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The Green New Deal Isn’t Unrealistic, It’s Necessary

Young activist speaking to a group of other climate activists

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been scared about climate change.

Growing up, I heard about how my hometown of Boston could be largely underwater by the end of the century. I grew up watching increasingly severe droughts and floods take thousands of lives in southern India, where my family is from, and fearing my family might be next. Every step of my life, fear of climate change has been a potent, tangible force. It feels less like some abstract scientific fact in a textbook and more like knowing a giant asteroid is heading toward my family.

Today, much of my generation can’t escape that fear even as we make life decisions about whether or not to have children. Is it moral to bring someone new into a planet that’s 3degrees warmer? How much of our income should we save for retirement? What’s really the point, if the planet’s going to look like Mad Max?

Which is why, when I read the UN reports that say we have little more than a decade to solve this problem, I’m overwhelmed by a powerful sense that this is an emergency. We simply don’t have time, as a society, to keep having the same pointless debates about whether the science is real or to continue predicting the odds that some particular piece of legislation can clear the Senate. All that’s left is to put forward an idea that actually meets the scale of the crisis within the necessary time frame – one that can ensure millions of people, who are disproportionately low-income and people of color, don’t lose their lives to climate-charged storms, floods or other natural disasters – and then do everything in our power to make it happen, in a coordinated effort across every sector of our economy.

There is not a single idea being debated in the halls of Congress today ambitious enough to do that, except for the Green New Deal, written by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey. As we worked with Sen. Markey and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on their resolution, we expected the usual objections to come our way. We expected, as had been the case with the Waxman-Markey bill early on in the Obama presidency, that Washington Republicans bought out by fossil fuel CEOs would scream bloody murder. We correctly predicted, as had been the case with numerous proponents of carbon tax proposals over the years, that we would be dismissed as idealistic children, too naive to be concerned with the details of how experts think politics happens. But what we truly didn’t see coming was this new notion that we are unrealistic, that the lofty ambition of our idea is itself proof of our lack of seriousness.

Pundits, from the pages of New York Magazine to Mother Jones, hammer away with the argument that the Green New Deal is too ambitious to even consider seriously. They are joined by billionaire coffee magnate Howard Schultz, who dismisses the idea with much the same condescension as Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who pretended not to remember even the name of the resolution in mocking it as a “green dream.” Even the New York Times  editorial board declares the Green New Deal only a little better than the apocalyptic nightmare it aims to prevent, advocating instead for “step-by-step measures” like reversing Trump-era environmental deregulation and “tax incentives for electric vehicles.”

Those well-intentioned critiques outlining a more “realistic” alternative might have been convincing 30 years ago, before Exxon’s decades-long disinformation campaign and systematic bribery of elected officials forced our political system into stalemate on this issue.

Thirty years ago, step-by-step policy tweaks might have given us a fighting chance at avoiding catastrophic climate change within my generation’s lifetime. But in the time since, we’ve seen every opportunity to pass meaningful climate legislation crushed by moneyed opposition and cynical poisoning of the public dialogue. We’ve had to organize tirelessly to push our own allies, like President Obama, to reject dangerous oil pipelines and drilling. If we’ve learned anything, watching report after report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sound the alarm while politicians debate dead-on-arrival, small-bore policies, it’s that a step-by-step process of incremental changes, as a strategy, has failed to safeguard our future or our planet.

If we are serious about averting catastrophe, it’s clear that we need a new approach to this crisis, something that can break through all the forces that make climate action so difficult: corporate power, partisan polarization and the debasement of the nation’s “conservative” party into a vehicle for plutocrats, racists and anti-science cynics.

Any chance of winning this fight depends on igniting powerful social movements to change the political weather and build an expansive political coalition capable of taking on the fossil fuel lobby. To do that we need to make a new, salient and values-based argument that speaks to America’s hopes and fears: A vision of our future where all of us can thrive in a prosperous and healthy world.

Varshini Prakash is the Executive Director of Sunrise Movement. She lives in Boston.

