Climate Strikes
Champions: Charles Young
Charles Young was born into slavery in Kentucky on March 12, 1864. Through the legacy of his father, who had escaped slavery to join the Union Army during the Civil War, Young attended West Point Military Academy, becoming the third black American to graduate from West Point. He became the first Black colonel in the United States Army.
Strategic Perspectives of the Green New Deal from Below
The Green New Deal from Below expresses the values and programs of the Green New Deal at local, state, and regional levels. But it is also a strategy for how to realize those values and implement those programs. This Strike! Commentary will explore how, in a complex and conflicted political arena, the Green New Deal movement has constructed such a strategy. The next commentary will explore how it has implemented that strategy in practice.
The Green New Deal: From Below or from Above?
While the original Green New Deal congressional resolution primarily envisioned a program at the federal level, activists and governments in local, state, regional, and civil society arenas have gone ahead and implemented many of its programs. Federal and sub-federal actions can be synergistic, but they both require planning, resource mobilization, and the avoidance of false solutions.
California Workers to Hold Summits on Climate and Jobs
California Labor for Climate Jobs is hosting two CLCJ Worker Summits this spring, one in the Bay Area this past weekend and one upcoming in Los Angeles.
LNS President Testifies on Geothermal Energy, Climate Change, and Jobs
On March 6, LNS president Joe Uehlein testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources…
To Protect Labor and Climate: Protect Dissent!
There’s a war brewing against dissent. In Georgia, lawmakers are attempting to make it illegal for communities to protest and advocate against environmental injustice by labeling protestors as “domestic terrorists.” Bills introduced in legislatures around the country would make it illegal to protest at industrial sites, whether publicly or privately owned…
Green New Deal for Housing
On March 21, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) introduced the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act.
Providence: Clean Buildings and Union Jobs
On March 7 the Providence, Rhode Island city council passed an ordinance requiring that all municipal buildings, including public schools, be carbon-neutral by 2040. It includes strong labor and equity standards that will create pathways to union jobs in communities that need them most.
Climate Change: In Case You Haven’t Heard…
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on March 19 that 2023 was the hottest year on record.
Get Access to That Infrastructure Funding!
The NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) has just issued a report called ACT LOCALLY: An Equitable Investment Resource Guide for Advocates and Local Governments to Access Infrastructure Funding and Activate Bold Plans