Earth Week is Now The Green New Decade...
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Hey there GreenNewDealmakers!
The #GenGND newsletter is BACK—like we never left—and we’re better than ever! First of all, we want to wish you a HAPPY EARTH WEEK—but, more importantly, we’d also like to wish you a merry GREEN NEW DECADE!!
We’ve missed you dearly, but because we’ve got so many exciting projects in the works, we made a team decision to hit the pause button on the newsletter over the last couple of months…
We’ve been thinking a lot about how we want to carry this newsletter forward into the decade of the Green New Deal…And we’re still in the midst of that process, but on this Earth Week, the 51st anniversary of the 1st Earth Day in 1970, there’s just too much good-GND-related news to go around—so, we had to drop back in and say hello!
First things first, as you might have heard, AOC and Ed Markey reintroduced the Green New Deal on 4/20 (niiiiiice)…And if you haven’t yet seen or heard their press-conference, you should watch the full thing now!
Alongside the GND resolution, they also introduced a bill for the Civilian Climate Corps…
![[Image Description]: Mona-Lisa from the show Parks and Recreation with the text “1.5 million green jobs pleaseeeee”](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FEzbTNo-WEAIxy7D.jpg)
AOC and Cori Bush also introduced their Green New Deal for Cities bill…
AND Bernie Sanders and AOC are introducing the Green New Deal for Public Housing bill…
IT’S ALL HAPPENING, we know! The GND family is growing rapidly and there’s no sign of stopping. As Ed Markey says, “All gas, no brakes.”
Okay, so what are all these bills? And what do they mean?
Let’s dive in to it all a little deeper. Here’s a rundown…
GND Resolution Re-Introduction
The Green New Deal Resolution isn’t a bill, it’s a statement of ‘Congressional sentiment’ and intentions, and it provides a framework for a decade-long climate-mobilization—a framework that is now starting to be supported by pieces of legislation. When AOC and Ed first introduced the GND in 2019, into a Republican-led Senate, it was swiftly shot down by Mitch ‘the Turtle’ McConnell & Co. in a vote that forced Democrats to go on record about something that was still largely poorly defined, not well-understood by the public, and existing in a pre-pandemic (Overton window still intact..) society.
Now, in 2021, the GND exists in a completely different political, social, economic and climate-paradigm. Over the the last 14 months our society, and our politics, has been woken up to the intersectional crises we face—and the extraordinary opportunity we now have to save our economy and our planet, while also redistributing wealth and abolishing systems of oppression and injustice.
The reintroduction of the GND is buoyed by 13 new co-sponsors: Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representatives Kaiali’i Kahele (HI-01), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Cori Bush (MO-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Marie Newman (IL-03), Katie Porter (CA-45), and Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03).
Civilian Climate Corps
The Civilian Climate Corps for Justice Act establishes a Civilian Climate Corps —or CCC— which will create 1.5 million (yeah, you read that right) jobs to complete federally-funded projects! Notably, this proposal is about 5x larger than the CCC proposal President Biden has already put forward.
It’s not a surprise that we’re riding with AOC and The GreenNewDealmaker on this one…But don’t just take it from us, hear why a bigger CCC is better from Ed himself..
The CCC would be a tremendous aid to communities struggling to respond to the monumental impacts of the climate crisis. The Climate-Corps could help communities across the country transition to a clean economy, reduce carbon emissions, respond to climate disasters, AND SO MUCH MORE! These jobs (which would be unionized, of course) would allow for everyday Americans to tackle the climate crisis and help communities in ways they couldn’t before.
The CCC would be a boon for our economy, our generation, and our entire labor force…And we simply LOVE to see it getting so much traction! “Climate-corpsmembers” would receive wages of at least $15 an hour, full healthcare coverage, and be eligible for grants, they will also receive education and training to usher them into good union jobs. Where do we sign up?!
Read all about the Civilian Climate Corps, HERE!
Green New Deal for Cities
AOC and Cori Bush have been hard at work writing the Green New Deal for Cities Act which was also introduced this week…And it is AWESOME. This bill would distribute $1 trillion directly to cities, towns, and tribes over the next four years to enact their own localized Green New Deals. It provides funding for local environmental issues, like replacing lead pipes, building bike lanes, testing soil and water contaminants, and soooo much more. This bill allows for smaller regions to tackle climate change on a local level with local solutions that adhere to the input and needs of the communities that live there. Not only does this bill provide funding for a range of issues, it also does a really important thing: SUPPORT REPARATION PROGRAMS FOR BLACK AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES! The details of these programs aren’t yet defined but it is a y’ugeee step forward in paying our debts for the damage we have caused these groups.
Here’s a lil recap from Cori Bush herself…
This bill would directly invest in communities and tackle injustices that are caused by climate change, while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.
You can read all about The Green New Deal For Cities, HERE!
Green New Deal for Public Housing
AOC and Bernie Sanders (our progressive icons) have introduced the Green New Deal for Public Housing, which is legislation that would provide $172 billion to retrofit existing housing.
It would do this by creating two new grant programs with the objective of achieving carbon neutrality in U.S. public housing. It would repeal the Faircloth Amendment —which restricts the building of new public housing developments— and provide grants to retrofit ALL 950,000 of the country’s public housing units. This legislation is crucial for our communities—particularly low-income, marginalized groups—and it would provide a much-needed federal investment, and intervention in this nation’s housing crisis.
Read all about the vital Green New Deal for Public Housing, HERE!
STORYTELLING & THE GREEN NEW DEAL
Did you hear our most recent episode of the #GenGND Pod?! Director & Host Sam Eilertsen had a conversation about ‘Storytelling & the Green New Deal’ with our friend and collaborator, the brilliant writer and organizer with Sunrise Movement, Nikayla Jefferson!
Check it out now, wherever you get your podcasts—and stay tuned for a lot more from Nikayla in the coming months…And, if you don’t have time to listen right away, here’s a summary of our storytelling strategy from our pal, and Podmother, Amy Westervelt…
HAPPY EARTH DAY GREEN NEW DEALMAKERS 🌎
Here are a few tweets to brighten your day!
AOC, Ed Markey, and Cori Bush giving us ALL the serotonin…
Our FAVORITE Lorax quote, read by Ed himself…
And a reminder from Sunrise to Exxon to sit-down and STFU (today, and everyday..)
ONE LAST THING…
Oh, and if you missed our video for Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, featuring Climate-Movement Godfather Bill McKibben, last year—we reposted it today, and the message still resonates…You can watch it HERE.
We’ll be back next week with an extended reading list (of our favorites over the last month+) and some more exciting updates on all our projects! Stay tuned.
This #GenGND Newsletter was written by Shanaz Uddin & edited by Nate Birnbaum