Climate Bill heads to Biden's office. There is more to do.

The bill will reduce US emissions, but not enough. It's "like losing 20 pounds when you need to lose 100 pounds," one expert says. landmark climate law that Congress passed on Friday, and the 79-year-old president who is set to sign it, the measure represents a "once in a generation" victory.

But young Democrats and climate activists want more. They view the bill as a down payment, and they fear a complacent electorate will believe Washington has finally solved the climate change problem – when in fact scientists warn it has only taken the necessary first steps. .

"This bill is not the bill my generation deserves and needs to avoid climate catastrophe altogether, but it is the one that we can adopt, given the power we have at the moment," Varshini Prakash, 29, said. , who co-founded the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activism group.

Christina Tzintzun Ramirez, 40, president of NextGen America, which focuses on the turnout of young voters, said she was mindful that the climate deal was crafted largely by older men and included some concessions to the fossil fuel industry. p>

"We're very clear that it's taken so long because our Congress and Senate don't look like the American people," said Ramirez, whose group works to elect more young progressives committed to fighting global warming."The climate crisis is going to affect the majority of young people. Most of these congressional representatives will be dead by the time we face the consequences of their inaction."

In a letter to members of Congress, Ms. Ramirez and about 50 other Young Leaders told lawmakers "your job is not done".

The House voted 220 to 207 on Friday to approve the Cut Inflation Act, with Democrats overtaking the United Republican opposition. It was a replay of earlier this week, when Senate Democrats passed the bill without a single Republican vote. The legislation provides $370 billion over a decade for investments in wind, solar, clean hydrogen, energy storage and other measures designed to steer America's economy away from the fossil fuels that undercut it. -trend for more than a century.

Analysts believe the new law will bring U.S. carbon dioxide emissions to the lowest level since Lyndon Johnson was president - 20% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade, in addition to another 20% reduction that will result from market forces already in place. Combined, that would eliminate about a billion tons of pollution a year by the end of 2030, almost enough to meet Mr. Biden's pledge to cut emissions by 50% by 2030.