'This Is How We Change the World': To Address Climate Crisis, Video Explains, Democracy Movements Must Rise

A still from The Leap's new video on organizing voters to take over federal governments for progressive goals. (Image: The Leap/YouTube/screenshot)

'This Is How We Change the World': To Address Climate Crisis, Video Explains, Democracy Movements Must Rise

To get "sweeping policies enacted," says The Leap, "our movements have started taking the next step: winning elections and entering government."

A new campaign from advocacy organization The Leap is calling on progressives around the world to organize to take over federal governments and wield their power to address the climate crisis and other pressing global issues.

"Thanks to grassroots organizing, radical ideas like the Green New Deal have already gone mainstream," Rajiv Sicora, senior manager of research and U.S. programming at The Leap, said in an email. "Now, to get these sweeping policies enacted, our movements have started taking the next step: winning elections and entering government."

Watch the video:

Narrated by actor and activist Danny Glover, the video asks activists to use democratic power to push for the implementation of the big ideas driving contemporary progressive movements.

Climate advocates and progressive lawmakers reacted positively to the video's message.

"This is how we change the world," tweeted Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Bill McKibben, founder of the climate advocacy organization 350 Action, said on Twitter that the video was "spectacular."

"When people organize, elections turn from popularity contests to battles of ideas," said McKibben.

The Leap's Sicora said the video is the beginning of a week of taking a deep dive into "the links between climate and democracy" by the organization and its allies.

"We're not going to talk about technical or procedural fixes," said Sicora. "Instead, we'll be asking the big questions about how our movements interact with mainstream politics--and how we can bring democracy into all aspects of our lives."

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