Tackling the Climate Emergency
Although climate change affects everyone, young people have the most to lose. That is why, all across the globe, young people are marching, striking, and voting for justice-based solutions to this environmental and humanitarian crisis. Despite overwhelming and longstanding evidence, the government has clearly failed to enact and enforce the policies that are necessary to protect all of us from current and future climate disasters. The United States is one of the largest emitters of fossil fuels on the planet, and the Pentagon spends over $80 billion per year to protect the carbon-based global economy from which it benefits, but less wealthy countries will disproportionately feel the impact of the climate crisis. It violates our principles of justice and equity to allow others to suffer the consequences of our own actions. The United States must be a leader in addressing the climate crisis, not a bystander. We now have an opportunity to meet the climate crisis head-on and ensure a “just transition” to an economy based on renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, and green transportation, where everyone is able to live a healthy and dignified life.
The United States should:
Ensure that the United States is leading global efforts to combat climate change. Asking industrializing countries who are less responsible for the climate crisis to transition away from fossil fuels before we do is both unjust and unnecessary. This includes immediately passing Green New Deal legislation, rejoining the Paris Accords, and ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Treaty to return to remedial levels of carbon emissions, recognizing that US climate policy must go above and beyond those very limited targets.
Institute “subsidy swaps” to reallocate government subsidies from fossil fuels towards renewable sources of energy, and to transition away from high-carbon factory farming and toward low-carbon methods of food production.
Actively anticipate and prepare for a large influx of climate refugees, and adjust refugee quotas to at least be proportionate to US CO2 emissions.
Address the fact that the Department of Defense is the single greatest institutional carbon emitter on the planet by reducing overseas military bases and missions. At the same time, we should leverage the Department of Defense and Department of Energy’s substantial experience in environmental innovation to contribute to civil climate resilience.
Ensure that US infrastructure and transportation is low-carbon and disaster-resilient, and provide low- or no-cost public transportation across the country.
Defer to Indigenous communities for leadership on energy strategies and environmental conservation, and recognize their inherent sovereignty over their territories.
Work with the World Health Organization to develop a Fossil Fuel Control Playbook––along the lines of the Tobacco Control Playbook––to combat the lobbying tactics of fossil fuel companies.
Ensure a "just transition” for workers away from high carbon-emitting jobs towards low carbon-emitting jobs, with an economic guarantee to ensure that no community is negatively impacted by the transition to renewable energy.
Invest in research to mitigate public health crises that are exacerbated by climate change, such as the spread of air-, food-, and water-based diseases; the rise of superbugs; worsening air pollution; and food and water shortages.