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We've known about the scale of the threat climate change poses for decades. But we've never acted with the urgency necessary to live up to that scale.
Individual actions like recycling are not enough. We need our government to step up big. Now is the time.
Individual actions like recycling are not enough. We need our government to step up big. Now is the time.
On top of that, we are grappling with the historic COVID-19 recession.
Who has faced a similar position? Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In 1929 the American economy collapsed. America's farmland was turning to dust, creating toxic clouds of soil that afflicted cities across the US.
Who has faced a similar position? Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In 1929 the American economy collapsed. America's farmland was turning to dust, creating toxic clouds of soil that afflicted cities across the US.
For FDR, this crisis defined every element of his presidency. His answer was a revolutionary government jobs and welfare program: The New Deal.
That response paid off.
His presidency was viewed as so successful that he was re-elected not one, not two, but three times.
That response paid off.
His presidency was viewed as so successful that he was re-elected not one, not two, but three times.
While a good portion of the New Deal was done in coordination with Congress, FDR exercised a level of executive power never before seen in the US, and not seen since.
He issued more Executive Orders than every president has since, COMBINED (excluding his own VP, Truman).
He issued more Executive Orders than every president has since, COMBINED (excluding his own VP, Truman).
It is necessary to bring up here that FDR's work had deep flaws.
While the New Deal helped many working Americans build wealth, discrimination gatekept Black Americans from benefiting from much of the New Deal.
His internment of Japanese Americans was grossly immoral.
While the New Deal helped many working Americans build wealth, discrimination gatekept Black Americans from benefiting from much of the New Deal.
His internment of Japanese Americans was grossly immoral.
As we fight for a massive government investment to avert climate change, it is up to us to make sure that history is not repeated.
But our duty goes beyond that. The effects of climate change are already hitting marginalized communities. That damage must be repaired.
But our duty goes beyond that. The effects of climate change are already hitting marginalized communities. That damage must be repaired.
On the campaign trail, @JoeBiden said he wanted to be a Rooseveltian president.
To live up to that, he needs to adopt a central mandate that unites the work of our government.
To start, we need an Office tasked with overseeing that mandate: the Office of Climate Mobilization.
To live up to that, he needs to adopt a central mandate that unites the work of our government.
To start, we need an Office tasked with overseeing that mandate: the Office of Climate Mobilization.
Imagine what each cabinet could accomplish.
A Secretary of:
Energy - Fully green electrical grid.
HUD - Millions of energy efficient public housing units.
Transportation - A public transit renaissance.
Labor - Labor standards for all of that work
And so on for each department.
A Secretary of:
Energy - Fully green electrical grid.
HUD - Millions of energy efficient public housing units.
Transportation - A public transit renaissance.
Labor - Labor standards for all of that work
And so on for each department.
Imagine an army of young people getting jobs fighting climate change.
Building the energy infrastructure of our future.
Planting millions and billions of new trees.
Showing up in the wake of climate disasters to help people rebuild their lives.
Building the energy infrastructure of our future.
Planting millions and billions of new trees.
Showing up in the wake of climate disasters to help people rebuild their lives.
When the Civilian Conservation Corps launched, 300,000 young people signed up in the first 6 months. Many of them had NEVER held jobs before, and the CCC lifted them out of poverty.
To wrangle with a pandemic-induced recession, we can offer people a unique job: saving the world.
To wrangle with a pandemic-induced recession, we can offer people a unique job: saving the world.
Labor Secretary Frances Perkins told FDR “Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before. You know that, don’t you?”
It's true again now. Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before.
We can and must do it.
Join us: http://smvmt.link/gnd-year-1
It's true again now. Nothing like this has ever been done in the United States before.
We can and must do it.
Join us: http://smvmt.link/gnd-year-1
