John,

You may remember that a couple of months ago, I was nominated by Bernie Sanders, alongside Represenative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and environmental justice leader Catherine Flowers, to serve on a Sanders-Biden Unity Task Force that would help advise the Democratic Platform and Joe Biden's campaign on climate change. I spent the last six weeks in policy discussions fighting for the vision that young people need — for the future we deserve, free from climate chaos. Today, the recommendations of the task force were released, and I wanted to share with you my thougths and experience.

Here’s the topline: we’ve moved the needle a lot, especially on environmental justice and upping Biden's overall ambition. But there’s still more work to do to push Democrats to understand and embrace the scale of the climate crisis, and towards the promise of a truly just society we envision through a Green New Deal. Let's keep building.

I knew that no matter what happened on this task force we would have to keep bringing more people into our movement and use our growing power to continue pushing the Democratic Party and defeat corporate Democrats and Republicans at the ballot box. I never anticipated we would walk out of this process with all the commitments we needed to ensure a livable future for my generation, and I know that there are still influences in the Democratic Party establishment that hold us back. But I also hoped that by participating, I would be able to bring the power our movement has built to deliver progress and commitments we could hold a future Biden administration accountable to, while continuing to push for more of what is necessary. I am pleased to say we did just that. We are now leaving these policy discussions with recommendations that, if fully implemented, will make Joe Biden’s climate plan considerably more ambitious, equitable, and urgent than what was on the table just a few weeks ago. The results of the climate task force — combined with the results of the other task forces on the economy, education, healthcare, criminal justice, and immigration — are pushing Biden’s platform in a significantly more progressive direction that is much more in line with our ultimate vision for a Green New Deal.

Going into the taskforce meetings I had two specific goals:

1.
Push
the
Biden
team
to
increase
their
ambition
considerably
(timelines,
benchmarks
etc.)
and
2.
Insist
environmental
justice
is
at
the
core
of
everything
we
do
when
combating
the
climate
crisis.

Here are some highlights of policies and programs we pushed Biden on, and which were ultimately included in the final product.

*
Climate
Ambition *
Achieve
100%
clean
electricity
no
later
than
2035,
100%
clean
new
buildings
by
2030,
and
standards
for
100%
clean
new
vehicles
as
soon
as
possible
*
Historic
investments
in
mass
transit,
green
public
housing,
and
other
21st
century
sustainable
infrastructure
projects


*
Green
Jobs *
Champion
a
“
Climate
Corps”
that
supports
a
new
generation
of
young
workers
to
tackle
the
climate
crisis
through
good-paying
jobs
that
meet
labor
standards.
*
Ensure
all
workers
are
guaranteed
the
right
to
join
a
union,
collectively
bargain
and
are
guaranteed
labor
and
health
standards
in
any
climate
or
Green
New
Deal
related
jobs
and
projects


*
Environmental
Justice *
Create
an
Environmental
Justice
Fund
to
make
historic
investments
in
environmental
justice
projects
(e.g.
eliminating
legacy
pollution
from
toxic
waste
sites,
remediating
lead
in
paint
and
pipelines,
ensuring
safe
wastewater
and
water
systems
in
low
income
communities
and
communities
of
color)
*
Respect
indigenous
sovereignty:
Commit
to
upholding
regulations
in
a
way
that
strengthens
tribal
sovereignty
and
ensures
tribal
consent
on
projects
involving
land
in
which
tribes
own
even
a
fractional
interest.
Commit
to
early
and
ongoing
consultation
with
tribes
to
identify
and
work
to
appropriately
mitigate
or
address
concerns
regarding
major
infrastructure
projects.
*
Implement
Equity
Screen
on
all
major
federal
spending,
policymaking
and
infrastructure
investments,
including
climate,
energy,
environmental,
housing,
and
transportation
and
map
disadvantaged
communities
where
funding
should
be
prioritized


