Tell Biden to Build Back Fossil Free

Tomorrow, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as the 46th President and Vice President of the United states. They’ll take take over a country ravaged by pandemic, convulsed by a white supremacist coup attempt, and reeling from four years of Trump’s climate denial and fossil fueled fascism.

Biden and team have promised to build back better, and there’s a lot to look forward to: We’ve learned he intends to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline on day one of his administration, for example. And his promise to focus on science and reality in fighting climate change and the pandemic by rejoining the WHO and Paris Climate Agreement are encouraging signs. But there’s one promise Biden hasn’t made, and could, that would be a huge game-changer on climate and fossil fuels: He can promise that building back “better” means building back fossil free.

That’s why we’re joining a coalition of hundreds of groups representing millions of people across the country fighting for climate, racial, and economic justice to ensure Biden becomes the climate president he promised to be. (Click here to read our full petition)

Sign on now to endorse our demands:

• Protect and invest in the Black, Indigenous, Brown, and working-class communities that have borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters.
• Reject new fossil fuel projects, eliminate giveaways to oil gas, and coal corporations, and end the era of fossil fuel production.
• Launch a national climate mobilization to Build Back Fossil Free, deliver jobs, justice, and opportunity for all.

Unwinding the damage done by the Trump regime will not be easy. Even today, on the eve of the inauguration, Trump’s loyal minions are feverishly working to ram through pipelines, drilling projects, and more. Trump’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) moved their monthly-meeting from Thursday to today to ensure they could vote to support Jordan Cove, the Mountain Valley Pipeline and a dozen other projects just 24 hours before Biden takes office.

A lot of those decisions can be reversed if Biden acts quickly, and if he has the support of climate hawks in Congress. And there are other big fights – Line 3 is the most urgent in many of our minds – that Biden will have to make quick decisions on due to deadlines and permitting rules, which will give us an early indication of his commitment and follow through on climate action.

And that’s why we’re taking today, the day BEFORE Biden is inaugurated, to lift up all these frontline battles and demand the the Biden Administration #BuildBackFossilFree. Our communities gave Joe Biden the mandate to be bold. He has the tools and authority to reject new fossil fuel projects, eliminate giveaways to fossil fuel corporations, unwind Trump’s disastrous attacks on our climate and communities, and end the era of fossil fuel production — starting from Day One. Will you ask him to make it a priority?

Ps – The image above was created by Christi Belcourt Michif (Métis) and is used with permission. The graphic was created by Katherine Quaid (Nez Perce/Cayuse/Paiute), Communications Coordinator for Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, to support 75+ Indigenous women from Tribes and Nations across the country who sent a letter calling on President-elect Joe Biden to take immediate executive action to stop the Keystone XL, Line 3, and Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) pipeline projects on day one of his Presidency. You can learn more and read the letter here.