|
Dear John,
Joe Biden won! Donald Trump lost! We have a declared victor. So go ahead and exhale. We can celebrate! The political victory isn’t complete, of course. We still have a chance to win the US Senate (thank you Georgia runoffs!). But HOLY COW we already won the biggest prize. The “climate arsonist” Donald Trump is toast. Another four years of Trump would have wrecked our global atmosphere — period. Now our next President, Joe Biden, can quickly rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, rebuild the US EPA, and bring science and facts back to policy. Like Obama, Biden can take executive actions to lower carbon emissions nationwide while giving federal support to specific state initiatives everywhere from California to Virginia.
On Tuesday, election night, things were agonizing. Then momentum swung our way as the week went on and we still might win the US Senate after the Georgia runoff elections on January 5th. But in the meantime, how could 70 million people vote for a climate-denying, racist, lying incumbent President? We have more work to do. Conversely, 73.5 million people DID vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the most ever for a presidential ticket. And the climate platform they ran on is amazing. It includes 100 percent clean electricity nationwide by 2035 with net zero emissions by 2050. And it puts equity for disadvantaged communities at the center of all climate policies. Now, with time running out on climate change, we need to help our friends in Georgia elect two Democratic Senate candidates to give Democrats control of Congress. On Monday night, US Senator Chris Van Hollen will offer insights and updates on how a national effort will likely unfold to help those candidates and thus help us pass the Biden Climate plan in 2021. Meanwhile, as a backup, progressive states from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between must be prepared to pass as much of the Biden climate agenda as possible at the local level, with huge help from a supportive White House. We'll be joined by CCAN Action Fund’s Maryland and Virginia directors, Jamie DeMarco and Kim Jemaine, to talk about that. Also, legendary climate activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben, and Andres Jimenez of Green 2.0, will explain how national and state policies must be meet this moment in history byachieving maximum ambition with deep commitments to environmental justice. Time is almost up for a swift and transformative clean-energy revolution. But here’s what gives me hope. In the middle of a pandemic, with a hate-spewing President explicitly trying to push disruptive chaos into the process, our country at every level and in every state has conducted an incredibly smooth and fair election with record turnout. So yes, despite four years of Trump, Americans can still come together to do great things against long odds for the common good. We did it this week by preserving our democracy. Now let’s do it for the climate. Join our Zoom call Monday night. See you there. Sincerely, Mike Tidwell
Want to support our work? Click here to make a one-time or monthly donation. Did you receive this email from a friend? Click to sign up for updates. View this email in your web browser CCAN Action Fund is the grassroots arm of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. The mission of the CCAN Action Fund is to effect change in public policy at local, state and national levels to directly address the threat of global warming. Through voter education, lobbying and participation in the electoral process, we seek to move our country into a leadership position on the most urgent global issue of our time — the climate crisis. Update your contact information | Update your email subscriptions You can also unsubscribe at any time.
|