*
Hold
polluters
accountable *
Hold
corporate
executives
personally
accountable
for
affecting
the
health
and
safety
of
workers
and
communities,
such
as
intentionally
hiding
or
distorting
material
information,
including
jail
time
where
merited.
*
Implement
a
“climate
test”
on
all
new
infrastructure
to
stop
fossil
fuel
expansion


*
Sustainable
Environment *
Plant
over
16
billion
trees
by
2050,
including
in
urban
areas
and
prioritizing
communities
of
color
and
low
income
communities
*
Rebuild
regional
food
infrastructure
to
ensure
that
local
market
infrastructure
is
in
place
for
family
farmers
to
sell
a
wider
range
of
products
and
protect
small
and
medium-sized
farmers
and
producers
by
strengthening
enforcement
of
antitrust
laws.
*
Implement
components
of
a
“Blue
New
Deal”



These are just some of the topline victories. Overall, we moved Biden’s benchmarks around decarbonization to be far more ambitious. Now our metrics will be gauged on timelines of today and tomorrow, of what we will achieve in the next 5, 10, 15 years, not 30 or 50. This is a huge victory.

We vocally advocated for, and were joined by all of the other appointees in shoring up the environmental justice components of Biden’s climate plan. While Biden previously, got a 3/20 on the environmental justice section of our Green New Deal scorecard, this platform is far more responsive to the unequal world we live in, and to addressing the effects of environmental racism, classism and injustice.

I want to be very clear: there are some specifics and commitments we didn’t get, where I wish the platform had gone further, or where I was at odds with what ended up in the document. These are the areas we need to keep pushing.

I wish we’d been able to clarify the scale of investment, jobs, etc. that Joe Biden will achieve regarding proposals like a Climate Corps, or the level of investment we plan to leverage over the next 4-5 years towards building a renewable energy economy. We have a historic opportunity in front of us with tens of millions who need employment in better jobs than they had previously in our broken economy. We have to keep making that opportunity clear. I also really wished we had gone further on the discussion of how we are going to specifically phase out all fossil fuels, and stop promoting false solutions like carbon capture and storage. We needed to stop burning fossil fuels yesterday if staying below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius of warming will be more than a pipe dream.

We've got more work to do, and I remain clear-eyed about the road ahead. But given where we started, I’m feeling encouraged by where we’ve landed. I think this process shows that Joe Biden and the people around him are willing to listen and can be moved. That's very different than our current President. Now we must continue to make our voices heard, push him on this plan, hold him accountable to even greater ambition, and ensure that Joe Biden refuses to kowtow to pressures from corporate and GOP influences that are still trying to have his ear.

I don’t have all the answers for where we’ll go moving forward, but at this moment, I feel genuinely hopeful. Not because of the task force, or because of what I expect Biden to do or not do, but because of what our movement has already shifted and made possible. I think it's safe to say, as is, that our movement would have some power and influence in a Biden administration. And I know that we are going to keep growing bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and more unstopabble, until we have the power to win the world that we deserve.

How do I know that? In the last 6 weeks, as I've sat in these Zoom rooms with Congresspeople and former Administrative officials, I've seen teenagers topple a 31 year incumbent Congressman in New York, I've seen young people in Kentucky help a Black man running on a Green New Deal come within inches of toppling the Democratic establishment to take on Mitch McConnell, I've seen our number of hubs continue to grow during a global pandemic, and I've seen us rise powerfully to stand beside other young people in the streets demanding justice for Black Lives.

We've got a ways to go still, but we've also come so far. Let's keep organizing. Let’s keep calling out for the world we deserve. Let’s defeat Trump and his white nationalist fossil fuel buddies this November. Together, I know that one day soon, we will take the first steps towards a Green New Deal for America, sure as the sun rises each morning.

If you'd like, you can read the full platform recommendations here [[link removed]] . The DNC platform draft starts on the first page, and the full list of climate recommendations begins on page 42.

It's an honor to be a part of this movement with you all,

Varshini

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