Group warns Mayor Bowser’s cuts to clean energy funding will raise costs for residents, and calls for $200K to study climate-related extreme weather damages in the District as groundwork to make polluters pay

WASHINGTON, DC — Dozens of advocates, representing a coalition of climate, environmental, housing, and health organizations, urged the D.C. Council today to reject Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed cuts to the District’s local climate and environmental programs this budget season. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is calling on the Council to immediately restore critical climate funding, including $10.5 million of the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund (SETF), and invest $200,000 in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study Amendment Act to assess the cost of climate-driven extreme weather impacts on the District in order to make polluters pay. 

The call comes on Green Budget Day, as advocates warn the Mayor’s budget proposal would leave D.C. residents to shoulder skyrocketing utility bills, extreme weather, and pollution, while gutting the very programs designed to provide relief. If this budget moves forward, the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) budget will be cut by nearly 50% in just two years. For example, the Mayor’s budget proposal swipes $10.5 million in dedicated funding from SETF to cover D.C. government utility bills, stripping resources from one of the District’s most effective programs to actually help residents lower their bills for good by switching to clean electricity. 

The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study Amendment Act would provide District leaders with the information needed to plan for infrastructure and program needs due to flooding, extreme heat, and other climate impacts. By studying and preparing for disasters now, the District can more responsibly budget in the future and get the information we need to hold corporations responsible for climate costs.

Claire Mills, D.C. Campaigns Manager at CCAN Action Fund, released the following statement:

“The clock is not just ticking on climate change – the alarm is ringing. Instead of meeting the moment, Mayor Bowser has responded by standing with polluters and profits over people. The D.C. Council can and must do better today. District residents and businesses have paid millions of dollars into dedicated funds to lower utility bills for those who need it most, keep our rivers clean, and get our homes off dirty fossil fuels. We are simply asking the D.C. Council to put those funds back where they belong and restore the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund and climate programs. 

And we are demanding an end to this endless scramble for pennies in D.C.’s budget. Even if every dollar is restored to DOEE in this budget, it will not be near enough to fully respond to climate change-driven extreme weather impacts in the District. Multibillion-dollar fossil fuel companies owe D.C. residents a check for the costs of flooding and extreme heat on Washingtonians. That’s why the Council should invest $200,000 in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study Amendment Act in this budget. It’s time to restore the funds meant to serve D.C. working families today and start building a future where polluters help cover the costs of the crisis they created.” 

Find a recording of today’s press conference HERE.

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state and national level to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement towards clean energy solutions — focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.