It's do-or-die time
More and more often, faith and
community and political leaders have begun referring to climate change as “the
existential threat of our time” – language the scientific community has used
for decades. What does being “the existential threat” mean?
It means that if we don’t take
immediate, bold action to address the climate crisis, we stand to lose
everything we care about.
It means vast swathes of South County and the East Bay wiped away, our economy in shambles, and countless lives lost – maybe yours, maybe mine – from drought, famine, and natural disasters.
It means vast swathes of South County and the East Bay wiped away, our economy in shambles, and countless lives lost – maybe yours, maybe mine – from drought, famine, and natural disasters.
There is no “maybe” about these
consequences, or hyperbole in describing them. Report after report from NASA,
the United Nations, and leading scientific institutions have made clear that,
without sweeping action, human civilization as we know it is at risk.
Yet politicians in both parties continue to use talking points supplied by the oil and gas industry to insist we respond in moderation.
Yet politicians in both parties continue to use talking points supplied by the oil and gas industry to insist we respond in moderation.
Those politicians are wrong. Their fossil fuel backers are lying. And their selfish profiteering is threatening all of us.
We need climate action whose scale
reflects the scope of this existential crisis. We need a Green New Deal: a bold
commitment to recreate our energy system and, just like FDR’s New Deal 80 years
ago, to transform our economy for the better.
Because – despite the false insistence by President Trump and others that we must choose between the climate and jobs – the truth is that the investments we need to tackle climate change also have the power to create millions of middle-class jobs and lift up working families and communities that have long been shut out of economic opportunity.
Because – despite the false insistence by President Trump and others that we must choose between the climate and jobs – the truth is that the investments we need to tackle climate change also have the power to create millions of middle-class jobs and lift up working families and communities that have long been shut out of economic opportunity.
This Green New Deal policy framework
has entered the conversation in Congress, thanks to very smart organizing by activist
groups like Sunrise and Congressional advocates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
But given the current administration in DC, and the limited time we have to act, we can’t rely on immediate solutions coming out of Washington. States must step up and help lead the way.
But given the current administration in DC, and the limited time we have to act, we can’t rely on immediate solutions coming out of Washington. States must step up and help lead the way.
During the Great Depression and
FDR’s New Deal, a number of state governments enacted their own “Little New
Deals” to expand and strengthen programs for workers and their families.
Now, at this fundamental moment of crisis for ourselves and our children, the onus is on us. Rhode Island is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and home to the first offshore wind farm in the Western Hemisphere. There is so much we can do to implement our own Green New Deal, right here in Rhode Island.
Now, at this fundamental moment of crisis for ourselves and our children, the onus is on us. Rhode Island is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and home to the first offshore wind farm in the Western Hemisphere. There is so much we can do to implement our own Green New Deal, right here in Rhode Island.
We can make our state’s emissions
reduction targets binding and align them with the timeline demanded by climate
science.
We can invest in energy retrofits and rooftop solar for all public and private housing units and schools – and save ourselves a boatload of money.
We can transform transportation by prioritizing public transit, expanding Electric Vehicle (EV) rebates, and developing EV charger infrastructure.
And we can strengthen incentives, mandates, and financing mechanisms that are already in place to build a new energy system, one based on locally-produced solar, wind, and tidal energy that keeps our energy dollars working right here in Rhode Island, rather than sending billions of dollars off to fossil fuel companies in Pennsylvania and Texas and Saudi Arabia, as we do today.
We can invest in energy retrofits and rooftop solar for all public and private housing units and schools – and save ourselves a boatload of money.
We can transform transportation by prioritizing public transit, expanding Electric Vehicle (EV) rebates, and developing EV charger infrastructure.
And we can strengthen incentives, mandates, and financing mechanisms that are already in place to build a new energy system, one based on locally-produced solar, wind, and tidal energy that keeps our energy dollars working right here in Rhode Island, rather than sending billions of dollars off to fossil fuel companies in Pennsylvania and Texas and Saudi Arabia, as we do today.
All of this is possible. The
obstacles are not technical, they are political, and we have a choice to make.
Do we let fossil fuel billionaires and the politicians they’ve bought threaten our collective future?
Or do we take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a more equitable and sustainable economy?
If our elected officials committed to stepping up with every legislative, administrative, and regulatory tool and resource at our state’s disposal, we could begin implementing a Green New Deal tomorrow.
Do we let fossil fuel billionaires and the politicians they’ve bought threaten our collective future?
Or do we take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a more equitable and sustainable economy?
If our elected officials committed to stepping up with every legislative, administrative, and regulatory tool and resource at our state’s disposal, we could begin implementing a Green New Deal tomorrow.
But they won’t do so until we demand
it. Until we raise our voices so loudly – by showing up, sitting in, knocking
on doors, and running for office – that it drowns out the fossil fuel campaign
contributions and lobbyists working to block progress.
Taking back our future is possible. And with so much at stake, do we really have another choice?
Taking back our future is possible. And with so much at stake, do we really have another choice?