mitigate the impacts of climate change and lift up and support our communities. And we must build a world that is more just, more equitable, and more climate resilient. To do so, we must invest in our communities, investing in their future, and investing in critical infrastructure that will make that possible.

The time is now to be decisive, to be brave in our policymaking, to be bold in our investments, and to lean into the science. This is especially critical for New Mexico, my home State, where we are already experiencing the impacts of extreme drought, catastrophic fires, and an uncertain future.

I have spent my working career working on these issues, and I know that we must invest in infrastructure like our electric grid, broadband infrastructure, drinking water, irrigation, and green infrastructure so that our communities can remain resilient as we are going through this change and to ensure that we are taking full advantage and leaning into our clean energy future.

We must do all of this through the lens of social, racial, and economic justice by investing in good paying jobs and in the livelihoods and well-being of our communities and our people.

That is why we need the American Jobs Plan now and the investments that are not only going to be shovel ready, but, as a friend of mine says, also shovel worthy. So the time is now to take action on climate change and to ensure that we are investing in the infrastructure that will make it possible for future generations to live resiliently on this planet.

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