62 Comments on “The Green New Deal Isn’t Unrealistic, It’s Necessary

  1. I’m 79 years old and I agree with you. Check out what Washington state, led by Gov. Inslee, have done regarding significant steps to combat climate change.

    • By all means: Governor Jay Inslee is the one – of all the candidates – who knows, and cares, and governs in terms of turning the climate change crisis around! I first learned the word ECOLOGY in 1948, 71 years ago, and I’ve been watching, ever since, and talking to people, and doing what I could to be involved in constructive ways to reduce/reuse/recycle . . . and re-imagine. But small, individual attempts are almost beside the point, now. We must have great leaders – and great followers who support and install them in the halls of power, where the life-altering decisions are made.

  2. We need clean air as much as clean clothes. When will the other Party get that message!

    • We need clean air more than we need clean clothes. Clean clothes are the privilege of people with running water , who are not climate refugees, and who are not in a war zone.

    • More! Much more! Our life as a people, as a planet, depends on it!

  3. We need to keep the pressure on. “THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED “

  4. You are correct, if we do not step up and take a stand on Climate Change the planet will be headed into the next extinction and we will go the way of the dinosaurs. It is going to take all of us to stop this from happening, not just here in the United States, but everyone on the planet. We also must protect the wildlife and plants in order to keep the planet sustainable. We must reverse our habit of clear cutting and expanding our cities. We need to increase the green areas in our cities and stop the use of fossil fuels. End the use of plastics that are not recyclable and continue to push energy efficiency for power, food, and transportation.

  5. Keep the pressure on. I’ll do my part whatever it takes.

  6. My senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley have not the remotest intention of signing onto the Green New Deal. And all my hopes for a new ally in Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer are going up in flames as her sole interest seems to be to protect the ethanol industry here in Iowa. I have written and called them all numerous times. Ernst seldom even responds and Grassley says “thanks but I feel otherwise.” Finkenauer keeps saying, “I’m new, I’m new.” I see why Vietnamese monks immolated themselves to protest the war in the 1960s and 70s. Despair and desperation. To my representatives, however, my demise would be one less troublemaker to deal with.

  7. I am a 85 years old woman, raised in Germany during the second World War. I am an environmentalist most all my life . I have seen the destruction that the human race is capable of. This war however that the human race has created against this planet by causing the change in our climate, is so much more devastating, threatens the very creatures who have caused it to begin with ! ! !
    For decades I had lost faith and hope as I watched Greed, Power and Ignorance destroying or diminishing the very things that keep us alive. Your movement of this young generation is giving me back the lost faith and hope that this Planet and us Earthlings need in order to survive . I wish you success for the sake of us all.

  8. My husband and I, both 75 years old, keep hearing other folks our age say they are glad they will not be alive when the worst climate change happens, but they fear for their grandchildren’s futures. We are sad that neither of our children, now in their forties, has kids. There were so many things I would have loved to do with grandchildren; and yet, I am relieved not to have a generation of our family subjected to living in catastrophic climate conditions, with probable food and water shortages. and even the collapse of society as we know it.

    We are appalled at what unbridled capitalism has done and is doing to the planet and to all the living things on it. The whole glorification of greed, and the system of corporate legal obligation to pay ever higher dividends to shareholders, represents a total lack of concern for life on earth. The willingness of corporations to poison the earth and foul or destroy all its resources in the process of making a profit is against all moral considerations, and against even common sense.

    It is a comfort to see organizations like yours fighting the system! We wish you success.

  9. There are already too many people. We need an extra half earth to replenish all the renewable rsources we use uo yearly. Even without global warming, we are killing off earth’s ecosystems. A middle class life-style is NOT possible for all. We must reduce our population. If we don’t do it peacefully and cooperatively, we will do it by disease and famine and war.

