A Plea to the House, 2027

In February 2020 I wrote to five House committee and subcommittee chairs, because my own representative would not consider this bill. I asked them to introduce it, debate it in committee, and amend it as they saw fit. Nearly seven years later I'm asking again, of a new Congress, with a better bill.

The science has only hardened. Human-caused warming reached about 1.37°C in 2025 and is rising about 0.27°C a decade. About 130 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide remained, at the start of 2026, for an even chance of holding 1.5°C. That is roughly three years of the world's current emissions, and the fossil fuel infrastructure already built would emit more than that over its life.

What I'm asking

Introduce the Extinguishing the Social License to Burn Fossils Act of 2027 in January. Its first title, the revenue, the climate dividend and the guarantees for workers and communities, is written so it can move through budget reconciliation. Its second title, the extraction ceiling, the end of new fossil capacity, and the export quota, is regulatory and can travel on its own.

The bill doesn't villainize anyone. It changes the rules that make it profitable to keep extracting, returns the money to the People in equal shares, and guarantees the livelihoods of the workers, families, Tribes and communities who have powered this country.

What I offer

I have no special platform. I've read the IPCC's summaries for policymakers and the pleas of scientists, of children, and of frontline and Indigenous communities. I'll testify in a committee hearing, answer any question, and help however I can. Take the bill, amend it as you see fit; please.

Business as usual has no tomorrow.