Every Child Matters has just signed on to a petition that urges the Senate to pass a climate bill that fully protects low- and moderate-income families from having to pay more for food, heat and transportation. The petition, created by the Coalition for Human Needs, includes a letter which emphasizes support for the House version of the bill which provides for significantly more low-income consumer refunds:

"In passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R.2454), the House established the principle that effective climate change legislation should not make low-income households worse off.  Low-income families are disproportionately affected by increases in energy prices inherent in effective cap-and-trade legislation, as they spend a larger portion of their budgets on energy-intensive necessities like food, home energy and transportation. Recognizing this, the House bill sets aside 15% of the total value of greenhouse gas allowances created by the bill to fund targeted low-income consumer refunds that, when combined with relief funded through utility companies, fully offset, on average, the increased energy prices that consumers in the bottom quintile of the income distribution will face."

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

social work Intern
written by Laura L. Cummins, November 16, 2009

I am the mother of six and a fulltime social work student. I work parttime to support my family while attending school. Our family lives below the poverty level and could greatly benefit from refunds to assist with the high cost of living.

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Add Comment