  10. Excellent summary of the case before us! I wholeheartedly agree.

  11. I live in Butte Counry, I was born in Shasta County, my great grandfather and families came to ca. During the Dust Bowl that wiped out their farms and businesses.
    Now we have Global warming,the Colorado River, has gone down 25% in the last few years because of drought and low snow falls yes this year will be above normal. But forecasters at NAOA said It soon will be at 50% less. It’s real we need to do something now . Before another town is burn down and lives are forever. Before the beautiful RidGrande is forever change from things that can be changed

  12. Yes. I agree. And we also need this growing body of intelligent and clear sighted leaders, such as Varshini Prakash, to show us what we need to do.

    — Thanks

  13. The most serious problem we face is climate change. Passing a Green New Deal is important to deal with so many issues. It will help rebuild our infrastructure, the provide good paying jobs, save money over the long term, and ultimately, the Green New Deal is crucial to save the planet.
    Humans in their blissful denial of climate change are giving lemmings a bad name. We’re all on a driverless train speeding down an ever steepening mountain heading toward a cliff.
    Or, in actuality we’ve already plunged off that cliff and are in free fall. We’re enjoying the feeling of weightlessness and the wind in our face like a dog with his head out the car window. No worries till we hit the ground.

    I had hoped that the democratic party and the DNC had learned their lessons in 2016. However, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is still attacking progressives and Bernie Sanders. Even now the DCCC is attempting to block support for progressive candidates, showing themselves to be not much different from Tump’s G.O.P. The DNC and corporatist democrats (aka GOP Lite) deserted their base and were largely responsible for Trump. The DNC did everything they could to undermine Bernie Sanders even though he was found to be the stronger candidate against any of the republican candidates at that time including Trump. We ended up with a mediocre candidate in Hillary who ran a poor campaign.
    Heroes like Bernie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez need to help remake the democratic party into a true party of the people.

  14. Vegan law for the whole world will fix violence, deseases, climate change.animal Extinction.peace!

  15. I don’t know how much more convincing is needed-obviously alot! There’s certainly enough destruction from the ravages of nature trying to set itself aright and repair the damage done by our overwhelming desire to produce, produce, produce and misuse our resources. Our markets are aglut with mass overproduction of goods; we’ve over-abundanced ourselves.
    We can clean things up-we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the brains, we’ve got the next generation who is growing up smarter than we could even imagine-we better listen to what they are asking. Not throw in the towel and say “They’ll figure it out!” They want our help.

  16. Thank you. Congress only seems to do anything when they make money from the action. Sad but true. Few good people in congress but not enough to get a New Green Deal passed. Only way we will get action in next few years is 2020 elections and enough good people win in Congress and Whitehouse.

  17. Climate change has to be stopped. Maybe we should convert the militaries of the world to cleaning the planet instead of allowing war.

  18. I am an old senior citizen. The worst of what is unfolding in climate change will hit the hardest after I am gone. But I care very much abut this amazing, gorgeous planet that is our home. I became deeply concerned about the future of our country and our planet about 30 or more years ago. I remember going to hear the man who I think was at the time the president of Sierra Club speak. He really reinforced my growing awareness of an environmental problem. In later years I remember seeing a program on PBS with a professor from Stanford University. I believe his name was Paul Ehrlich. He was speaking about the effects of population growth on the finite resources of our planet. There was also a man, I think he was an economist (?) from UC Berkeley. The complications are great on how to limit population size and not create a mess economically. For years I have increasingly believed that there are just to darn many people on this planet and it cannot continue to support an ever rapidly growing population. That demand for resources is stressed more and more by climate change.
    I am limited by a few issues – age – poor health and low income – by what I can do. I can vote. I can sign petitions. My hope is that the young people of today will gain the political and economic power starting now, to enforce change on our country, on the planet, and that young people in other parts of the world will do same in their best interests. It is critical to the future of all living creatures, starting with humans.
    My generation and one’s older than me have made pretty much of a big mess of our environment and the best and probably only hope for saving life on earth has to with the younger generations. For sure we cannot trust a majority of our politicians and greedy corporate powers to do what is best and what is desperately needed, now, not sometime in the future. The very short sighted vision of all too many people who seem to daily demonstrate an inability to look much beyond tomorrow.

