 John, This afternoon, President Joe Biden proposed trillions of dollars in new spending on clean energy, infrastructure, public schools, and our care economy. This is the first installment of his infrastructure plan and a top priority for his administration and Democrats in Congress. Like many other moments over the past few years, our movement has to hold two truths at once: Biden’s plan doesn’t meet the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and the most ambitious version of this plan must be passed into law immediately. Biden’s proposal will now head to Congress, where there’s a lot working against us. Not a single Republican voted for the COVID relief bill that passed last month and moderate Democrats could try to water this bill down or sneak in big handouts to corporations. Let’s be clear: There are absolutely no excuses for Biden and Democrats to not deliver for the people. If Republicans don’t cooperate, they need to do it without them. If the filibuster obstructs progress, they need to abolish it. But that’s easier said than done, and absolutely nothing will happen without movements like ours. It’s our job to make sure the best possible version of Biden’s plan becomes law as soon as possible and that it is the first of many pieces of legislation that will address the many crises facing our generation. We always knew the Green New Deal would be more than a single piece of legislation and this bill is just the beginning. We need to talk to our neighbors and friends and get in the streets to make it clear: we need transformational change, and if politicians won’t move fast enough, our generation will force their hand. The work of movements like ours is slow, and it’s hard, and it isn’t always clear how all of our work adds up. Today isn’t a cut and dry win, but it’s one of those days that makes me believe in the power of organizing and movement building. It makes me feel hopeful about the power of young people and it makes me wonder what else our movement can accomplish in the months and years to come. Join us for a call tomorrow night to talk more about this plan and what’s next for Sunrise. I can’t wait to see what we can do together, Deirdre
P.S. We wrote up this longer blog post to try to make sense of today’s announcement if you want to read more. |