The Green New Deal would be good in many ways!

The Green New Deal is an amazingly good idea.  It provides fresh thinking “outside the box” by bringing together environmentalists, labor, local communities, poor people, young people, and other diverse constituencies.  It is a “win-win-win-win-win ” all the way around.  I urge all kinds of people to work together in grand coalitions to pass the Green New Deal through Congress.

In the 1930s, FDR’s New Deal helped our nation in many ways.  Now we need a NEW “GREEN New Deal” to help us in many ways, including the environment and climate, which were less pressing issues during the 1930s.

 

In January and March 2019, a number of local folks talked with U.S. Representative Denny Heck’s local staff person, but that person told us that Denny could not decide because he needed the advice of his “stakeholders.”  I assume that means donors along with interest groups.

Now in August 2019, DENNY HECK STILL HAS FAILED TO CO-SPONSOR H.Res.109 “Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.”  The bill has 94 co-sponsors, but NOT Denny Heck.  Likewise, although the Senate bill, S.Res. 59, has 12 co-sponsors, NEITHER PATTY MURRAY NOR MARIA CANTWELL has co-sponsored it.

We need to PUSH HARD to get our members of Congress to protect Planet Earth and our local communities and to create jobs.

The Green New Deal contains some simple and important principles that the public and Congress should support:

1. Providing investments and leveraging funding to help communities affected by climate change
2. Repairing and upgrading existing infrastructure to withstand extreme weather and ensuring all bills related to infrastructure in Congress address climate change
3. Investing in renewable power sources
4. Investing in manufacturing and industry to spur growth in the use of clean energy
5. Building or upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, and “smart” power grids that provide affordable electricity
6. Upgrading all existing buildings and building new ones so that they achieve maximum energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability.
7. Supporting family farming, investing in sustainable farming, and building a more sustainable and equitable food system
8. Investing in transportation systems, namely zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing, public transit, and high-speed rail
9. Restoring ecosystems through land preservation, afforestation, and science-based projects
10. Cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites
11. Identifying unknown sources of pollution and emissions
12. Working with the international community on solutions and helping them achieve Green New Deals

These principles are good starting points for specific legislation to flesh out.

The public needs to push our House and Senate members to support them.  Washingtonians should PUSH HARD to get Senators Murray and Cantwell to co-sponsor S. Res. 59.  We also need to push our U.S. House members to co-sponsor H. Res. 109.  (Thanks to Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith for co-sponsoring it.)

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org