Republicans Oppose The Green New Deal-- But So Does My Blue Dog Opponent

by Tom Guild
Democratic candidate, OK-05

A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that humans can still prevent the worst effects of climate change, but that we have less time than previously thought to undertake a dramatic and speedy transformation of the global economy. Every day, there is more concerning news about rising sea levels and climate-fueled disasters. The task ahead of us is urgent. We must fight for the ecological well-being of the planet we call home. The climate change crisis is an existential threat to humans and to the animals and plants with which we share planet Earth. We must redouble our efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses and to institute sustainable energy practices.

My June 30 primary opponent Kendra Horn has refused to sign onto the Green New Deal proposal. There is scant evidence that she considers climate change important enough to take the steps needed to protect our environmental future. One of my goals when elected to the U.S. House is to support bold action to fight climate change. The principles of the GND will be a good guidepost to help us reverse the damage done by excessive use of and dependence on fossil fuels. We will create tens of millions of good paying green jobs as we transition to an environmentally friendly renewable energy policy. According to a consensus of the scientific community, time is running short to effectively deal with climate change. We must not fail to act and thereby help create an irreversible situation that leads to the destruction of our environment that scientists say may in the foreseeable future render planet earth unsustainable for human life.
   
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) is a current Democratic member of Congress. He is fighting to make sure the Trump administration does not destroy our environment in the name of saving our health when it is primarily concerned with saving the investments of the top 1%. Lowenthal recently said, "The Trump Administration has spent years rolling back decades of hard-fought environmental progress. The White House has worked to undermine science, accelerate climate change, undo decades of work to protect our air, water, and health, and compromise the health of our planet." Lowenthal is doing the hard work it takes to protect the environment by working to stop Trump and protect the future of our planet--something Trump does not spend any time thinking about, while claiming the climate crisis is a "Chinese hoax."

The Paris Climate Accord was negotiated by representatives of 196 nations in Le Bourget, France, and adopted by consensus on December 12, 2015. The previous U.S. Administration of President Barack Obama took a leading role in pushing for the climate treaty. As of February 2020, 189 countries had become party to the agreement. The Paris Agreement's goal is to pursue efforts to limit and substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. This is to be achieved by reducing emissions as soon as possible, to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. The accord also aims to increase the ability of parties to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and make "finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development."


 Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate climate change. No mechanism forces a country to set specific emissions targets by a specific date, but each target should go beyond previously set targets. In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the compact, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump's current presidential term. The American threat to withdraw from the treaty is a giant setback for the global effort to reduce climate change and to protect our planet.

We need to break down the corrupt corporate and establishment walls that are holding back progress on the environment and climate change. If you agree that we need bold action to effectively address the crisis, we invite you to join our campaign. If you would like to donate you can do that by clicking on the Blue America 2020 congressional thermometer on the right.

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Striving for A Future We Can All Believe In.