Hill Heat

During Earth Week and on the four-year anniversary of the Green New Deal Resolution, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) will reintroduce the resolution at a press conference at the Senate Swamp on THURSDAY, April 20th at 12:00 PM. Senator Markey will also join Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) to announce new legislation focused on tackling the intersecting climate and public health crises.

The lawmakers will be joined by Green New Deal members of Congress and labor, health, climate, and justice advocates to celebrate the intersectional coalition’s achievement in getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed—the federal government’s largest-ever investment in climate and clean energy—while outlining the fight ahead to deliver a just, Green New Deal future that upholds the promise of the resolution and the movement that it inspired.

Participants:

• Senator Edward J. Markey
• Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Representative Ro Khanna
• Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
• Representative Greg Casar (TX-35)
• Representative Jamaal Bowman (NY-16)
• Representative Maxwell Frost (FL-10)
• Representative Delia Ramirez (IL-03)
• Representative Robert Garcia (CA-42)
• Representative Becca Balint (VT)
• Kaniela Ing, National Director of the Green New Deal Network
• Sara Nelson, President of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
• Dr. Colleen Achong, SEIU Healthcare, Committee of Interns and Residents
• Jacqui Patterson, Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project and Climate Justice Alliance member

WHEN: THURSDAY, April 20th at 12:00 PM

WHERE: Senate Swamp, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.

20/04/2023 at 12:00PM

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Juan Vargas, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Rep. Peter Welch, Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Andy Levin and other members of Congress will join Green New Deal Network organizational principals, community leaders, and allies to push for Congress to “Go Bigger to Meet the Need” on climate, jobs, and justice.

“We are concerned that a $3.5 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan will not sufficiently tackle challenges, from extreme weather disasters to access to public transit and dignified care employment. After the Senate budget committee announced its proposal on July 13, eyes have turned to the House, which is developing its own approach, with an opportunity to go bigger to ensure the level of investment meets the need.”

RSVP

Where: Union Square, (area 15 of US Capitol), 3rd Street NW b/w Constitution and Independence Avenues, Washington, DC, 89801

Other speakers include

• Natalia Salgado, Working Families Party
• Keya Chatterjee, US Climate Action Network
• Ramon Cruz, Sierra Club
• Andy Kunz, US High Speed Rail Association
• Rahna Epting, MoveOn.org
• Ebony Martin, Greenpeace
• Lauren Manus, Sunrise Movement
• Basav Sen, Climate Justice Alliance
• Tashima Hawkins, American Federation of Teachers
• Ofelia Sanchez, Central Florida Jobs with Justice

20/07/2021 at 02:30PM

Appearing before the JP Sousa Junior High School in the Bronx, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a lifelong educator and former middle school principal, on Thursday introduced the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act.

The ambitious new legislation — which aims to invest $1.43 trillion over 10 years in public schools and infrastructure to combat climate change — would invest in public school infrastructure by upgrading every public school building in the country, addressing historical harms and inequities by focusing support on high-need schools, and hiring and training hundreds of thousands of additional educators and support staff. If enacted, sponsors say, the legislation would fund 1.3 million jobs per year and eliminate 78 million metric tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking 17 million cars off the road.

“It’s time for a revolution in public education,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman. “As we deal with a devastating climate crisis caused by decades of unchecked corporate greed, we need to center our children and their future. The Green New Deal for Public Schools represents the level of school infrastructure investment that is urgent and necessary to heal the harm from decades of disinvestment, redlining and cycles of poverty and trauma, particularly for Black and brown children. What this comes down to is whether we’re willing to provide our kids with the resources they need to realize their brilliance and have a livable planet. Do we want to continue building a world based on militarization, incarceration, poverty, and destruction of resources? Or will we take advantage of this moment, put our kids and educators first, and treat the climate crisis as the emergency it is? This legislation is what we need to put us on the right side of history.”

The legislation is modeled on a proposal by the Climate + Community Project at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Green New Deal for Public Schools proposes $1.43 trillion in new funding over 10 years, including the following distribution of resources:

• $446 billion in Climate Capital Facilities Grants and $40 billion for a Climate Change Resiliency Program Climate Capital Facilities Grants will fully fund healthy green retrofits for the highest-need third of schools, as measured by the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, and offer a mix of grant funding and no- or low-interest loans for the middle and top thirds. Grants will cover two-thirds and one-third of retrofit costs for these schools, respectively.
• $250 billion in Resource Block Grants Resource Block Grants will fund staffing increases, expanded social service programming, and curriculum development at high-need schools. The program will allow Local Educational Agencies across the country to hire and train hundreds of thousands of additional educators and support staff, including paraprofessionals, school psychologists and counselors, and learning specialists. The funds may also be used to design locally-rooted curricula; adopt trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and restorative justice practices, to move towards a “whole child” approach to public education; and partner with community organizations to offer a range of services to schools and surrounding neighborhoods, such as after-school programs.
• $100 million for an Educational Equity Planning Grants Pilot Program Educational Equity Planning Grants will encourage neighboring Local Education Agencies to form regional consortia, which will receive funding to conduct extensive community outreach, identify the historical and current sources of educational disparities within the region, and create and implement a Regional Education Equity Plan to address those disparities. This pilot program is modeled on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants, which are designed to encourage equitable, locally-driven economic development.
• $695 billion over 10 years for Title I and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) increases This bill proposes quadrupling Title I funding to reach $66 billion annually to support schools and districts with students living in poverty, as well as increasing funding for IDEA Part B to reach $33 billion annually to support students with disabilities.

