Posted on February 1, 2019
A Green New Deal to Save People and the Planet
Editor’s note: this piece was originally published on Medium.
The U.S. Climate Report released in November and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in October confirmed what we already know based on the extreme fires, droughts and hurricanes that have wreaked devastation on our country this past year: The climate crisis is here. We need a Green New Deal to prevent climate catastrophe and fight rising social, racial, economic and gender inequities.
At its root, the climate crisis is the result of an economic system based on ever-increasing consumption that pushes the earth beyond its ecological limits. This system has also turned what should be a human right – from energy to food to clean air and water – into commodities. We need to remake financial and economic systems so that they serve people and the planet, not the other way around. We must also account for the United States’ tremendous ecological debt to the Global South and its responsibility as the largest historical climate polluter to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide finance for people in developing countries commensurate with what science and justice demand.
There is no room for the half-solutions of the past. We cannot allow the vast political power of the fossil fuel or industrial agriculture lobbies to advance policies that continue our reliance on dirty energy and unsustainable food systems. The real answer to the climate change crises lies in changing the way we manage, extract, use and distribute Earth’s natural resources. We need a new model of environmental, social, racial, economic and gender justice that upends traditional power structures in order to build a future where everyone has access to wealth, equitable decision-making and safety. Below are Friends of the Earth U.S.’s platform principles to guide a Green New Deal. Linked here are principles from our international network across 70 countries.
1) Cut greenhouse gas emissions
- Rapidly phase out all fossil fuel extraction and burning, starting with the projects and infrastructure that have the greatest impact on frontline communities and sensitive ecosystems.
- End subsidies for fossil fuel projects in the United States and overseas, as well as investments in expensive, unproven technologies that extend fossil fuel and nuclear power use. These include carbon capture and storage and small modular nuclear reactors.
- Put an end to energy waste through energy efficiency and energy saving, along with ending overconsumption by corporations and economic and political elites.
- We must fully decarbonize our transportation system. We must invest in public transit systems that serve those who need it most and are fully powered by renewable energy. We must phase out vehicles with combustion engines and clean up shipping. And instead of constructing new roads, highways and airport projects, we must reconnect our cities and suburbs to reduce vehicle and air traffic.
- Cut support for climate-polluting industrial animal agriculture (concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs) by shifting federal subsidies away from CAFOs and chemical- and energy-intensive animal feed monocultures and instead support diversified, organic and regenerative agricultural practices that rely on low/natural carbon inputs and that store carbon in healthy soil.
- Shift public food purchasing and feeding programs (e.g., school lunch) away from carbon-intensive animal foods toward healthier, climate-friendly plant-based alternatives.
- Sequester biological carbon in addition to – and not in lieu of – reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This must exclude forest carbon offsets and other carbon sequestration proposals such as chemical-intensive no-till farming or ocean fertilization that pose their own environmental risks.
- Reject the development, testing and use of controversial and unproven climate geoengineering techniques, including solar radiation management, greenhouse gas removal and sequestration and weather modification, which could have devastating impacts on the environment, ecosystems and communities across the world.
- Implement federal and state mandates to drive and assure policy compliance with greenhouse gas reduction targets, and to ramp up investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable diets and ecological agriculture in line with the consensus of climate scientists.
2) Transition to 100 percent renewable, resilient and just energy and food systems
- Shift to 100 percent renewable energy. This includes major investments in solar, wind, geothermal and other technologies; updating our electrical grid; public and community ownership overpower infrastructure; and the option for distributed energy sources in our homes and communities.
- Enact binding laws to ensure the fundamental right to renewable energy for all, based on democratic and community control.
- Switch subsidies and incentives away from climate-wrecking activities and massively ramp up public investment in ecological agriculture and renewable energy, both at home and overseas.
- Reject so-called energy solutions that further racial, economic and social inequities, such as large-scale hydroelectric dams, which can harm ecosystems and undermine livelihoods; biofuels and biomass, which can be carbon intensive, disrupt food systems and destroy forests; or waste-to-energy projects (e.g., trash incineration or biogas from factory farms), which can impact health.
- Reject carbon trading schemes, which can concentrate the dirtiest projects in marginalized communities, worsening environmental injustice and racism.
- Ensure energy sufficiency. This means sufficient universal energy access – at a level that respects everyone’s right to a dignified life.
- Promote food sovereignty and climate resiliency by guaranteeing the right to land, water, and seeds, and ensuring local and Indigenous Peoples’ control over their territories and food systems.
- Recognize and empower the fundamental role of women in food production across the world.
3) Just transition with good jobs and worker rights
- A true just transition must provide a framework for transforming our economy to one based on energy democracy, food sovereignty, worker and community control, and protection of the right to water, food, land, and energy for all.
- Shift to local solutions that make good on the promise of public ownership and cooperative control.
