Without a transition plan, advocates say oil and gas workers fill face involuntary layoffs and a lack of options for retraining. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
“Whatever our world leaders are 'doing' to reduce emissions, they are doing it wrong … Our political leaders have failed us … We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with.” — Greta Thunberg
The primary force overheating our planet, destabilizing our climate, and acidifying our oceans is the CO2 humans are dumping into the atmosphere.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey just introduced a new plan to employ millions of Americans in good-paying jobs that respond to climate change. Who’s in?
ci•vil•ian clim•ate corps
noun
1. A new, national program to put Americans to work on environmental projects that slow climate change and mitigate its effects.
Though set in the UK, the article below applies equally to other countries, where the illusion that we can "persuade" elected champions of corporate profiteering to support progressive causes is a self-defeating diversion from our real task. As stated in the article, this is "the building of alternative institutions of collective power and decision making, outside of the state." With most politicians it's not a question of not comprehending reality or of worrying that more radical policies will alienate middle-of-the-road voters.
Sometimes realisation comes in a blinding flash. Blurred outlines snap into shape and suddenly it all makes sense. Underneath such revelations is typically a much slower-dawning process. Doubts at the back of the mind grow. The sense of confusion that things cannot be made to fit together increases until something clicks. Or perhaps snaps.
After years of delay and denial from the highest levels of government, the Biden administration has promised to confront the existential threat of the climate crisis with trillions of dollars in “green” investment. Such a massive infusion of spending on energy, transit, housing, and more would reshape the entire physical landscape of the country.
Federal government must follow U.S. shift away from highway expansion
With all eyes on President Biden’s Earth Day climate summit Thursday, it’s important to understand how his $2-trillion infrastructure plan proposes an unprecedented shift in federal spending away from highway expansion and toward public transit. The ripples from this historic shift in the land of urban freeways are already starting to be felt in Canada and around the world.
