Climate change is now: water resources are disappearing. Farms are flooding. Crop yields are declining.
We have until 2030 to stem further catastrophic climate change. If we do nothing, the planet will heat up 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century.
After 150 years of burning fossil fuels, humans have caused atmospheric CO2 concentrations to reach levels never before seen in human history. Carbon dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat and moisture in the earth’s atmosphere. We’ve basically lit a fire in our house and left the windows closed.
Wildfires. Droughts. Food shortages. Mass die-offs of fish. Water scarcity. The consequences are dire.
And while just 100 companies are responsible for 70% of global emissions, it’s the 99% of us who suffer the consequences — and communities of color and poor communities are hit the hardest.
Where do you go if you’re poor and the river flooding in Aberdeen causes sewage to back up around your home?
What do you do if your kid has asthma and can’t breathe when wildfires choke the air in Tacoma — but you can’t afford to leave town during the summer?
What do you do if you're a member of the Quinault Indian Nation, and you're watching the glaciers your ancestors walked on disappear? And you have to relocate from your village — and its sacred ground — because of rising sea levels?
This is a crisis of massive proportions, and only bold solutions will solve it. Incrementalism has failed. It’s time for bold leadership. It’s time for a World War II-scale mobilization to fix the climate crisis. It’s time for the Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal will be America’s biggest, boldest, most transformative project since FDR’s New Deal and our mobilization for World War II. It will transform our economy so it works for everyone, not just the 1%. We will be taking on the giant fossil fuel corporations, their lobbyists, and the politicians they’ve bought. It won’t be easy. It will take a mass movement made up of all of us to make it happen.
When elected to Congress, I will fight for: