The Green New Deal. Yes, it is a resolution formally
submitted to the U.S. Congress by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator
Edward Markey. Yet it is so much more than that.
It is part of a global youth-led movement that presents a
vision for a sustainable and resilient future based on social, economic, and Earth justice. And it outlines a path for realizing that vision within
one generation. Ocasio-Cortez describes it eloquently in her short video, A Message from the Future.
In this
video, Ocasio-Cortez offers an inspiring
message that is urgently needed to motivate the country out of the quagmire we
are in. Politically, it is a message that goes beyond promising a basket of
unrelated goodies. Rather, it ties those goodies together into a unifying, holistic
theme that addresses root cause rather than symptomatic patches. Whatever one may think of the Green New Deal’s specifics, it does
present a foundation for much thoughtful debate, action, and consensus building
that are needed to bring it to reality, legislative and otherwise.
We have to be bold and
creative, and we have to get started.
Politics as usual just won’t cut it. Nothing “as usual” will cut it. We
have to not just think but act outside the box, for the box is collapsing
around us and whatever remains inside the box will be crushed. Actually, is
already in the process of being crushed.
Most exciting about the Green New
Deal is the energy and eloquence of the youth leading it. Ocasio-Cortez is one
of them, as evidenced in her video (above). Also, on March 14, 2019, the New
York Times reported on 9-year-old Zayne Cowie’s children’s book, Gooodbye,Earth, which he wrote for grownups, taking them to task for not addressing
climate change. And on
April 16, 2019, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden addressed the European Parliament on climate change, saying that, “Everyone and
everything has to change.”
Notably, a rapidly growing grassroots movement of young
people, the Sunrise Movement, is
sweeping the country supporting the Green New Deal and, in the process, raising
the consciousness of everyone to the urgency of the task. From the Sunrise
Movement website:
We are ordinary young people who are scared about
what the climate crisis means for the people and places we love. We are
gathering in classrooms, living rooms, and worship halls across the country.
Everyone has a role to play. Public opinion is already with us - if we
unite by the millions we can turn this into political power and reclaim our
democracy.
We are not looking to the right or left. We look
forward. Together, we will change this country and this world, sure as the sun
rises each morning.
Indeed, everyone and everything does have to change. The
time is past, and the time is now, and the Green New Deal offers a path forward.
Thanks for this inspiring post, Mike. I will follow your blog from now on.
ReplyDeleteyes, you hit it on the head and heart!
ReplyDeletecan i share this on facebook on my page and on EAN's page?
ReplyDelete