  19. It is human nature to wait until disaster has struck before acting. In this case the result maday lead to unmitigatable disaster.
    Mars has water but is very cold and has no atmosphere. This is our only planet.

  20. We have been derelict in our duty to preserve and enhance the beauty and life force that is our planet. Those who have spoken condescendingly and ignorantly about the science of climate change need to be replaced with more empathetic, curious and realistic lawmakers. VOTE, speak up, speak out and remember that this is the most important issue facing the entire human population

  21. The Sunrise Movement is our greatest hope for the future. I am in complete support of the Green New Deal and I believe that Sunrise understands what it will take to get it to happen.

  22. I’m with you and the Green New Deal. As one person I can only control my own actions.
    I hope to lead by example. I do not ever eat fast food, choosing instead slow home grown food, mostly plant based. I pick up trash and recyclables in my neighborhood daily. I recycle and reuse everything I personally use. I walk every day to do errands instead of driving.
    I do not take any prescription drugs, shop primarily in a thrift shop , eat sparingly and volunteer
    for my HOA and several non-profits. I am self sufficient and healthy at nearly 72 years old. I feel your sense of urgency about stopping the downward slide towards climate
    disaster. Awareness is the true battle. I pray we can turn the tide.

  23. Keep up the fight, bringing us closer and closer to being the critical mass…..

  24. The big money boys have their man in office and their going to do whatever they think is necessary to keep him there. After all the only way the multi billionaires can stay on top is with a pro-oil, pro-coal, pro-arctic oil development president.

  25. April 22, 1970, was the first Earth Day, 49 years ago. It was an acknowledgement on an international scale that we, the human phenomenon, should develop increased mindfulness of our relationship to the resources of planet Earth.
    Earth is the humans’ only home, a closed ecosystem where everything humans do is part of the Cause and Effect of Earth science. We breathe in the oxygen plants supply. We breathe out the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) plants take in and break down to make sugars to conduct photosynthesis with solar energy, to give us back that oxygen.

    Going back another 120 years, Before Earth Day (Even though that spells BED DO NOT go back to bed!), 169 years ago, 1850, it is estimated there were one-billion humans all alive on planet Earth, all at the same time.
    In that year, 1850, an Industrial Revolution began. It was revolutionary that the humans had learned to burn things, heating water into steam, and controlling that steam to run locomotive trains, and a variety of other ‘energy slaves’, machines. The machines could do more work than individual humans, or even great numbers of humans working together.
    Humans burn anything that will burn, animal dung, grass, wood, animal oils, animal fat, fossil oil and coal, gas. Homo sapiens, “knowing man”, became homo ignitius, “burning man”.
    Great steam shovels were developed that could take a bite out of the Earth bigger than your house. And they could do it again and again, all day long. They moved untold trillions of tons of coal to burn to smelt untold trillions of tons of ore, to make copper and steel and aluminum and all the other metal things humans use. Coal trains have run constantly for the last 169 years. Machines cut whole forests down and used the wood for building, and burning. Humans burn things just to get them out of our sight.

    In just seventy-five years (1850-1925) there were two-billion humans, all alive on planet Earth, all at the same time. Each of them burned something, or had something burned on their behalf, every day, to heat in cold climates, to cook, to get things out of their sight, to continue the Industrial Revolution.
    In 1859 John D. Rockefeller began drilling oil, and the railroads began being pipelines to deliver oil to the places of burning.

    In thirty-seven more years (1925-1962) there were three-billion burning men, and women, all alive on planet Earth, all at the same time. Great lakes, oceans of oil, mountains, mountain ranges of coal, untold quantities of gas, wood, grass, animal dung, continued to be burned.
    In fourteen more years there were four-billion burning humans (1976).
    In ten more years there were five-billion (1986).
    This is called ‘exponential’ increase.

    In 2019 I don’t hear anyone talk about population. The last number I heard was seven-billion, and that was some years ago. Perhaps the substances sold as ‘food’ are killing enough humans to slow the exponential increase. Perhaps the wars for fun and profit are helping slow the increase. Tobacco kills one of every five Americans who die (20% of all American deaths). It’s interesting that you can make your living killing, with a government license.

