Jayapal Holds Infrastructure Hostage Until She Gets ‘Bold Climate’ Action

During a virtual town hall on June 30, radical Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she will continue to hold the infrastructure hostage unless it were to include “bold climate change” action.

“We’re not going to advance any bipartisan infrastructure bill if there isn’t a full reconciliation plan that moves simultaneously that includes our top priorities, one of which is bold investments in climate jobs and impacted communities,” she said.

Jayapal’s comments echo her previous statements during other virtual town halls. In April she said the infrastructure proposal focuses more on “transitioning to a clean, green economy” than physical infrastructure. “We’re absolutely not going to abandon bold, climate action,” Jayapal declared.

She added that she hopes to direct 40% of climate change funding towards those on the “frontlines of environmental and public health crises,” establish a national clean energy standard, new standards for “emission reductions,” a “civil climate corps” that would be unionized, and invest in “robust” renewable energy.

“The era of bipartisanship on this stuff is over,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said recently. “This is going to be a hell of a fight over what this country ought to look like in the future, and it’s going to unfold here in the next few weeks. I don’t think we’ve had a bigger difference of opinion between the two parties.”