John,

On Inauguration Day, we heard President Joe Biden’s urgent plea for unity. Two days later, we brought together unlikely allies to find common ground on climate. 

Co-moderated by former Senator Kelly Ayotte and CNN Political Commentator and Dream Corps founder Van Jones, we heard common-sense clean energy solutions from Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Rep. Donald McEachin (D, V-4), Rep. Darin LaHood (R, IL-18), and Rep. John Curtis (R, UT-3). This bipartisan summit wasn’t about restoring Obama-era status quo or compromising our values and ideals, but rather how we could come together to address the triple crises of COVID-19, job loss, and climate change in the new Congress. 

Finding common ground solutions looks like upgrading homes and buildings by expanding low-income home weatherization. It means increasing research funding for cleantech, upgrading our transportation systems, incentivizing clean energy, and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and production. We have even found common ground on transitioning dirty diesel buses to electric school buses for our kids and communities, which means zero toxins and zero carcinogens for our children to breathe. 

Over two-thirds of Americans think the government needs to act on climate, but political polarization has gotten in the way of transformational change. Our communities still face high asthma rates, unsafe drinking water, and vulnerability to severe storms, fires, and flooding. That’s why we’re trying something bold. 

This year, we’re getting communities and political leaders on both sides of the political aisle to take a fresh look at policy and act quickly to put Americans back to work, strengthen the economy, and address pollution in our communities at the same time. We see a massive opportunity for common ground to break through the climate crisis. And it’s not just us, Rep. LaHood said it himself, “President Biden’s message of unity presents an opportunity. As Republicans, we’re looking for opportunities for how we can work together and clearly, climate is one of those areas where we can do that.” 

From common pain, we can build common purpose. We can build bottom-up common ground for practical climate solutions. It means working with people who may disagree with us while never forgetting who and what we’re fighting for: ensuring that the same people hit first and worst by pollution and climate change do not benefit last and least from solutions.

Rep. McEachin closed the event by saying, “Democrats and Republicans can move forward now on an equitable economic recovery that reduces pollution and puts people back to work in good-paying jobs. The opportunities are truly endless!”

Ready to learn more? Start by watching our Bipartisan Summit on Climate and the Economy. 

In unity,

-the Dream Corps Green For All team