On the Green New Deal.
I have committed the rest of my life to the project of stopping climate change and winning a version of the Green New Deal I saw in the AOC Video. Though deeply passionate and hungry for a world where a GND is made real, at present, I feel a deep lack of direction and strategy around what happens next for the movement for a Green New Deal.
In the gap, I wanted to make some meaning for myself, on what are the challenges in the way of winning a Green New Deal, and how might we overcome them to win?
I’ll preface this by saying that, given the sub-header, these are half-baked thoughts. I don’t have the time to spend weeks researching, editing, and fact-checking all of these assessments and ideas. I’m not a journalist, I’m no policy wonk. I’m just an organizer trying to think, day in and day out, of how to create the people power & political conditions to win massive revolutionary policy at the federal level on climate. (Which, when I say climate, to me, also means massive investments in the public sector, in housing, in transportation, in education, in energy.) If you pull back the curtain on how I define climate, what I mean is fighting for a world where people and the planet thrive, not corporations and profit. A visionary climate future is also a future of economic and racial justice.
So. This piece will include a simple assessment of some of the major barriers in the way of a Green New Deal, and then share some ideas, based on that assessment, on where the movement for a Green New Deal could go next.
Assessment & Diagnosis
So what’s wrong? What’s standing in the way of the Green New Deal?
The Green New Deal as a floating signifier: First, the Green New Deal has become a floating signifier of sorts, both for the left, for the far right, and for centrist Democrats like Biden.
I don’t think this means we shift towards something different; I just think we need to get a little bit more specific; what are we trying to win by 2030? The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), was not, by any means, the Green New Deal. So what massive federal GND policy/legislation is? How will we know when we have won? What policy are the milestones to indicate success along the way?
Lack of adequate plan to weaken the power of the Fossil Fuel Industry: It is clear that the fossil fuel industry still holds an immense amount of power over our government. From the imprints of industry on IRA to the role they played on the global stage at COP, we have to reckon with the fact that, if we are to pass a Green New Deal, the power, the money, the lobbying of the fossil fuel industry, must be diminished.
Inability to build a Multi-Racial, Cross-Class, Cross-Geography Mass Movement: We need a mass movement ready to protest, disrupt, take action, and turn out at the polls to win a GND… in strategic places, and everywhere. We must figure out how to organize the unorganized. Or organize people, where they are organized (e.g., artists, sports teams, video gaming) towards political action and mass disruption around the Green New Deal. And at least get more people doing something (whether it be giving money, giving time, speaking out, joining protests, etc.) on climate.
Weakening Democracy and government that is unable to pass policy & solve society's core problems: We don’t live in a democracy, we live in an oligarchy; the rules of the system in the U.S., have been built around white supremacy and around the wealthy/elite/ruling class. With that, our government doesn’t govern to solve problems. And I don't need to underscore the severity of the stakes. The total collapse of society as we know it sits on the other side if bold and big action on climate isn't taken.
Other things. Public opinion on the side of climate, yet nothing changes; don’t have a government apparatus accountable to the people and public. Must shift. How?
While organizations and movements fight to pressure, someone, somewhere, must also be pressuring to change the roles of the game. Abolish the Senate, the filibuster, and the Electoral College. Pack the court with liberal justices, so we can do things like overturn Citizens United, which gives unprecedented levels of power to corporations to lobby our government. End gerrymandering.
Move to offense; we have fossil fuel corporations passing policies in states across the country, preventing civil disobedience and classifying activists as terrorists. We must be pushing policy to define fossil fuel as terrorist; and play with the rules to our benefit and advantage, as they do.
We don’t have mass media telling the story & vision of a Green New Deal future: There is a vision and alternative to the nightmare and hellish reality we live in. We need to harness the power of art, media, and culture to inject the vision of a Green New Deal future into the hearts and minds of the public. People need to feel and want the Green New Deal so badly that they’d be willing to get it, by any means necessary. AOC video is one example; we need more artists jumping in to paint the vision Green New Deal future for the masses.
The one final thing I want to note, though I haven’t included, is the role of the military and war. Given two massive wars, one happening in Ukraine and one happening in Gaza, and oil sitting in the backdrop of both (geopolitical), have more questions than answers around the intersection of the Green New Deal and war/imperialism.
So with that assessment. Here are 5 things I think the Movement for Green New Deal should be oriented around:
Clear GND policies that both push towards decarbonization, help to deliver a death blow to the fossil fuel industry, and deliver massive wins for the public: Clear visionary policy that is popular, weakens the power of the fossil fuel industry and delivers wins to the public. One example of this could be a Green New Deal Universal Basic Income Program, a policy that creates a carbon tax (tied with emission reductions that need to happen), and all funds raised are delivered in universal basic income checks to everyone in the country.
The vision of the Green New Deal, everywhere, all at once: Imagine, a leftist Green New Deal comms shop with its own news Podcast, a suite of artists, its own set of writers and filmmakers, TikTokers, Instagrammers, flooding the masses and public with a powerful vision of the Green New Deal.
Fossil fuel offender list: Pledge calling on institutions to refuse to do business with the fossil fuel industry, especially tech (given the role, relationship, and power Big Tech could have over Big Oil) and advertising. Also, push for legislation creating an offender list for fossil fuel leadership. They are committing crimes against humanity and should be treated as such.
Seed a Democratic Organization within the movement ecosystem: We need someone working on changing the rules of society so that it's easier to win on our demands. This could include both pushing for legislation that does things like Abolish the Senate, creating publicly funded elections so working and poor people can afford to run fo office, end gerrymandering, end the filibuster, etc. This means pushing for automatic voter registration for all people. And hell, why not mandate online voting to decrease the barriers around voting. Folks in the military who are overseas and folks with disabilities already vote online.
Also, this means pushing for policies that enable people & the public to have more time to organize and participate in civic life. Imagine universal healthcare, universal childcare, universal paid time off (e.g., everyone is guaranteed a 1 - 2 month vacation in this country, time for leisure and play), etc.
Experimentation around mass organizing of unorganized: The movement for a GND, right now, is a very tiny sliver of the population. For us to win the full vision of a Green New Deal, we need more political power and more people. We have to get sharper at organizing people where they are, whether it’s gamers on Twitch, fans at concerts (+ organizing celebrities to use their platforms to guide young people into our movements), sports leagues, etc. We are not growing our bases; to push the government to act on climate with the scale and urgency with which it demands is going to require massive organizing of hundreds of thousands of people in this country.
So. I’m excited about winning a Green New Deal in this country; I want it badly, for myself, for my nephews, and for my future children. To live in a world beyond the climate apocalypse we are headed towards. My hopes in writing this are to open a convo with my peers on what’s in the way of winning a Green New Deal, and what it’s going to take to make it happen.
*P.S. Yet another disclaimer. These are half baked thoughts. Some of them are imperfect, some of these are out there ideas, and you may have plenty of counter arguments! Engage with me, and write thoughts and responses in the comments :)