A Letter to Biden on Earth Day 2020
Why we can’t settle for a return to “normalcy”
Originally published on Sunrise NYC’s medium account here.
Note from Sunrise NYC: This letter was originally written to be published on Earth Day 2020 — exactly 3 weeks ago. Since then, Joe Biden’s campaign has made some positive steps with climate platform: namely the formation of the new Sanders-Biden Task Force on Climate Change, which Varshini Prakash, the Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement, has announced that she is accepting an invitation to join today. We have decided to publish this letter today to make clear our disappointment with Biden’s record on climate thus far, and to share our hopes for how his platform might change with the input of our fearless Green New Deal advocates on the task force.
Dear Vice President Biden,
As the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, you promise a return to “normalcy.”
Were this an ordinary election, perhaps such a return would be heralded by many as a welcome cause. But the current COVID-19 crisis has made clear to the world what frontline and marginalized communities have always known — that the systems we rely on to support our democracy were not built for the most vulnerable among us, and, if left as “normal,” will lead to societal collapse under the weight of inequality and the climate crisis.
On the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, we, the undersigned, as individual organizations participating in a broad coalition of climate, environmental, and social justice organizations in New York City, urge you to:
Commit to a just transition from fossil fuels to 100% clean and renewable energy to be achieved by 2030 through investments in housing, infrastructure and renewable energy, in accordance with Green New Deal principles;
Make climate justice a central campaign issue and vocally target the catastrophic and deadly consequences of Trump’s inaction and policy rollbacks;
Commit to No New Fossil Fuels, including a national ban on fracking and an end to fossil fuel subsidies, in line with Green New Deal principles;
Invest in, and collaborate with, frontline communities of Black, Indigenous, and people of color hit hardest by the climate crisis.
As living conditions continue to worsen due to the COVID-19 pandemic — over half of voters under 45 have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or had their hours cut — it is now more crucial than ever that you assure Americans that their government will protect them from the worsening climate crisis through structural change. Your plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice calls for a transition to a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. It’s a historic proposal, one that, if enacted, would go farther than any administration has gone before — and unfortunately, given our current circumstances, it doesn’t go far enough.
While you recognize the Green New Deal as a “crucial framework” for the climate crisis, your own plan, which calls for a slower transition from fossil fuels, would still allow the oil and gas industry to continue investing in an extractive economy, which would keep infrastructural contracts over the next two decades that lock in fossil fuel production at levels nearly 50 percent, dangerously beyond what’s needed to cap warming at two degrees Celsius by 2040, as per the Paris Agreement. With oil prices as of April 20th at less than $1 per barrel, this is a perfect opportunity to push for the Green New Deal as an economic and environmental alternative.
Additionally, US air pollution deaths increased by 9,700 a year from 2016 to 2018, likely due to both Trump and Obama era policies. And now, communities hit hardest by historic air pollution are dying because of Coronavirus. We can’t afford to wait until 2050 — we need action now. We urge you to shift your timeline to a just transition by 2030.
This moment requires strong climate leadership, and research indicates that climate change is a key issue for winning swing votes. By highlighting the damage that another four years of Trump’s disastrous policies would do to the climate crisis, you would position yourself not simply as a harm-reduction candidate, but as one bold enough to demand a future. We call on you, Mr. Vice President, to be clearer about where you stand on climate, and not just on your website, but on the campaign trail. We urge you to make climate a central campaign issue.
Your current plan is too vague in defining what “clean energy” does and does not entail, and you have in the past opposed a nationwide ban on fracking, a practice that produces an excess of methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for 25 percent of global warming. Furthermore, fracked pipelines — which are often built on sovereign Indigenous lands without consent — can leak, irreparably contaminating groundwater. Your plan does not even mention fracking. We urge you to commit to No New Fossil Fuels, and a national ban on fracking.
You emphasize making polluters pay for the damage they’ve done to frontline communities, which we support, and we additionally demand that you fiscally invest in these communities, which tend to be comprised of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, by developing dedicated funding streams, involving frontline leadership in all decision-making processes, and respecting tribal sovereignty and protections. We urge you to invest in, and collaborate with, these communities.
Mr. Vice President, you have cultivated an image of a bipartisan leader who will get things done. However, that image will not matter in the long run if your administration can’t save humanity from the climate crisis by rapidly transitioning our economy off fossil fuels and investing in vulnerable communities and renewable energy. We strongly urge you to sign onto our demands — and to demand the future all of us deserve.
Signed,
Action Corps and Action Corps NYC
CUNY University Student Senate Sustainability Committee
Earth Day Initiative
Indivisible Nation BK
Resource Generation NYC
Sunrise Movement NYC