We at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce recognize the reality and importance of climate change and its impact on the health and wellness of our community. Our 2021 Legislative Agenda includes environmental stewardship as one of our advocacy items, stating “We support legislative action to further reduce carbon emissions, modernize the grid, and keep energy prices as affordable as possible.”
With multiple carbon emission bills floating in Congress, none of which we are specifically endorsing, our Advocacy and Policy Committee has put together the following statement on behalf of the Chamber and our stance on climate policy:
“We support a market-based approach to accelerate GHG emissions reductions across the U.S. economy. We believe that durable climate policy must be made by Congress and that it should encourage innovation and investment to ensure significant emissions reductions while avoiding economic harm for businesses, consumers and disadvantaged communities.”
We urge our entire Congressional delegation to come together and pass a bipartisan bill to address this issue as soon as possible.