Activism to Policy

NATIONAL WINS & COMPROMISES

THE FOUNDATION: A JUST TRANSITION

For years, climate justice activists have advanced a Just Transition, defined by the Climate Justice Alliance as “a vision- led, unifying and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.”

THE YOUTH CLIMATE MOVEMENT AND THE GREEN NEW DEAL

In 2018, the new youth climate organization Sunrise Movement occupied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, bringing a national policy vision for a Just Transition to Washington: The Green New Deal (GND). The GND recognizes the scale of action required to address the climate crisis and its social impacts. It mobilizes substantial federal funding to replace fossil fuels with renewables, addresses health inequities through universal healthcare, and guarantees full employment, backed by a Civilian Climate Corps offering green jobs like restoring wetlands, installing solar panels, and teaching environmental stewardship. These measures communicate the promise that climate justice holds for us all in our daily lives.

A MIXED OUTCOME

The Biden Administration’s 2022 climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a weak echo of the Green New Deal that brought it forward.

The IRA has moved real funding toward renewable energy, creating 170,000 green jobs. It also includes healthcare provisions and taxes for the largest corporations.

But the IRA, while bigger than anything before it, is far from big enough. Its clean energy tax credits go to homeowners, who are disproportionately white, rather than reparatively distributing benefits to lower-income people of all races—or benefiting everyone alike. It made no direct move to phase out fossil fuels, and even greenlit harmful, strongly opposed infrastructure in sacrifice zones.

In September 2023, under continuing pressure, President Biden announced the creation of the American Climate Corps, another step toward a Green New Deal. In its first year, the Corps will train and pay 20,000 young people to work on climate.

When we fight, we win, step by step.

“THERE IS NO PATH FOR JUSTICE OR FULL DECARBONIZATION WITHOUT ENDING THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF FOSSIL FUELS.”
—RHIANA GUNN-WRIGHT, CO-ARCHITECT OF THE GREEN NEW DEAL

POSTER ADVOCATING FOR THE GREEN NEW DEAL’S VISION OF A MASSIVE GREEN JOBS PROGRAM. THE GRAPHICS EVOKE THE DESIGN OF THE ORIGINAL NEW DEAL ERA.

Previous
Previous

Dangerous Influence

Next
Next

Carbon Footprint