- Public policies should enable community management of forests and natural systems that are the best way to protect biodiversity and promote ecosystem restoration.
- Instead of an economy based on extraction and consumption where frontline communities are turned into sacrifice zones, we must foster ecological resilience to restore biodiversity and other natural systems.
- Promote organic and ecological small- and mid-scale food production systems that support thriving local economies and higher numbers of dignified jobs than energy-intensive large-scale commodity agriculture.
- Ensure the right for people to have dignified work and safe workplaces, as well as a guaranteed family-sustaining wage, hours and benefits. Protect the rights of workers to organize, engage in collective bargaining and undertake workplace actions.
- The Green New Deal process must be transparent and include frontline peoples, affected communities and workers at every stage from planning through implementation.
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Nicole Ghio is the Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth, an organization that defends the environment and champions a healthy and just world in which all people live with dignity, health and equity. FOE is a long-time activism ally and grantee of CREDO: since 1991, CREDO members have voted to donate nearly $1 million to FOE.
Posted on February 1, 2019
Color Of Change, Win Without War and Women’s March thank CREDO members for their support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible organizations. Those small actions add up – with one click, they help fund groups supporting civil rights, peace and women’s rights. In January, over 80,000 CREDO members voted to distribute our monthly donation to Color Of Change, Win Without War and Women’s March
– see how much each group received below.
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our products and services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our January grant recipients thank you.
Color Of Change
$48,645
“Thank you for your support! CREDO members like you help Color Of Change amplify the voices of our 1.4 million members to move decision makers in corporations and government to do what is right for Black people, and all people, until justice is real.” To learn more, visit colorofchange.org.
Win Without War
$51,510
“Thank you for your continued support and partnership! CREDO members like you help make it possible for Win Without War to work for a more peaceful and progressive U.S. foreign policy, focused on building peace and justice at home and abroad.” To learn more, visit winwithoutwar.org.
Women’s March
$49,845
“Thank you for supporting our movement! When CREDO members like you help build our women-led resistance movement, you’re making history with us. Your support allows us to keep taking action on the issues that matter and training reSisters to join us.” To learn more, visit womensmarch.com.
Now check out the three groups we are funding in February, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.
CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile and CREDO Energy and join our movement.
Posted on February 1, 2019
Vote for Amnesty International, American Constitution Society or Sunrise Movement in February
Every month, CREDO members vote to distribute our monthly donation to three great progressive causes – and every vote makes a difference. This February, you can support groups holding Donald Trump accountable, fighting for human rights across the globe and working to stop climate change and pass a Green New Deal by voting for American Constitution Society, Amnesty International and Sunrise Movement.
American Constitution Society
American Constitution Society is the nation’s leading progressive legal organization, with over 200 student and lawyer chapters in almost every state and on most law school campuses. ACS was founded on the principle that the law should be a force to improve the lives of all people.
Support from CREDO members will help ACS mobilize its network and provide activists with the tools they need to protect our freedoms, secure a fair and balanced court system, and hold Trump accountable for his illegal and unethical conduct.
Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International is a global grassroots movement and one of the world’s foremost defenders of human rights. With millions of activists worldwide, we work tirelessly toward fair treatment for people everywhere.
Support from CREDO and its members will help Amnesty International USA as we work at home and abroad to fight injustice and help create a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
Sunrise Movement
Sunrise is building an army of young people to pass a Green New Deal that will stop climate change and put millions of Americans to work. We organize inside and outside the halls of power to fight for the survival and prosperity of our generation.
Sunrise made national headlines last November when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined Sunrise activists protesting in the office of incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushing for climate action. Funding from CREDO will help Sunrise build an army of young people to make the Green New Deal a top issue in the 2020 presidential race.
Your vote this month will determine how we divide our monthly donation among these three progressive groups. Be sure to cast your vote to support one, two or all three by February 28.
CREDO members who use our products and services everyday are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile and CREDO Energy and join our movement.
Posted on January 29, 2019
Tuesday Tip: Why the Green New Deal is Essential
The Green New Deal is – finally – a plan with the scope and ambition necessary to transition our society and economy away from fossil fuels and fend off the oncoming climate crisis.
Scientific research is now virtually unanimous: Unless we take drastic action to get carbon emissions under control in the next decade, by the year 2040, the global ecosystem will tip into an irreversible slide toward breakdown. In the United States, warming will devastate every sector of the economy, from agriculture to public health.
The Green New Deal is a plan to prevent this – and more. A proposal by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Green New Deal would entirely transform the U.S. economy, shifting us to 100 percent renewable energy within 10 years. Named for Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal that helped lift the United States out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Green New Deal is a sweeping program of investment – not only in clean energy, but also in jobs, income inequality, infrastructure, and racial justice. It would give us an economy that is sustainable, strong and fair after our transition away from carbon.
