There Are Members Of Congress Who Don't Understand The Urgency Of The Climate Crisis-- Take Cheri Bustos And "Energy Expert" Sean Casten

Bustos and Casten-- Climate Incrementalists

Corporate Dems in Illinois really are spearheading the effort to keep the fossil fuel industry alive. New Dems, Blue Dogs and Vote-For-Sale Democrats are moving quickly to normalize false "solutions" to the climate crisis and to make them acceptable to the public. Remember way back in 2018 when Sean Casten ran for Congress as "a clean energy consultant," practically basing his whole campaign against GOP incumbent Peter Roskam on combatting the Climate Crisis. It was a popular issue in the Chicagoland district west and northwest of the city (primarily DuPage County with pieces of Kane, Cook, McHenry and Lake as well) and Casten won the R+2 district 169,001 (53.6%) to 146,445 (46.4%), which appeared to be an incredible feat, only tempered by the fact that Hillary had beaten Trump there by the same 7 point margin.

Still great news for people concerned about Climate. Pelosi put him onto the brand new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis-- no one knew then it was designed to slow down work on the Climate Crisis, not solve it-- and onto the Science and Technology Committee, where he got a seat on the Energy Subcommittee. Yesterday, one of the foremost Climate activists in DePage County told me Casten abandoned the Green New Deal on his first day in Congress. "What a phony he turned out to be! A real corporate Democrat in the worst sense of the word." Casten joined the New Dems immediately and when AOC introduced the Green New Deal Resolution, Casten adamantly refused to sign on as a co-sponsor, something 94 Democrats have already done.

The only members of the Illinois delegation who have signed on are Jan Schakowsky, Chuy Garcia, Danny Davis and Mike Quigley. Meanwhile corporate Dems like Blue Dog Cheri Bustos and Casten have been working to discredit the Green New Deal approach and lull the public into believing incremental "moderate"-- and inadequate-- half-measures are all that's needed. Progressive Democrat Marie Newman noted that "When my opponent calls The Green New Deal a fairy tale and socialism, it simply demonstrates how out of touch he is with reality. We are in a crisis and we should all be acting as first responders, not obstructionists." Her opponent is notorious Blue Dog and Climate Change denier Dan Lipinski. If he sounds more like a Republican than a Democrat, it's because he is more of a Republican than a Democrat.

Last week Bustos submitted what she calls a framework of policies and principles-- "Rural Green Partnership"-- to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. "Climate change may be the most complicated challenge our country has ever faced," she wrote, "but I intend to meet the challenge head on and give rural America-- including families in Northwest and Central Illinois-- a seat at the table... [R]ural America is armed with some of the best tools to turn back the course of climate change."

Bustos and Casten want Congress to ditch the AOC all-in approach and go for "expand and improved conservation programs that are respected and well known to farmers" [while] "exploring new markets for ecosystem services that establish economic incentives to adopt conservation practices that increase resilience...and investing in rural infrastructure and leveraging zero and low interest loans, tax credits and grants to incentivize new clean energy development and innovations that drive down green house gas emissions."

None of this is bad; in fact it's part, a small part, of what's needed to save the planet. The problem with Bustos-- along with others in Congress, like Casten, backing her approach-- is that they're attempting to tamp down any sense of urgency and any recognition of the magnitude and scope of the Climate Crisis. A Climate activist in Galesburg told me that "this is about her reelection bid, not about Climate Change; this are false solutions to an existential problem... Cheri is just a typical politician who's never thinking about anything except her next election."





Brianna Wu, is running for a Boston area congressional seat held by conservative Democrat Stephen Lynch (New Dem). Yesterday she sent me the video clip above and told me that she wished "we had time to address this crisis in incrementalist ways. In fact, Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich sat on a couch in 2008 and promised just that, slow and steady decarbonization. Unfortunately, they didn’t follow through and now we are out of time for small ideas. I was on the shore of Quincy this weekend, meeting residents in my district. And as I saw their beautiful houses, all I could think about was the incalculable human cost more inaction will cause. There is no more time for their timidity."

Eva Putzova is running for a seat occupied by "ex"-Republican Tom O'Halleran, a Blue dog being protected by Cheri Bustos and what's left of her decimated DCCC. Another Climate Crisis denier, O'Halleran, like Bustos, opposes the Green New Deal. Eva supports it strongly: "Climate change is everything: it's an environmental, health, migration, security, social, and economic issue. Decades of bi-partisan inaction at the federal level left us with limited options to stabilize the climate in a very compressed timeframe. No incremental regulation can be adequate to the monumental crisis we are facing. The only way to secure our survival on this planet is to invest heavily in retooling our economy the way the Green New Deal proposes-- with equity and justice in mind. The short-term monetary interests of industries dependent on fossil fuels should not trump the very existence of life on Earth. We led the world into the crisis, we ought to lead getting us out of it."

ShitMoms by Tala Madani

Dary Rezvani is the progressive Democrat running for the Central Valley seat occupied by Darrell Issa. He and Issa don't see much of anything in common-- and especially not the urgency of the Climate Crisis. "Jay Inslee," he told me, "said it best: 'the house is on fire.' We are watching ecological diversity disappear at an alarming rate. We have seen the hottest summer ever recorded. If we are going to actually win this battle than the only way is with drastic, immediate change. The issue stems from the denial of an actual problem. Anyone who can comprehend the magnitude of this issue knows that something like the Green New Deal is nothing compared to the dystopian future we are headed towards where the next generation will be fighting wars for clean drinking water. We literally don't have time for incrementalism. Scientists have said we have 10 years until the tipping point, what time does that leave us for change here and there? We know how long it takes for our government to take action so what makes anyone think that we would be able to make the changes necessary in the amount of time we have left unless it was done in one life-altering bill? In addition to the changes that we need to make as Americans, it will still not be enough to curb the problem entirely which is why as world leaders we need to pass such drastic legislation. When other countries see that we are taking the issue seriously, they will also fall into line. All other issues will be intensified from the denial of the Climate Crisis, immigration will increase to developed areas, health issues will intensify with worse air and water quality, and more global violence will ensue as conditions worsen in developing nations. Our future depends on the Green New Deal."

Kim Williams is the progressive Democrat running for another Central Valley district, this one occupied by reactionary Blue Dog Jim Costa, an opponent of everything and anything progressive, including the Green New Deal. "There is no question that the Green New Deal has gained momentum and the people of this country are ready for comprehensive solutions to our planet's climate crisis," Williams told us. "However, we are still met with Democrats and folks across the isle who fail to address this issue with a sense of urgency and uphold the status quo. As long as this remains the case, fossil fuel companies will continue to pollute our air and water, and communities in my district will continue to live with some of the least breathable air in America. Life expectancies will continue to be cut short, and we will fail to deliver the economic security we promise our communities every election cycle. I am running to strengthen the fight for bold, comprehensive solutions to remedy the impacts of climate change my district feels everyday. I understand we must harness this momentum to create concrete legislation that moves to dramatically reduce carbon emissions and create good union jobs for our communities. This can only be done by swiftly mobilizing federal resources in response to the crisis before us."

Something tells me that the person who managed to destroy the DCCC in just a few months after taking over as chair is not the member of Congress who is going to solve the Climate Crisis with what amounts to a spiffy campaign plank. RL Miller, one of the nation's foremost Climate activists, chair of the California Democratic Party's environmental caucus and founder of ClimateHawksVote: "Cheri Bustos needs to sit down and read the new IPCC report on lands and agriculture released on August 8 and write a plan that conforms to the demands of science, not one promoting pipelines carrying carbon dioxide. Her plan is woefully inadequate."