By
Norah Vawter
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.
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-N.Y.) 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, but 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.
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.
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. (IPA Service)
Courtesy:
People’s World
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