Green New Deal Sets Us on a Path to Avoid Climate Catastrophe, Curtail Injustice

Public Citizen applauds U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for their leadership in outlining a Green New Deal that sets us on a path to developing real solutions for the climate crisis, inequality and other systemic injustices at the scale and speed necessary to forestall beyond-catastrophic levels of global warming.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. It poses an urgent, existential threat to the U.S. as a whole and an immediate threat to innumerable people both here and abroad, with impoverished and marginalized communities suffering first and worst. But we can fix it, and do so in ways that make everyone better off except fossil fuel companies.

We can respond effectively to the climate crisis with a scaled-up program to rapidly transform our infrastructure and economy in a way that creates millions of jobs, advances equity, saves trillions in wasteful spending and makes us vastly healthier. We are thrilled that Markey and Ocasio-Cortez have outlined a vision to do precisely that, and we will work with them to strengthen it, flesh it out into actionable policy and make it a reality.

We also are pleased that the resolutions recognize the value and necessity of substantial government engagement and investment, done democratically and transparently, to fix our greatest problems. It's about time. We endorse these resolutions.