President Biden and Congress continue to negotiate about the debt ceiling and the budget. These should be two different issues, as the debt ceiling rise is simply to pay what the government has committed to pay, just like your credit card or mortgage. Defaulting would be catastrophic, leading to severe consequences for everyone. Republicans are demanding extreme budget cuts as a ransom for raising the debt ceiling, especially targeting the Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), two laws that are very popular with the public but not so much with the fossil-fuel-supported Republican majority.
The IRA benefits communities without regard to their political trends. A massive semiconductor factory near Syracuse would be in jeopardy if their Rep. Brandon Williams (R-22) votes with his party to cut it, and a new clean energy battery factory in Ulster County would be in doubt, while their Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-19) votes with the anti-clean energy, climate change-denying majority.
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Here in Western New York, Rep. Brian Higgins (D-26) supports the IRA’s renewable energy tax credits that are essential in confronting the climate crisis while providing family-supporting jobs and a cleaner, healthier environment. For example, insulation for our aging housing stock and upgrades to local energy transmission would protect lives from the worst effects of another blizzard and save wasted energy. Moving to clean, fossil-free heating will reduce carbon emissions and respiratory disease. Clean energy and climate action must not be hostages to a Republican majority that has no policies for solving problems for everyday people, and only cares for more tax breaks for the super-wealthy.
Ellen Cardone Banks
Conservation Chair, Atlantic Chapter
Sierra Club
