SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Demonstrators with the Sunrise Movement occupy congressional offices to demand a Green New Deal. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The Green New Deal: Let's Get Visionary
We need a plan to save the planet while creating great jobs. Actually, there is one.
Dec 25, 2018
Lately there's been a lot of bad news about climate change and the future of humanity.
In October, the United Nations issued a major report warning of a climate crisis as soon as 2040. The day after Thanksgiving, the Trump administration tried to bury the release of its own report on the dire effects of climate change already occurring in the United States, which included dark predictions for the future.
"If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time."
In December alone, we learned that 2018's global carbon emissions set a record high. NASA detected new glacier melts in Antarctica. There were wildfires. Coral reef bleaching. Ecosystem upheaval in Alaska as the arctic ice melts.
Meanwhile the Trump administration sent an adviser to the UN climate summit to promote coal and warn against climate "alarmism."
So this all sucks. But here's the thing about climate change: You can either ignore it, get depressed about doomsday scenarios, or believe that no matter how badly we've screwed up as a species, we're also smart and creative enough to fix this.
If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time.
So where can we focus our hope? What can we actually do about climate change?
I'm excited about the Green New Deal, an idea that's been kicking around since 2007 but was popularized this fall by Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and the youth-led Sunrise Movement. At least 37 members of Congress have signed on, along with dozens of activist organizations.
Not only a plan to shake up environmental policies, it's also a massive jobs program, named after the Depression-era New Deal. The basic idea is to get us to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, by putting Americans to work building a new energy infrastructure.
It merges the immediate concerns of working Americans -- jobs and the economy -- with the long-term concerns of climate change. We don't have to choose between economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.
"This is going to be the Great Society, the moonshot, the civil rights movement of our generation. That is the scale of the ambition that this movement is going to require," said Ocasio-Cortez during a town hall meeting with Bernie Sanders.
The ambitious plan touches on a "smart" grid; energy-efficient buildings; sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and infrastructure; and exporting green technology to make the U.S. "the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies." Think of the scale of this program, and then think of all the jobs that would be created. This could be huge for rural America in particular.
"Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small."
Will the Green New Deal be expensive? Probably. But that doesn't mean it will be a drag on our economy.
A recent study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate revealed that we could save $26 trillion, worldwide, if we shifted to sustainable development. Another new study shows wind and solar power to be the cheapest sources for electricity around the world. Last year, the Republican mayor of Georgetown, Texas switched his city to 100 percent renewable energy because of the low costs in the long-term.
On the other hand, at the UN climate summit in Poland, some of the world's most powerful investors warned of a major financial crash if we don't solve the climate crisis.
Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small.
So let's get visionary. Let's dream big. Let's fight for our children, and let's invest in their future.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Lately there's been a lot of bad news about climate change and the future of humanity.
In October, the United Nations issued a major report warning of a climate crisis as soon as 2040. The day after Thanksgiving, the Trump administration tried to bury the release of its own report on the dire effects of climate change already occurring in the United States, which included dark predictions for the future.
"If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time."
In December alone, we learned that 2018's global carbon emissions set a record high. NASA detected new glacier melts in Antarctica. There were wildfires. Coral reef bleaching. Ecosystem upheaval in Alaska as the arctic ice melts.
Meanwhile the Trump administration sent an adviser to the UN climate summit to promote coal and warn against climate "alarmism."
So this all sucks. But here's the thing about climate change: You can either ignore it, get depressed about doomsday scenarios, or believe that no matter how badly we've screwed up as a species, we're also smart and creative enough to fix this.
If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time.
So where can we focus our hope? What can we actually do about climate change?
I'm excited about the Green New Deal, an idea that's been kicking around since 2007 but was popularized this fall by Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and the youth-led Sunrise Movement. At least 37 members of Congress have signed on, along with dozens of activist organizations.
Not only a plan to shake up environmental policies, it's also a massive jobs program, named after the Depression-era New Deal. The basic idea is to get us to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, by putting Americans to work building a new energy infrastructure.
It merges the immediate concerns of working Americans -- jobs and the economy -- with the long-term concerns of climate change. We don't have to choose between economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.
"This is going to be the Great Society, the moonshot, the civil rights movement of our generation. That is the scale of the ambition that this movement is going to require," said Ocasio-Cortez during a town hall meeting with Bernie Sanders.
The ambitious plan touches on a "smart" grid; energy-efficient buildings; sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and infrastructure; and exporting green technology to make the U.S. "the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies." Think of the scale of this program, and then think of all the jobs that would be created. This could be huge for rural America in particular.
"Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small."
Will the Green New Deal be expensive? Probably. But that doesn't mean it will be a drag on our economy.
A recent study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate revealed that we could save $26 trillion, worldwide, if we shifted to sustainable development. Another new study shows wind and solar power to be the cheapest sources for electricity around the world. Last year, the Republican mayor of Georgetown, Texas switched his city to 100 percent renewable energy because of the low costs in the long-term.
On the other hand, at the UN climate summit in Poland, some of the world's most powerful investors warned of a major financial crash if we don't solve the climate crisis.
Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small.
So let's get visionary. Let's dream big. Let's fight for our children, and let's invest in their future.
Lately there's been a lot of bad news about climate change and the future of humanity.
In October, the United Nations issued a major report warning of a climate crisis as soon as 2040. The day after Thanksgiving, the Trump administration tried to bury the release of its own report on the dire effects of climate change already occurring in the United States, which included dark predictions for the future.
"If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time."
In December alone, we learned that 2018's global carbon emissions set a record high. NASA detected new glacier melts in Antarctica. There were wildfires. Coral reef bleaching. Ecosystem upheaval in Alaska as the arctic ice melts.
Meanwhile the Trump administration sent an adviser to the UN climate summit to promote coal and warn against climate "alarmism."
So this all sucks. But here's the thing about climate change: You can either ignore it, get depressed about doomsday scenarios, or believe that no matter how badly we've screwed up as a species, we're also smart and creative enough to fix this.
If the alternatives are ignorance and despair, I'll choose hope. Every single time.
So where can we focus our hope? What can we actually do about climate change?
I'm excited about the Green New Deal, an idea that's been kicking around since 2007 but was popularized this fall by Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and the youth-led Sunrise Movement. At least 37 members of Congress have signed on, along with dozens of activist organizations.
Not only a plan to shake up environmental policies, it's also a massive jobs program, named after the Depression-era New Deal. The basic idea is to get us to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, by putting Americans to work building a new energy infrastructure.
It merges the immediate concerns of working Americans -- jobs and the economy -- with the long-term concerns of climate change. We don't have to choose between economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.
"This is going to be the Great Society, the moonshot, the civil rights movement of our generation. That is the scale of the ambition that this movement is going to require," said Ocasio-Cortez during a town hall meeting with Bernie Sanders.
The ambitious plan touches on a "smart" grid; energy-efficient buildings; sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and infrastructure; and exporting green technology to make the U.S. "the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies." Think of the scale of this program, and then think of all the jobs that would be created. This could be huge for rural America in particular.
"Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small."
Will the Green New Deal be expensive? Probably. But that doesn't mean it will be a drag on our economy.
A recent study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate revealed that we could save $26 trillion, worldwide, if we shifted to sustainable development. Another new study shows wind and solar power to be the cheapest sources for electricity around the world. Last year, the Republican mayor of Georgetown, Texas switched his city to 100 percent renewable energy because of the low costs in the long-term.
On the other hand, at the UN climate summit in Poland, some of the world's most powerful investors warned of a major financial crash if we don't solve the climate crisis.
Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small.
So let's get visionary. Let's dream big. Let's fight for our children, and let's invest in their future.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.