Our Ecosystem:
In October of 2018, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report that elevated the climate change debate to a climate crisis. It illustrated the impacts of our planet’s surface temperature rising 1.5º C. According to the ICPP report, we are experiencing a surface temperature rise of .87º C since 1850-1900. The United States accounts for only about five percent of the global population but is responsible for 30 percent of global energy use and 28 percent of carbon emissions. In 2015 alone, each one of us in the US on average released 16.2 tons of carbon emissions into our atmosphere. The impacts of climate change threaten our globe’s food security, our health, our ecosystem, our weather, and our mental health. 150-200 plant, insect, bird, and mammal species are going extinct every day due to climate change. Our rapidly changing ecosystem due to human-caused climate change creates a chain effect on a global scale that impacts our water, air quality, and ground quality. Our oceans are a key part of our ecosystem and we must increase focus on their health.
Human Health:
Climate change is said to have a significant impact on human health. Health problems due to climate will become even more frequent and more severe including respiratory illnesses. This increase will impact communities of color, communities living in poverty, people with disabilities, indigenous communities, immigrants, and people who are pregnant. These impacts will also have a disproportionate impact on developing nations. We will see a rise in deaths due to heatwaves in urban areas. Denver’s average temperature has risen 0.3ºc higher than the national average of 1.0ºc and much of that is due to traffic congestion, and continuous construction and development projects. As of 2014, 57 million Americans lived in counties that did not meet the 2016 air quality standards, and that number is projected to increase.
People living with mental illness are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. People with pre-existing mental illness are three times more likely to die from heatstroke. Those taking medication for mental illness are unable to regulate their body temperature due to the chemicals in the medication.
We need to stop kicking the can down the road. We are at a pivotal time where we must adopt a Green New Deal and move towards a green economy and 100% renewable energy, eliminating our reliance on fossil fuels quickly. And during this transition, we must ensure that we do not leave the workforce that will be displaced behind. We can make this shift ethically and responsibly by supporting the fossil fuel workforce with transition funds, job placement through priority hiring, and training programs, and repurposing current skill sets.
THE SOLUTION
- Renewable Energy: The single greatest cause of Climate change is our over-reliance on fossil fuels. We must transition swiftly to 100% renewable energy by 2030.
- Restore renewable energy subsidies to support business, and households to make the shift sooner
- Lift tariffs on imported Solar Panels immediately. These tariffs at 25% have already caused the loss of thousands of Solar jobs and forced many projects to be placed on hold. Now we will see an even more devastating impact due to the new tariffs placed on double-sided panels.
- Significant Investment in renewable energy storage and other innovative energy production
- Reverse Oil & Gas subsidies
- Implement a 3% revenue tax on all fossil fuel companies for 5 years from 2022-2027 for Environmental Clean Up
- A ban on fracking by 2028
- Recommit the US to the Paris Climate Agreement
- Implement a carbon tax that will dissuade the use of carbon fuels and further fund efforts to shift rapidly to renewable energy by 2022
- Support the retrofitting of buildings and machinery to operate on renewable energy and biofuels.
- Ban single-use plastics by 2027
- Job transition (see more on this under “Labor Rights”)
- Incentivise and create infrastructure programs for Green Energy projects that have analogous work for Oil & Gas Industry Workers
- Such as transitioning Pipefitters and Boilermakers into Geothermal Energy Jobs (where they can continue to fit pipes and make boilers)
- Priority hiring for those currently in the fossil fuel sector and communities that have been historically underrepresented in these fields
- Develop retraining programs (for those interested in retraining) and training programs for the 20 million jobs that will be created in the renewable energy sector
- Offer transition funding for individuals who are facing challenges in field transition
- Provide severance for workers that are unable to find an equal paying job and for those who are unable to make a shift
- Incentivise and create infrastructure programs for Green Energy projects that have analogous work for Oil & Gas Industry Workers
- Infrastructure
- Invest in retrofitting and new infrastructure that operates on 100% renewable energy
- Develop an intercontinental mass transit pact to create mass transit throughout both North and South American Continents powered on 10% renewable energy
- Require all new construction to be powered by renewable energy
- Invest in local and national mass transit infrastructure to reduce individual dependence on cars
- Waste
- Eliminate single-use plastics
- 24% of all water used in agriculture is lost to food waste. We will need to make cultural shifts in the US to reduce our food waste by engaging in a nationwide public education campaign about how to shop for families, restaurant waste, and overproduction.
- Run a national recycling program that incentivizes increase in recycling and a reduction in waste sent to landfills
- Introduce an individual and business zero waste tax credit
- Water
- Limit the amount of water for non-essential use like lawn watering, car wash, decorative fountains
- Eliminate the use of pesticides that contaminate our water
- Eliminate the use of formaldehyde during burials to reduce the contamination of our groundwater
- Launch a national water conservation public education campaign
- Require any additional taxes on water during droughts to be a progressive tax
- Oceans
- Restrict all food imports from agriculture and food production to companies that use 100% renewable energy for production, and seafood from responsible fisheries
- Identify and protect more Hope Spots in our oceans
- Ban offshore drilling immediately
- Dramatically reduce the immediate stresses of excess human activities like over-fishing and offshore drilling
- Trade
- Require all trade agreements to include strong Union protections, require reduction of CO2 and GHG emissions, responsible transport of goods utilizing renewable energy, and a commitment to zero waste
- Support allied countries
- Defense – The United States Military produces enough CO2 and GHG emissions to rank 46 in the world for the highest climate change contributors.
- Require the same shift to 100% renewable energy for the US Military and all other militaries across the globe we support
- Reallocate military spending to education, healthcare, and to mitigate the effects of climate change
- Environmental Justice Includes:
- A BAN on fracking
- Implementing the Green New Deal
- Protecting Indigenous Lands
- A Just Transition for Oil & Gas Industry Workers
- Focusing on Communities that are Most Affected
- Medicare for All
- Abolishing ICE
- Ensure Everyone has Clean Air and Water
- Focus on Green Affordable Development
- Implement Wildlife Protections
- Watch Lorena Garcia speak about the Green New Deal and climate change here.