By some estimates, a Green New Deal could create 10 million jobs over the next decade by putting Americans to work on the sustainable technology and infrastructure we need to transition away from fossil fuels. It would reduce income inequality and bring solutions to communities that have been left behind.
Like Pres. Roosevelt’s New Deal, this plan is ambitious – but it is necessary and possible. To make it a reality, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, 45 members of Congress and groups like our allies at the Sunrise Movement – an organization of young climate activists – have urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to establish a House Select Committee on a Green New Deal with a mandate to create a solid plan by 2020 to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2030, invest in communities on the frontlines of poverty and pollution, and guarantee good jobs to all who are willing to work for these goals. More than 61,000 CREDO activists have called on House Democrats to support Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal.
In addition, activists took their demands directly to Speaker Pelosi to demand immediate action on a new select committee: Hundreds of activists from Sunrise Movement staged multiple protests in the Capitol, the first of which was attended by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez herself, urging Speaker Pelosi to establish the select committee and make climate action front and center in the new Congress. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi stopped short of doing so. Instead, she established the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, which does not have the same mandate that climate activists have pushed for, such as allowing the committee to write legislation to transform our economy in the way that’s needed to prevent a climate crisis.
But CREDO and our allies are not deterred by this small setback, and we’re ramping up pressure on the
To learn and read more about the Green New Deal, Vox has a detailed and lengthy explainer you can check out here.
If you’re concerned about climate change, here’s a step you can take right now: switch your phone service to CREDO Mobile and your home electricity to CREDO Energy. We fight for climate justice through CREDO Action and donate to environmental organizations that are fighting the climate crisis every day, as well as many other progressive nonprofits. Take a look at who we fund and vote for the organizations you think we should fund this month.
Posted on January 26, 2019
Our favorite posters from the 2019 Women’s March
On Jan. 19, thousands turned out to stand up for women’s rights at the 2019 Women’s March, held in Washington, DC and in hundreds of communities across the globe.
We were so inspired by the creative and empowering signs carried by marchers, and members of the CREDO team were on hand to offer a few of our own designs. Here are some of our favorite posters from the marches in Washington DC and San Francisco.
Posted on January 25, 2019
Why are T-Mobile executives staying at Trump’s hotel? We have an idea.
It’s an open not-so-secret in Washington: Want to curry favor with Donald Trump? Book a room at his hotel.
T-Mobile executives, including outspoken CEO John Legere, stayed the day after announcing a $26 billion telecom mega-merger that needs approval by the Trump administration.
The Washington Post reported that top T-Mobile executives not only stayed for three days at Trump’s Washington hotel after the merger announcement, but some have returned to the hotel up to 10 times, totaling at least 38 hotel nights booked. It’s hard to believe every other hotel in Washington was full.
As former DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Counsel Gene Kimmelman put it, “I can’t believe this is a coincidence. In mergers, companies look for any potential advantage they can find.”
T-Mobile joins a long line of corporations, foreign diplomats and special interest groups participating in a “pay-to-play” scheme to influence the greedy, self-centered (and not to mention hateful, racist and misogynist) occupant of the White House. Trump is using his position to enrich himself and his family, and T-Mobile is happy to play along as long as it can increase its bottom line.
And this isn’t the first time T-Mobile has dipped its toe into Trump’s swamp. Last year, we learned that T-Mobile hired Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to help grease the regulatory wheels at the DOJ to move along merger negotiations. T-Mobile even refused to fire Lewandowski after he publicly mocked an immigrant 10-year-old with Down syndrome who was forcibly ripped from her mother at the border.
T-Mobile may be putting profits above values, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Here at CREDO, we would never attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration. In fact, we’re actively fighting him and his policies – through our activism and donations to progressive organizations that our members make possible just by using their phones every day.
To learn more about how you can help make progressive change with the simple choice of your mobile phone company, please visit CREDO Mobile.
Posted on January 23, 2019
CREDO activists confront CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan at his home
After news broke of the tragic death of 7-year-old asylum seeker Jakelin Caal
Protesters projected images of the three asylum-seekers on McAleenan’s home and demanded that he resign immediately:
From separating immigrant families to tear gassing them, McAleenan is carrying out all of Trump’s racist demands. He is dangerous, and he has to go. That’s why we’ve launched a petition – with already more than 50,000 CREDO member signatures – calling on the CBP commissioner to resign. You can add your name here.
This protest isn’t the first time CREDO activists have taken direct action to the homes of Trump administration officials who are enforcing and escalating Trump’s racist attacks on immigrants. Last June, CREDO members gathered outside the house of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, one of Trump’s leading henchmen who is implementing Trump’s inhumane immigration policy. We loudly played leaked audio of crying children who were separated from their parents at the border and marched with signs branding Nielsen a “child snatcher.” Our action brought nationwide attention – from the Washington Post to Newsweek, including one video that was viewed more than 1.3 million times.
