Seventeen members of the U.S. Congress have introduced a Keep It in the Ground Act that would permanently ban new fossil fuel leases on public lands and waters.
“Our nation’s capacity to transition towards clean energy sources is expanding at a record pace,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA). “However, there is still much to be done to break our unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels. Our oceans and our public lands—including the fossil fuel deposits beneath them—belong to the American people, not to the oil and gas industry, and it’s time that the law reflects that fact.”
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The bill has no chance of passing in a Tea Party-dominated House.
But it lays out “a concrete plan to help meet the climate goals set in Paris and accelerate our transition onto clean, renewable energy,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.
“The Keep It in the Ground Act sets the bar for what the U.S. can and should achieve in the global fight to prevent climate catastrophe and to protect our public lands and waters,” agreed Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Marissa Knodel. “It also serves notice to fossil fuel empires that climate, justice, and health advocates will end their reign of destruction.”