    Much of the burning can be avoided by capturing the energy Mother Nature supplies. That clever girl’s already doing the work. If Mother Nature shines the Sunstar, capture THAT energy. If Mother Nature moves the air or the water, capture that energy. There is geothermal energy in the ground at your feet, wherever you are. Capture that energy.

    We don’t need new things to burn. We need to stop burning things. Those who have their money invested in humans burning things don’t want to enact tactics in a strategy of Adaptive Response to the Threatening Change, capital T, capital C, an Effect Caused by homo ignitius, Burning Man. They’re willing to lie, cheat, steal, kill, subvert governments, to keep making their money selling things to burn.

    Ironically, they’re the ones best equipped to lead the Adaptive Response. In doing so they could preserve their ‘burnable’ resources for human uses that can’t be Adapted away from immediately, and to serve humanity far longer into the future. Instead they seem determined to keep going until they, you might say, ‘run out of gas’. Only then will they have to abandon their vehicle, and walk, if there’s anywhere to walk to. Burning Man may have rendered planet Earth uninhabitable by then. Adaptive Responses by then may be too-little/too-late to enable survival of Threatening Change coming too-much/too-soon.

    But hope springs eternal in Earth Day, a day to go out on planet Earth and experience it with as many of your senses as possible. See the colors of the day. See the darkness and stars of the night. A wonderfully full moon came up this morning. It shone in on my bed. I watched as planet Earth turned and made the moon cross my window until it no longer shone on my face. It got a little cool. The furnace kicked on, buying some gas to burn. Now the Earth has turned toward the Sunstar, a bright sunny day, about 60 degrees, Fahrenheit (American humans still use Fahrenheit.) Get out there and see it. Hear it. Smell and taste and touch Mother Earth, your only home.

    You know, an annual Earth Day birthday may not be enough of an Adaptive Response to Threatening Change. There may come a year when the day arrives, but the Earth is dead. We may be late in developing the critical mass of human consciousness demanded for effecting Adaptive Response. We may need quarterly Earth Days, the Threat is so great, and we’re so late in becoming mindful.
    Summer Earth Day is July 22, 2019. Try and remember to go out on planet Earth again then, and experience it with as many of your senses as possible, while it’s still possible. You’ll have to tell other people about it. It’s new.
    Autumn Earth Day is October 22, 2019.
    Winter Earth Day, January 22, 2020.
    And Spring Earth Day, today, April 22, 2019, 169 years after the Industrial Revolution transformed Knowing Man into Burning Man. You are the stewards of planet Earth. You will hand it down to the coming billions of humans. Hand them down something at least as livable as what was handed down to you.
    Now get out there! Planet Earth is waiting to share its resources with you! Happy birthday, Earth Day!

    • A beautifully descriptive statement on who and what and where we are now.
      Thank you I!

    • LET’S CELEBRATE A DAILY EARTH DAY. IT’S AN EMERGENCY!

      YOUR ARTICLE IS WONDERFUL–SWEET. SAD AND POETIC. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COMPOSE YOUR THOUGHTS!

  26. I am 71 and I totally agree. There will be not livable world in 30 years. I will be gone and so will the old men controlling our politics. They do know of the wasting of the planet, but they believe they will have enough money to make bubbles of living for their offspring, or they as so self involved they do not care about their offspring.
    Today has to be the day of reality and action.

  27. The greed of corporations, oil and gas producers and mega rich is overwhelming. What they don’t realize is that climate change is affecting them as well. They won’t have the food, water or clean air to breathe either. It’s obvious they only care for themselves, while the rest of the planet can die. It is time that all Americans stand up and stop this abuse of our home world. All lives depend on what we do in the next ten years. Greed and ignorance must end.

  28. 100% support this work. We must change for the sake of the children.

  29. we all should celebrate earth day every single day …we take our glorious earth for granted and dont pledge to do the hard work to maintain our blessings each day. I pledge to try to be mindful each day of what and how much im burning to stay alive ..we must abandon fossil fuels!