H.R. 3684: Text of Legislation

• H.R. 3684
• H. Rept. 117-70—Report from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to accompany H.R. 3684
• Rules Committee Print 117-8—Showing the text of H.R. 3684, as ordered reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, with modifications.
• Section-by-Section Analysis of Rules Committee Print 117-8
• Rules Committee Print 117-9 (Drinking Water/Clean Water Provisions)-Showing the text of H.R. 1915, as reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and H.R. 3291 and H.R. 3293, as ordered reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce, each with modifications.
• List of Submitted Amendments

29/06/2021 at 02:00PM

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a markup to consider H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, and H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act.

The Green New Deal Network is supporting three of Rep. Chuy García’s amendments to H.R. 3684 – #026, to ensure public transit gets funding on par with roads and bridges, #027, to cut all forms of pollution from transportation, and #028, to fully electrify public transit buses and commuter trains.

“Giving the Department of Transportation a bunch of money for new highways is the climate equivalent of giving energy companies money to build new coal plants,” García tweeted.

**Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021**

• Managers amendment to H.R. 1915
• Garamendi 047
• Garamendi 048
• Garamendi 049
• G. Graves 001
• G. Graves Staff 01
• G. Graves Staff 02
• Gonzalez Colon 070
• Mast 021
• Rouzer 002
• Westerman 001
• Wilson 048
• Wilson 049

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act

• Manager’s Amendment to HR 3684
• Auchincloss 029
• Babin 016
• Babin 017
• Babin 018
• Balderson 009
• Balderson 010
• Balderson 011
• Balderson 012
• Bost 022
• Bost 184
• Brown 045
• Brown 046
• Brownley 028
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• Brownley 031
• Burchett 074
• Burchett 075
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• Burchett 078
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• Carbajal 024
• Carbajal 025
• Carter 001
• Cohen 041 REV
• Crawford 038
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• Crawford 186
• D. Johnson 033
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• D. Johnson 038
• D. Johnson 039
• D.Johnson 036
• Davis 024
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• Davis 028
• Delgado 031
• DeSaulnier 045
• Fitzpatrick 141
• Gallagher 060
• Gallagher 061
• Gallagher 062
• Gallagher 063
• Gallagher 064
• Garamendi 041 REV
• Garamendi 042
• Garamendi 043
• Garamendi 044
• Garamendi 045
• Garamendi 050
• Garcia 022
• Garcia 024
• Garcia 026
• Garcia 027
• Garcia 028
• Gibbs 011
• Gibbs 12
• Gibbs 191
• Gimenez 14
• Gimenez 15
• Gimenez 16
• Gimenez 16
• Gonzalez-Colon 066
• Gonzalez-Colon 071
• G. Graves 091
• G. Graves 092
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• G. Graves 110
• Guest 017
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• Guest 021
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• Guest 023
• Huffman 026
• Katko 017
• LaMalfa 155
• Lamb 023
• Lamb 025
• Lamb 027
• Lamb 028 REV 2
• Lamb 029
• Larsen 025
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• Larsen 032
• Lowenthal 016
• Lynch 043
• Lynch 044
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• Malinowski 018
• Malliotakis 183
• Malliotakis 183
• Napolitano 008
• Nehls 013
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• Nehls 194
• Newman 032
• Pappas 028
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• Perry 77
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• Perry 111
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• Perry 129
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• Perry 136
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• Perry 138
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• Perry 145
• Perry 146
• Perry 147
• Perry 148
• Perry 149
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• Perry 154
• Perry 155
• Perry 156
• Perry 157
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• Perry 160
• Perry 161
• Perry 162
• Perry 167
• Perry 168
• Perry 169
• Perry 170
• Perry 171
• Perry 172
• Perry 173
• Perry 175
• Perry 177
• Perry 195
• Stanton 012
• Stauber 032
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09/06/2021 at 10:00AM

Join the grassroots kickoff rally for the THRIVE Act on Tuesday, March 16th at 7pm ET/4pm PT! RSVP here. You will receive an email reminder with a link to the livestream, and you may also receive occasional emails from the Green New Deal Network.

