Change the Chamber Urges Congress to Choose People Over Polluters

By The National Climate Fellows at Change the Chamber, November 13, 2025

Change the Chamber calls on Congress: will you choose people over corporate polluters? Americans need clean air, affordable energy, and safe communities, not empty deals. (Full statement below.)

Change the Chamber is dismayed by the ongoing resistance to bipartisan collaboration behind the government funding bill passed by Congress. While this bill will temporarily reopen the federal government, it does not signify the end of negotiations to keep Americans fed and with access to affordable power and healthcare. As a youth-led climate coalition, we know that climate change is increasingly destabilizing our food systems, skyrocketing our energy costs, and placing a greater burden on our healthcare systems. The recently passed funding bill continues a pattern consistently demonstrated by the current administration to benefit only a few corporate executives and the wealthy  at the expense of most everyday Americans. 

This shutdown was never about budgets or fiscal responsibility. It was about power. The bill’s authors used it as another opportunity to tear down the systems in place to protect people, fire public servants, and make life harder and more expensive for working families. For weeks, vital public services were stalled or stopped completely. Time and again, the current administration has attacked the agencies that keep our air and water clean and that protect families from disasters. This shutdown pulled the curtain back to show how cruel and out of touch their agenda really is. While millions of families faced late paychecks, lost childcare, and worries about food assistance, some members of our government threw lavish parties. This month’s elections made clear that everyday people need affordability. Instead, those in power continue to strip away social protections for their own benefit.

Despite gridlock, the administration has incessantly blamed certain lawmakers, despite the responsibility of all those elected to work towards bettering our nation and future. The American people have elected each member of Congress to serve their constituents. As young adults who will experience the impacts of this administration for decades to come, we urge members on both sides of the aisle to remember their oaths to protect and serve their constituents and the Constitution. We need a government that works for people, not billionaires. People want stable jobs, clean air, affordable living, and safe communities, not shutdown and political games.

Congress will face the same question again on January 30–will they protect people, or will they protect polluters? This is a short-term deal, similar to the others we have seen under this administration. But it still gives lawmakers one more chance to pass strong spending bills that fund clean energy, protect workers, and support public services.

The National Climate Fellows at Change the Chamber

Change the Chamber is a nonpartisan coalition of young adults, 100+ student groups across the country, environmental justice and frontline community groups, and other allied organizations. To support our work, donate or join our efforts!