green new deal

Fossil Fuels Are Bad for Your Health and Harmful in Many Ways Besides Climate Change

Read time: 7 mins

Guest | February 14, 2019

By Guest • Thursday, February 14, 2019 - 12:37

Flint Hills Resources oil refinery near Houston, Texas
By Noel Healy, Salem State University; Jennie C. Stephens, Northeastern University; and Stephanie Malin, Colorado State University

Many Democratic lawmakers aim to pass a Green New Deal, a package of policies that would mobilize vast amounts of money to create new jobs and address inequality while fighting climate change.

Led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, they are calling for massive investments in renewable energy and other measures over a decade that would greatly reduce or even end the nation’s overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels.

As experts in environmental geography, sociology, and sustainability science and policy, we wholeheartedly support this effort. And, as we explained in a recently published study, climate change is not the only reason to ditch fossil fuels.

Green New Deal Has Broad Bipartisan Support (Though Most Voters Haven't Heard of It)

Read time: 5 mins

Justin Mikulka | January 9, 2019

By Justin Mikulka • Wednesday, January 9, 2019 - 09:35

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a Sunrise Movement Green New Deal sit-in

A version of the Green New Deal (GND) — an FDR-style plan to address climate change by shifting America to a just and renewably powered 21st century economy — is widely popular with American voters of both parties, according to a recent survey.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this proposal has stronger support among Democrats but still polls well with Republicans. The survey found that 81 percent of registered voters said they either “strongly support” or “somewhat support” a rapid transition to 100 percent renewable electricity and other green technology initiatives.

However, the poll, conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YCCC), also found that very few voters were aware of the Green New Deal: 82 percent said they “knew nothing” of the proposal. Notably, the poll's language focused on renewable electricity and job creation, but made no mention of the full decarbonization and social overhaul of the American economy that also are central tenets of the full Green New Deal. 

14 New Massachusetts State Reps Support 100% Renewable Energy by 2050

Read time: 12 mins

Guest | January 8, 2019

By Guest • Tuesday, January 8, 2019 - 12:02

Kids holding pro-renewables signs at a Gulf of Mexico drilling lease protest in New Orleans in 2016

By Stacy Clark

With the swearing in of new members last week, the Massachusetts legislature, not unlike the U.S. Congress, is receiving an infusion of brand-new state representatives who already are pushing an aggressive agenda focused on addressing climate change and transitioning to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050.

So far, 14, or over half of the 24 new recruits, have formed an informal but unified group known as GreenTeamMA. Their initiatives are straightforward. They’ve agreed to refuse campaign contributions from fossil fuel PACs, they support carbon pricing, and they’ll be working with constituents to drive higher demand for wind, solar, and hydropower in the Bay State, where today almost one-sixth of electricity comes from renewable sources.

New House Speaker Pelosi Calls Climate Change 'Existential Threat' in Opening Remarks

Read time: 4 mins

Guest | January 7, 2019

By Guest • Monday, January 7, 2019 - 09:57

Nancy Pelosi

By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Crossposted with permission from EcoWatch.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi received a standing ovation after calling for action on climate change during her first address to the 116th session of Congress Thursday, according to a video shared by Newsweek.

“We must also face the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis, a crisis manifested in natural disasters of epic proportions. The American people understand the urgency. The people are ahead of the Congress. The Congress must join them,” she said.

If Democrats Want a 'Green New Deal,' These Congressional Investigations Need to Happen

Read time: 11 mins

Kevin Grandia | December 12, 2018

By Kevin Grandia • Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - 14:34

Sunrise Movement campaigners holding signs

A startling new report on climate change from the Trump administration makes clear that if the U.S. government and other major polluters don't do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the resulting climate impacts will be dramatic and costly, both to the U.S. economy and the long-term livability of the planet.

These dire warnings are nothing new, but they come at a time when the Democratic party appears potentially willing to invest serious political capital on the issue of climate change. A new generation of Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshly elected New York representative, are pushing the old guard towards a “Green New Deal.”

But if Dems want that effort to succeed, they have some work to do first.

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