Thursday, August 22, 2019
'Game-Changer':
Sanders Unveils Green New Deal Plan Detailing 10-Year Mobilization to Avert
Climate Catastrophe, Create 20 Million Jobs
"This is a pivotal moment in the history of America—and
really, in the history of humanity."
Calling the global climate crisis both the greatest
threat facing the United States and the greatest opportunity for transformative
change, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive Green New
Deal proposal that would transition the U.S. economy to 100
percent renewable energy and create 20 million well-paying union jobs over a
decade.
"If fossil fuel executives and lobbyists reading
Sanders' plan are scared, they should be."
—Jack Shapiro, Greenpeace
—Jack Shapiro, Greenpeace
"This is a pivotal moment in the history of America—and
really, in the history of humanity," Sanders, a 2020 Democratic
presidential candidate, said in a statement.
"When we are in the White House," said the
Vermont senator, "we will launch the decade of the Green New Deal, a
10-year mobilization to avert climate catastrophe during which climate change,
justice, and equity will be factored into virtually every area of policy, from
immigration to trade to foreign policy and beyond."
The climate crisis
is the greatest challenge facing humanity. It's also our single greatest
opportunity to build a just and equitable future.
We are going to create 20 million jobs and an economy that works for all.
It's time for a #GreenNewDeal. https://berniesanders.com/the-green-new-deal/ …
We are going to create 20 million jobs and an economy that works for all.
It's time for a #GreenNewDeal. https://berniesanders.com/the-green-new-deal/ …
Sanders' plan for an aggressive 10-year mobilization to
combat the climate emergency comes amid warnings from the international
scientific community that global greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed in
half by 2030 to avert planetary catastrophe.
Across the world, Sanders noted on his website,
there is an overwhelming abundance of evidence testifying to the severity of
the climate crisis and the urgent need for bold action.
"The Amazon rainforest is burning, Greenland's ice
shelf is melting, and the Arctic is on fire," Sanders wrote. "People
across the country and the world are already experiencing the deadly
consequences of our climate crisis, as extreme weather events like heat waves,
wildfires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes upend entire communities,
ecosystems, economies, and ways of life, as well as endanger millions of lives."
To confront the emergency, Sanders' Green New Deal plan
would:
- Reach "100 percent
renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030
and complete decarbonization by at least 2050";
- Invest $16.3 trillion in
creating 20 million jobs, developing sustainable infrastructure, and
supporting vulnerable frontline communities;
- Assist international
efforts to reduce carbon emissions by providing $200 billion to the Green
Climate Fund and rejoining the Paris climate accord;
- Ban fracking,
mountaintop removal coal mining, and imports and exports of fossil fuels;
- "Prosecute and sue
the fossil fuel industry for the damage it has caused"; and
- Ensure a fair and just
transition for workers currently employed by the fossil fuel industry.
According to the Sanders campaign, the senator's plan
would "pay for itself over 15 years" by forcing the fossil fuel
industry to "pay for their pollution," eliminating fossil fuel
subsidies, slashing military spending that is dedicated to "maintaining
global oil dependence," raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, and
more.
Read the full text of the campaign's Green New Deal
plan here.
We need a president
who will face down the greed of fossil fuel executives and the billionaire
class who stand in the way of climate action.
I welcome their hatred.
We will enact the #GreenNewDeal and bring the world together to defeat the existential threat of climate change.
I welcome their hatred.
We will enact the #GreenNewDeal and bring the world together to defeat the existential threat of climate change.
"Bernie promises to go further than any other
presidential candidate in history to end the fossil fuel industry's greed,
including by making the industry pay for its pollution and prosecuting it for
the damage it has caused," reads the campaign's website.
"Any serious plan to address climate chaos must
start with a ban on fracking and a halt to all new fossil fuel development.
Sanders understands this, and he has set the bar for worthwhile climate policy
discussion."
—Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Action
—Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Action
"And most importantly," the website continues,
"we must build an unprecedented grassroots movement that is powerful
enough to take them on, and win. Young people, advocates, tribes, cities and
states all over this country have already begun this important work, and we
will continue to follow their lead."
Jack Shapiro, senior climate campaigner with Greenpeace
USA, said, "If fossil fuel executives and lobbyists reading Sanders' plan
are scared, they should be."
"Sanders has talked the talk on climate change from
day one of his campaign. This plan shows he's ready to walk the walk, as
well," Shapiro said in a statement.
"At this point in the race, speeches and half-measures don't cut it."
Here’s what people
need to understand about @BernieSanders’
new climate plan:
This is it.
This is our one chance to build a just & equitable world before the climate emergency tips out of control.
We need to give it everything we’ve got. This plan does.https://earther.gizmodo.com/bernie-sanders-climate-plan-is-nothing-short-of-a-revol-1837456120 …
This is it.
This is our one chance to build a just & equitable world before the climate emergency tips out of control.
We need to give it everything we’ve got. This plan does.https://earther.gizmodo.com/bernie-sanders-climate-plan-is-nothing-short-of-a-revol-1837456120 …
Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water
Action, applauded Sanders' proposal as a "game-changer."
"With this aggressive and inspired plan, Senator
Sanders has set a clear benchmark for meaningful climate and energy policy in
the presidential race and beyond," said Hauter. "This plan includes
the bold action and rapid timelines required to adequately address the
magnitude of the climate crisis we face."
"Most importantly," Hauter added, "this
plan would ban fracking, the toxic, polluting drilling method responsible for
almost all oil and gas production in America today. Any serious plan to address
climate chaos must start with a ban on fracking and a halt to all new fossil
fuel development. Senator Sanders understands this, and he has set the bar for
worthwhile climate policy discussion, here and abroad.”
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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