  30. OK. I get it that it’s important to realize how dependent we are on good sense, which is in pretty short supply, and how we may get motivated to actually make/encourage some serious changes if we get out there and appreciate how wonderful our home is. And that sounds like a great thing to do. BUT please tell me where to go to learn what I, a 75 year old woman, retired, and somewhat tired, and quite involved in other important things, like caring for family members who can’t care for themselves (not just sitting here twiddling my thumbs and watching TV — most of the time); what can I actually DO to do my part to create change.

    I appreciate being told how bad it is, because most of us need a kick in the pants to pull our heads out of the sand and realize SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE AND WE ALL HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHANGE. But, please, also tell me something to DO! I know, I know. I can ask Google anything, including this, but Google will tell me so many things I’ll be overwhelmed (it’s not hard to overwhelm me). I’m old. Tell me ONE thing to do. One actually useful thing, that an old woman with little technological expertise, not so much energy, and not so much time, either; suggest one thing that I can focus on that will actually make a difference.

    And, thank you.

    Karin

    • Any money you have in investments should be in funds that are free of fossil fuel investments. If they are not then move them. Savings should be in a local credit union or local bank that supports environmentalism. These are simple actions that will require some research. Google fossil fuel free funds to get started. Talk to your local banker to find out how your money is being invested.

    • No more single use plastic. Take your reusable bags to the grocers and refuse plastic straws in your beverages. Use a stainless steel container for water when traveling instead of plastic water bottles.

      Be inspired by the Green Peace website.

  31. WE NEED TO BE VERY AGGRESSIVE IN PASSING A NEW GREEN DEAL. WE NEED TO SAVE OUR PLANET FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. CLIMATE CHANGE IS A HORRIFIC CHALLENGE!
    THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO, Elizabeth

  32. Lately I think a lot about something I read in an interview with Ram Das back in the 90’s. I will paraphrase it here, but I am taking a few liberties: “Whether we are entering a new age of harmony and cooperation or on the cusp of the annihilation, our task is the same…to stay focused and do the bidding of our hearts. To live with compassion and grace.” If you are already awake to the distress of Pachamama and have a plan, go for it with 100% of your energy and bless this beautiful planet with your thoughts, words and deeds each day. The hardest thing, as you go about your task, is to embrace and have compassion for those who don’t yet see. But that is also part of the work, as we serve The Whole.

  33. I really enjoyed reading this wonderful composition. I just watched the TV documentary about Planet Earth. I wish someone would force Pres. Trump to watch that. Perhaps he will get a better understanding about climate warming, etc. There are so many species of living things it boggles the mind. To lose those to Climate destruction would be unthinkable. I want to congratulate the writer of this article Varshini Prakash, the Indian lady with more understanding about the environment, than any American-born person in this country. Thanks Varsh

  34. Nuclear energy is green and safe. It will be necessary to generate enough power to support a lifestyle acceptable to the majority of Americans.

  35. Keep in sight the central role of the corporate culture industry in perpetuating complacency and ignorance. The news media does not cover our disaster on a daily and in-depth basis; entertainment avoids the disaster or treats it like a joke; educational systems treat it as an add-on.

    Thus, no-one should be surprised that The New York Magazine and Mother Earth do not support the Green New Deal.

    Keep in mind that since at least 1970, information about our current and impeding disaster has been available and circulated; that no meaningful action has been taken indicates the power of the fossil fuel industry, yes, but also the hold the corporate culture industry maintains over the hearts and minds of so many people.

    One of our goals must be to intervene within that complacency by establishing our own media outlets. Credo may be well-positioned to aid in such an effort.

    Sunrise, do not hold your breath: issue the call for a global child-bearing strike by women until the environmental safety and security of children is guaranteed.

