(CNN) Advocacy groups are ratcheting up the pressure on lawmakers during Congress's August recess to pass bold climate provisions in an upcoming budget reconciliation bill. Progressive groups including the Sunrise Movement, Justice Democrats and People's Action are targeting lawmakers including Democratic Sens. "The challenge we face right now is lack of political will because the GOP and oil and gas executives are frankly holding climate action hostage," Sunrise executive director Varshini Prakash told CNN. Pointing to the dire findings in the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which showed world nations must get their economies to net-zero emissions or risk climate catastrophe, Prakash said the groups would be demanding swift action on climate from Congress. "The latest IPCC report, and the climate disasters our politicians can literally see outside, must be a wake-up call that what they're doing right now is utterly insufficient to stop the climate crisis."

Source: CNN August 09, 2021 14:15 UTC