Posted on January 23, 2019
#MeToo Victory: RCA drops sexual predator R. Kelly
For decades, multiple Black girls and young women have accused R&B singer R. Kelly of sexually abusing them. Yet, their calls for accountability have been ignored by law enforcement, record labels and other corporations promoting and profiting from his music. But last week, thanks to the sustained activism of Black women, Sony finally dropped R. Kelly from RCA records.
Together, with Color of Change, UltraViolet, Girls for Gender Equity and NOW NYC, CREDO activists signed petitions and last week gathered outside of Sony’s New York office to demand that Sony stop enabling a known sexual predator. Just days later, the music conglomerate ended Kelly’s contract with RCA.
The coalition delivered more than 200,000 petition signatures to RCA – including more than 42,000 from CREDO members.
Watch the rally outside Sony’s office here:
The docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” brought national attention to the stories of Black women who survived Kelly’s abuse. For years, Kelly never faced legal or financial consequences for his crimes. That is now, thankfully, beginning to change. We’re grateful to the groups who have led this work for years and to the CREDO members who stood with them.
Posted on January 22, 2019
AT&T helped re-elect white supremacist Congressman Steve King
Rep. Steve King of Iowa is a racist and a white supremacist.
UPDATE: In a shocking interview with The New York Times on January 10, 2019, racist Iowa Rep. Steve King made clear his true, white supremacist colors, remarking “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
It wasn’t the first time King has showed his white supremacist side: He publicly courts favor with right-wing extremists, believes immigrants are “undermining our culture,” and keeps a confederate flag on his desk.
So we continue to ask: why over his long, racist career has King received more than $60,000 from AT&T, including $10,000 – the legal maximum limit – for his 2018 re-election campaign?
Here at CREDO, we don’t fund white supremacy. Thanks to our members, we actively fight against hate by supporting groups like the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and many more.
And we’re pressuring Congress to take action against King. We’re calling on House Speaker Pelosi and every member of the House of Representatives to censure, then expel Steve King. You can sign the petition here: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Pelosi_king
November 15, 2018 He retweets neo-Nazis and endorsed one for mayor of Toronto. He courts favor with extremist, right-wing European nationalists. He has accused immigrants of “undermining our culture and civilization.” One of King’s biggest corporate donors, the telecommunications giant AT&T, donated $5,000 to his 2018 re-election campaign and a total of $59,000 over King’s career. But thanks to massive public pressure, including by more than 66,000 CREDO members who signed our petition, AT&T announced they would no longer fund King’s campaigns.
But the damage has been already done: King was re-elected with AT&T’s help.
That begs the question: What took AT&T so long to stop bankrolling King? King has a long history of making overtly racist comments dating back over more than a decade, including comparing immigrants to animals, disparaging Muslim children and asserting that people of color have contributed little to American culture. AT&T continues to fund politicians who support Donald Trump’s and the Republicans’ racist agenda, so we must keep up the pressure on AT&T to stop funding all candidates who support white supremacy. CREDO will never fund white supremacy. In fact, CREDO and our members actively fight racism and white supremacy through our activism and by funding progressive organizations who stand up against hate. To learn more about how we fund progressive causes and if you’re considering making the switch, visit CREDOMobile.com.Posted on January 18, 2019
Tuesday Tip: Make MLK Day a “day on,” not a day off
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, Jan. 21. Encouragingly, the day is growing in recognition, with about 42 percent of U.S. businesses now giving workers the day off, which is more than give Presidents Day. Also encouraging is the fact that more and more of those who do get the day off spend it as a “day on,” volunteering in their community and serving others.
This is a trend that is very much needed in our nation now, because the progressive ideals that Dr. King fought for – racial justice, civil rights, economic equality, nonviolence – need defending. Hate crimes are rising sharply. Income inequality continues to grow. Immigrant children are being separated from their parents and locked in cages. Donald Trump continues to sow fear and racial division to inflame his base and feed his ego.
Our country can be better than this. And you can help. You can volunteer on January 21 and show your support for Dr. King’s legacy. He lived – and died – building a movement for change and improving the lives of others. As he told an audience in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?’”
What you can do is serve, even if only for a day. Spend MLK Day painting a school or delivering meals or building a home. Find a volunteer opportunity and help your neighbors, strengthen your community, bridge barriers and empower solutions to social problems.
To find a volunteer opportunity near you or get support for your project, try the search tool at the MLK Day of Service website.
As Coretta Scott King wrote in her essay “The Meaning of the King Holiday,” “His voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible.”
Every January 21, we can all follow in his footsteps. We can spend a day in service, live the values that Dr. King lived, and lift our nation a little closer to the ideals that he worked for.