16/03/2021 at 07:00PM

The youth-led Sunrise Movement and progressive political group Justice Democrats have teamed up for the Climate Mandate campaign to push President-elect Biden to assemble a progressive governing team. Their message:

“President-elect Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump with the highest youth turnout ever. Now, Joe Biden must assemble a powerful governing team to stop the climate crisis, create millions of good-paying jobs, address systemic racism, and control the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The “Climate Cabinet” should have no ties to fossil fuel companies, or corporate lobbyists; be representative of America; and “fight with the urgency that the climate crisis demands,” the groups say.

In addition, they are calling for the formation of the White House Office of Climate Mobilization to coordinate efforts across agencies.

They offer three recommendations each for many Cabinet-level agencies, with a top pick listed first. The list leans heavily into the progressive caucus of the House of Representatives, not surprisingly previously endorsed for election by the groups. The list does not include some major departments, like Defense and Energy. Some of their recommendations, like Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) for Interior, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for Treasury, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for Labor, are known to be on Biden’s short list of candidates.

People can support the effort by signing a petition for a “fierce and creative governing team” to “build back better from the crises we’re in.”

In an aggressive video promoting the effort, the groups ask of Biden: “Will he be the leader of the American majority, or will he be Mitch McConnell’s vice president?”

Their recommended picks:

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.

Full text:

On Monday, January 27th, Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) endorsed billionaire Michael Bloomberg for president, becoming the campaign’s “national chairman for climate, energy and environment.” Peters, a member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and vice-chair of the corporate-friendly New Democrats, opposes the Green New Deal, dismissing it as a “fiery speech.” In 2019 he explained his refusal to endorse the resolution calling for a Green New Deal agenda:

“I’m totally on board with getting to net-zero by mid-century. But the Green New Deal is not bold in that it doesn’t bring anyone else in. It is the easiest thing in the world to go talk to a bunch of people you agree with and do a fiery speech.”

Peters has reiterated his complaint that the Green New Deal lacks Republican support. In September, he told the San Diego Herald Tribune:

“I’ve explained it so many times. There’s not a Republican on it. It doesn’t even have a majority of Democrats. It got voted down in the Senate. So why people keep asking me about the Green New Deal is beyond me.”

He went on to attack the Green New Deal’s economic provisions, which are some of its most popular among Americans. “That just makes saving the planet a lot harder,” he said. “Now you’re talking about remaking the economy. I think we have a hard enough problem now.”

Peters is facing primary opponent Nancy Casady because of his opposition to the Green New Deal.

Peters’ former chief of staff, MaryAnne Pintar, is working on the Bloomberg campaign in California.

Politico’s Christopher Cadelago reports:

{eters is a vice chair of the pro-business group New Democrats, whose members huddled with Bloomberg on his recent visit to Capitol Hill. Peters, whose longtime chief of staff, MaryAnne Pintar, is a regional political director for Bloomberg in California, has warned Democrats against nominating a progressive like Sens. Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, saying their policies would make them more vulnerable to Trump in November.

“I do believe we need an alternative to Sen. Sanders and Sen. Warren. I don’t think that those are candidates who will win a general election. And I also disagree with them more on policy.”

Like Peters, Mike Bloomberg himself opposes the Green New Deal, saying the ambitious agenda “stands no chance” of passage in the Senate. Several of the Republicans in the U.S. Senate who oppose the Green New Deal have been supported for election by Bloomberg.

(Politico is paid by the fossil-fuel industry to promote their interests.)

The youth climate activist group Sunrise Movement has published a 200-point climate leadership scorecard on the top three Democratic presidential candidates, with Bernie Sanders leading Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden far behind.

Sanders earned 91.5% of the possible points; Warren 82.5%; and Biden a strikingly low 37.5%.

The careful scoring process is broken into four sections: “How they talk about it,” “How much they talk about it,” “Plan to win,” and “Green New Deal vision.”

Sanders and Warren earned identical scores for “How they talk about it” and “Plan to win”- reflecting their similarity in rhetoric about the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for comprehensive action that directly confronts the fossil-fuel industry. Both campaigns have laid out comprehensive plans for action that are built around principles of climate justice.

However, Sanders has talked about climate change significantly more than Warren on the campaign trail and in the presidential debates—a difference reflected in the metric used by the Sunrise Movement, which is the frequency with which climate change is discussed on the campaign Twitter feeds.

The Green New Deal section was a 100-point analysis of the candidate’s climate plans, representing half of the full score. Sanders received an A (95 points) compared to Warren’s B (85 points) for his clear plan for a phase-out of fossil-fuel extraction and for more detailed and ambitious plans for sustainable agriculture, forestry, climate refugees, energy democracy, public infrastructure, renewable energy investment, and public transportation.

In all categories Biden lagged significantly.

Perhaps relatedly, the Biden campaign’s top climate staffer, Heather Zichal, is a former John Kerry and Barack Obama staffer who parlayed her years of service into highly lucrative positions in the natural gas industry.

When Biden has been confronted by climate activists at campaign stops, he has responded dismissively that he was involved in one of the first climate bills passed by Congress and if they’re still not happy, they should vote for someone else.