Action: Urge the Senate to Pass the Green Schools Act

by Clay Burell · 2009-05-17 07:04:00 UTC
Topics:

HR 2187

Source: govtrack.us

Last Thursday, May 14, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2187, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. Twenty-four Republicans joined 251 Democrats in favor, while one Democrat - Mississippi's Gene Taylor - joined 154 "Party of No" Republicans against.

According to the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Act would:

  • Provide schools with access to funding for modernization, renovation and repair projects

  • Encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools

  • Provide additional aid to Gulf Coast schools still recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

  • Ensure fair wages and benefits for workers by applying Davis-Bacon protections to all grants for school modernization, renovation, and repair projects (full details)

Now let's urge the Senate to pass this bill. Read on, or sign the petition here.

The African-American Environmentalist Association gives these good arguments for supporting it:

In 2009, the American Civil Society of Engineers gave U.S. schools a “D” on its national infrastructure report card.

According to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, the legislation would support 136,000 jobs.

Recent studies ... show that school quality has a direct, positive impact on residential property values and can improve a community’s ability to attract businesses and workers.

$6.4 billion for schools next year? That's small change compared to what Congress has given Wall Street. Please let your senators know that you think our schools are worth it.
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Clay Burell
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