There is more to be said and lots to be done.
From an Interview by Mike Ludwig, Truthout, May 28, 2021
As President Joe Biden haggles with Republicans on infrastructure, youth climate activists continue pushing for the bold vision of a Green New Deal. Sunrise Movement activist Lily Gardner says Biden should forget the GOP and listen to young people, who are fired up about the prospect of a Civilian Climate Corps that would create thousands of jobs combatting the climate crisis and building a sustainable future.
TRANSCRIPT — This is a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity.
Mike Ludwig: Welcome back to Climate Front Lines. Everyone in Washington is talking about infrastructure, or at least President Joe Biden’s attempts at negotiating with Republicans over new jobs and infrastructure spending. But for young people, broad investments in the highways and the energy systems and the people that make this country tick is about so much more than political deal making ahead of the midterm elections – it’s about reducing pollution, it’s about jobs and housing, it’s about the transportation systems we will use to get around for decades to come, it’s about creating resilient communities in the face of the climate crisis. Infrastructure is about what the future could look like, and with climate crisis raising so many questions about life on Earth for the next few decades, young people are paying close attention.
So, while Biden haggles with Republicans, the Sunrise Movement network of youth climate activists is pushing for a $10 trillion investment in a Green New Deal. $10 trillion is a lot more than Biden’s original $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, even if you add the additional $1.8 trillion Biden would invest in education and support for families. But $10 trillion is not some pie-in-the-sky number dreamed up by millennials, it’s based on legislation backed by Green New Deal Democrats in Congress.
A Green New Deal idea I find really interesting is the Civilian Climate Corps, basically a government jobs program what would put people to work improving communities and building next generation of clean infrastructure. As we will learn in a moment, young climate activists are walking hundreds of miles across the country to raise awareness around this idea. Biden has called for a Civilian Climate Corps too, but he has yet to secure funding. I wanted to know what young activists are doing about that, so I spoke with Lily Gardner, a national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement.
As President Biden haggles with Republicans on infrastructure, youth climate activists continue pushing for the bold vision of a Green New Deal. Sunrise Movement activist Lily Gardner says Biden should forget the GOP and listen to young people, who are fired up about the prospect of a Civilian Climate Corps that would create thousands of jobs combatting the climate crisis and building a sustainable future.
TRANSCRIPT — This is a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity.
Mike Ludwig: Welcome back to Climate Front Lines. Everyone in Washington is talking about infrastructure, or at least President Joe Biden’s attempts at negotiating with Republicans over new jobs and infrastructure spending. But for young people, broad investments in the highways and the energy systems and the people that make this country tick is about so much more than political deal making ahead of the midterm elections – it’s about reducing pollution, it’s about jobs and housing, it’s about the transportation systems we will use to get around for decades to come, it’s about creating resilient communities in the face of the climate crisis. Infrastructure is about what the future could look like, and with climate crisis raising so many questions about life on Earth for the next few decades, young people are paying close attention.
So, while Biden haggles with Republicans, the Sunrise Movement network of youth climate activists is pushing for a $10 trillion investment in a Green New Deal. $10 trillion is a lot more than Biden’s original $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, even if you add the additional $1.8 trillion Biden would invest in education and support for families. But $10 trillion is not some pie-in-the-sky number dreamed up by millennials, it’s based on legislation backed by Green New Deal Democrats in Congress.
A Green New Deal idea I find really interesting is the Civilian Climate Corps, basically a government jobs program what would put people to work improving communities and building next generation of clean infrastructure. As we will learn in a moment, young climate activists are walking hundreds of miles across the country to raise awareness around this idea. Biden has called for a Civilian Climate Corps too, but he has yet to secure funding. I wanted to know what young activists are doing about that, so I spoke with Lily Gardner, a national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement.
Lily Gardner: So I think there are a number of components of that question. The first is that when we look at 10 trillion in the context of other crises that we faced throughout American history, even right, we know that at the peak of the war effort in World War II, America spent 40 percent of our GDP in one year, which is equivalent to $8.5 trillion right now in one year alone.
Right. So. What we are asking for is $10 trillion, at least 1 trillion over the next decade. And that looks really small in comparison to the ways in which we’ve mobilized throughout history. When we knew it was necessary. And now the question is why 10 trillion and quite frankly, it’s because we’re seeing a lot of room to grow in areas like housing research and development, and maybe most importantly, the Civilian Climate Corps, when we look at Biden’s current plan. So, it’s small in a historical comparison and also necessary in the sense of actually tackling the climate crisis.
Mike Ludwig: Can you tell us a little bit about the vision for a Civilian Climate Corp and why it matters to young people?
Lily Gardner: Absolutely. So I think right now has everybody, um, including yourself, knows young people are facing two converging crises and a climate crisis and an economic crisis. And this is a moment that really demands bold action, especially from President Biden and the federal government, which we view as the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps. A policy is needed that would create government jobs program, very similar to what we saw as a part of the New Deal and in the wake of the Great Depression, that would put a new generation of Americans to work combating the climate crisis. And the way that they would do that is through building up sustainable infrastructure that would support making our communities stronger through good paying and union jobs.
And I think the second thing, and I think the thing that really makes Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey’s vision of a Civilian Climate Corp distinctive is that the CCC would prioritize giving good jobs to communities who have been disproportionately harmed by the climate crisis, by systemic racism and by our broken economy.
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