John,
Considering the circumstances of the present: a health and economic crisis like the world has not seen for a century in conjunction with the climate crisis that we know has been and will continue the biggest threat to human life on this planet, we’d all like to hope and assume that those running for public office keep these issues at the forefront of their minds. We would especially hope the presumptive Democratic nominee for President would keep to this mindset and bring people onto their campaign team who represent these values, too.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers — who has played a major role in advocating for policies that contributed to the skyrocketing inequality and climate crisis we’re living with today — is not this person. News1 that Summers is advising the Biden campaign on economic recovery should alarm you. Tell Joe Biden to publicly reject Larry Summers’ role as an economic advisor.
Summers is a friend to Wall Street whose deregulations during the Clinton administration set the stage for the 2008 Great Recession. During the same administration, Summers argued we should not move too fast to save the planet from climate change due to “dire and unkowable economic consequences.”2 Even still, Summers was brought in by the Obama administration to clean up the mess he had helped create while advising the President against a Green Recovery Investment Plan (which could’ve been our first steps towards a Green New Deal).3 This continued throughout the decade when, in 2014, Summers was one of the leading voices against an oil export ban in the US4 while, at the same time, advocating for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.5 Let Joe Biden know that someone who has advocated against what the Green New Deal is all about has no business advising him.
Earlier this month, Sunrise Movement and several other progressive youth organizations sent Joe Biden’s campaign a letter6 recommending several policy and personnel commitments that will help earn the enthusiasm and votes of people in our generation. The letter requested Biden commit to appointing advisors to his National Economic Council and Office of Management and Budget who believe in the principles of the Green New Deal and a rapid transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy – Larry Summers is not that. Tell Joe Biden to publicly reject Larry Summers’ role as an economic advisor to the recovery and bar him from a role in his administration.
The news of Summers advising the Biden campaign is exactly the opposite of the direction he should be going to turn out enough young voters to defeat Trump—which is an imperative to tackling the climate crisis at scale. Vice President Biden has said that, “When we emerge from this crisis, we can't just go back to the way things were. We need to build a better future for all.”7 Putting Summers anywhere near economic or climate planning would do just that. The people making decisions over the past decades helped get us into our current mess. Vice President Biden can show us that he wants to move the country forward by rejecting Larry Summers and bringing in people who are aligned with the vision of the Green New Deal.
Onwards,
Alex Minassian
Sunrise Movement Political Team
1. http://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-23/larry-summers-advising-biden-campaign-on-economic-recovery?sref=f7rH2jWS
2. https://nytimes.com/2009/01/03/washington/03enviro.html
3. https://twitter.com/evanlweber/status/1253530346257342464?s=20
4. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2014/09/09/larry-summers-argues-case-for-lifting-the-crude-oil-export-ban/
5. https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/lawrence-summers-comes-out-swinging-for-keystone-xl-at-rotman-talk
6. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/progressive-youth-groups-issue-list-demands-joe-biden-n1179401
7. https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1250831570031775745
