Demos Supports "Green New Deal" Plan
Climate change poses an existential challenge to the planet. But the effects of climate change have fallen disproportionately on communities of color and working families. And the reality is that climate change has been accelerated by a coalition of corporations, donors, and policymakers who have adopted a willful blindness toward these dangers to our communities and our planet.
Combating climate change will require a radical transformation of our economy and our democracy, dramatically shifting our economic investments and empowering grassroots communities to have a stronger voice and to demand greater accountability going forward.
The Green New Deal resolution introduced today by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey represents a bold vision that can accomplish this aspiration while meeting the needs of our most vulnerable communities - supporting health and resiliency, equitable renewable energy investment, inclusive job creation programs, and creating greater community control over policy decisions.
The Green New Deal not only addresses the urgent crisis of the moment, but also expresses this bold new progressive vision that is sweeping the country.
Grassroots communities are driving the fight for climate justice, piloting new solutions and advancing a broader vision of an inclusive economy, society, and democracy. Demos supports members of the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and other organizations that have been championing the cause for decades.
While the framework proposed in the resolution for a Green New Deal is courageous in its vision, it is just the beginning of what needs to be a deep, inclusive and honest engagement process with stakeholders. Putting front line voices at the center of climate policy is the most equitable way to tackle climate change, while also addressing racial and economic injustice.
Demos supports the foundational goals of the Green New Deal as stated in this resolution. Further development of policies will require:
- Continued prioritization of meaningful engagement with front-line leaders and communities;
- Putting limits on fossil fuel extraction, especially as it impacts tribal nations and other front line communities;
- A targeted approach to creating good green jobs that guarantees equity, focusing specifically, for example, on displaced workers and high-unemployment communities;
- Prioritizing public and community ownership of the energy system;
- Avoiding false solutions that may have adverse impacts on front-line communities, including geoengineering, market-based solutions, and international agreements that fail to include civil society considerations;
- And international exchange of technology, products, and funding that invests in communities at the global front lines of climate change impacts, and that improves global equity.