  36. I have supported Feinstein for years on many issues, but her comments to the Sunrise Movement children illustrated that she and democrats like her have become a foundational piece of the problem. We can no longer, and never should have relied on the occasional small accomplishment of our marginally egalitarian DNC leaders. Their accomplishments have not come close to keeping up with their losses since the 1970’s and yet they continue to assume Democrats have no place else to turn. Today’s Democratic party (maybe some other party) has to truly become the party of the people (excluding corporate people). If DNC leaders will not accept this, they must get out of the way as “We the People” move forward and move forward we must. The Green New Deal has become the “perfect storm” for the first real social movement since the 1960’s, only this time we have but one slim window to make changes and everything to lose if we fail.

  37. Couldn’t agree more – we have to have a Green New Deal for our grandchildren.

  38. The Green New Deal needs to be 100% focused on what people call Climate Change (which in itself does not mean much – I would prefer to call it Extreme Weather).

  39. Last night I participated in the Sunrise Movement’s Green New Deal Tour Stop in Des Moines put on in conjunction with Iowa CCI. Varshini, Sunrise members, climate activists, elected officials, Native Americans, high schoolers, college groups, and local folks with stories to tell came together to learn, listen, discuss, sing, find ways to contribute, and swell the ranks of concerned people who are committed to addressing the climate crisis head on. It was an evening of inspiration, solidarity, energy and hope. When the tour comes to a town near you, plan to attend, or take time to discover the power and purpose of the Sunrise Movement and the many local groups you can join with to share your skills and energy. Together we can push forward using the roadmap of the GND locally and globally. We can unleash the awesome power of the people. Get involved. You’ll feel that power in yourself! Virginia Meyer, proud member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement We talk. We act. We get it done.

  40. Enviro activists worked tirelessly in this famous wine growing region of the Napa Valley to do the easiest, most cost effective method to combat this climate crisis. But the one industry/ wine industry rebuffed the idea. I don’t believe incrementalism will cut it here or anywhere. Why aren’t our very wealthy hearing the cries of fear?

  41. I believe that humanity will undergo a fundamental energy transition. To get there we must also consume far less energy and modern life will undergo dramatic transformations as a result of that transition. Both overpopulation and overconsumption are dire threats. Our current growth- and consumption-based economy needs to be replaced. Our situation is precarious, the future will be extremely challenging, and many people and other species will suffer in the coming years, decades, and centuries.

    We need to build bipartisan support for meaningful climate action by backing pro-climate legislation that moves through Congress (such as “Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend” and “The Climate Action Now” acts) and protect the EPA by protecting its funding, and holding EPA leadership accountable through tough congressional oversight, and oppose the Trump Administration’s efforts to put Americans’ health and safety at risk by gutting bedrock environmental protections like the Clean Power Plan, clean car and truck standards, methane pollution protections, and limits on mercury and other air toxins.

    The Paris Climate Agreement is the best tool the world has to address the climate crisis. The Climate Action Now Act (H.R. 9) seeks to prevent the Trump administration from withdrawing from this landmark agreement. It would prohibit the use of any funds to withdraw from the agreement and require the administration to submit a detailed plan to Congress on how the United States will meet its climate obligations.

    The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) will drive down America’s carbon pollution and bring climate change under control, while unleashing American technology innovation and ingenuity.

    Please support all action — Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR763) AND The Climate Action Now Act (HR9) — that provide plans to achieve these urgent, necessary goals to address climate change.

  42. The really scary part of addressing climate change will have to include a new economic model for the world and a sustainable population discussion.

  43. This global warming is quite visible in the Colorado Mountain communities. Prior to the warming, very cold winters kept the pine betel under control. Three or Four days of minus 30 degrees would kill most of the betel larvae keeping control of the infestation. More recently the warmer temperatures allowed the betels to kill vast areas of lodgepole pine. Hundreds of thousands of acres of dying or dead trees were the result of this infestation.

    The dead trees provided a massive amount of fuel for forest fires. In our county, there were three fires within 10 to 30 miles of our home. We were fortunate, but many people lost their homes.

    The next expected event is mudslides in the fire affected areas similar to those seen in California.

    It is quite clear that global warming will continue affect our planet in many ways and decisive action must be taken

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