Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) has introduced a resolution
that calls for a comprehensive justice-based response to the crises
facing the nation and the world, from the fossil-fueled climate crisis
to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy
(THRIVE) Resolution (H. Res.
1102)
is modeled in part after 2019’s Green New Deal
resolution
introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey
(D-Mass.). The resolution is also largely consistent with the 2020
Democratic Party
platform
and the Biden campaign agenda.
Haaland introduced the agenda at a press conference on September 10 with
Markey and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Keya
Chaterjee, the director of the U.S. Climate Action Network, an
environmental coalition, also participated.
The resolution was formally introduced on September 11th with 76
co-sponsors,
all Democrats.
Haaland’s resolution was
praised
by several other emocratic members of the U.S. Senate, including former
presidential candidates Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as Sens. Jeff Merkley
(D-N.M.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
While the resolution has limited specifics, it does include a call for a
national “carbon pollution-free” electricity system by 2035, in line
with presidential candidate Joe Biden’s
plan.
The resolution calls for the expansion of union protections and
increased union density in clean-energy jobs, and investment in “Black,
Brown, and Indigenous communities to build power and counteract racial
and gender injustice.”
Notably, the resolution says nothing about foreign policy or the
military.
Unlike the Green New Deal resolution, the
THRIVE resolution does not call for universal
employment, housing, or health care.
The resolution is
supported
by The Sunrise Movement, Sierra Club, Movement for Black Lives, Working
Families Party, Service Employees International Union, Indigenous
Environmental Network and Center for Popular Democracy.
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