As momentum for a Green New Deal continues to grow at the grassroots and in Congress amid dire scientific warnings that immediate and ambitious action is necessary to avert climate catastrophe, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are hosting a town hall alongside prominent environmentalists on Monday evening to discuss the global threat of the climate crisis and highlight bold solutions that the corporate media systematically ignores.
"It's time for a political revolution that takes on fossil fuel billionaires, accelerates our transition to clean energy, and finally puts people before the profits of polluters."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders"We have found that on some of the most important issues facing this country and the world, corporate media, generally speaking, is not there," Sanders told The Intercept's Naomi Klein in an interview at the three-day Sanders Institute Gathering in Burlington, Vermont over the weekend. "If we do not get our act together, I worry about the planet that we will be leaving... The grassroots of this country has got to stand up."
"When you talk about real issues, I would think that maybe the survival of the planet that we live on might be an issue of some concern to some people," the Vermont senator added.
To bypass the corporate media as it refuses to cover the climate crisis with the necessary urgency and accuracy, Sanders' town hall--as with his previous, widely-viewed events on inequality and Medicare for All--will be livestreamed on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter by independent media outlets like Common Dreams, The Young Turks, The Intercept, and NowThis.
Titled "Solving Our Climate Crisis," the event--which begins at 7pm ET on Monday--will explore solutions to the climate crisis that would quickly and justly transition the U.S. energy system away from fossil fuels and create millions of decent-paying jobs in the process.
Watch the event live here:
"It's time for a political revolution that takes on fossil fuel billionaires, accelerates our transition to clean energy, and finally puts people before the profits of polluters," Sanders declared on Twitter ahead of the event, which will also feature 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, actress and Our Revolution board member Shailene Woodley, and others.
As Common Dreams reported, support for bold solutions to the climate crisis is rapidly growing in Congress, with 18 Democratic House members now backing the creation of a Green New Deal Select Committee--an idea proposed by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Additionally, according to an E&E News report on Monday, Sanders is planning to unveil sweeping and ambitious legislation in the coming weeks that would include "a transition to 100 percent renewable energy and big investments in clean energy technology and green infrastructure."
"It has the aroma of a Green New Deal, if you will," a Sanders aide anonymously told E&E News.
The climate crisis and bold solutions like the Green New Deal featured prominently among the many crucial topics addressed at this past weekend's inaugural Sanders Institute Gathering, which included a panel on the necessity of bold climate action and how green initiatives can be financed.
"We need to have started yesterday," Klein said during the panel discussion on Friday. "What is required now is transformation of every aspect of society. In other words, a political revolution."
Watch Klein's full interview with Sanders at the gathering:
