A2. Green Unionism

Consider free public transport for all, not just buses for under-22s, say campaigners  

Greener Jobs Alliance is a supporter of Fare Free London, a community based campaign for free public transport in London.  They have just issued the following statement to the House of Commons Transport Committee and to Transport Minister Heidi Alexander, which GJA has signed up to.

The undersigned organisations welcome the House of Commons Transport Committee’s call for a pilot scheme providing free all-day bus travel to under-22s – and we call for a more wide-ranging study on the potential for universal free travel on all types of public transport.

The committee states that access to free travel would help to remove “barriers to education, training and employment for the next generation”, but it is not only the young who experience these barriers. The burden borne by millions of households due the high fares as well as to the deterioration of bus services over the past decade is well documented.

High fares and poor public transport services exacerbate social inequality, and obstruct progress away from car-centred transport systems – and not only on buses. Trains, including the underground, add to the problem.

With regard to buses, the Transport Committee is calling for a change in the way that funding is provided. We believe that that change should be applied to public transport as a whole.  

We call for the Committee and the government to consider the potential of universal free public transport, which has been successfully introduced in a range of European cities, including the capitals of Luxembourg, Estonia and Serbia, and more than 130 cities in Brazil.

Fare Free London

Fare Free Yorkshire

Get Glasgow Moving

Greener Jobs Alliance

Tipping Point UK

Unite Community, Leeds, Wakefield and York branch

For more information, see the Fare Free London Website here: Fare Free London

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The post Consider free public transport for all, not just buses for under-22s, say campaigners   first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.

Patty Berne,a Japanese-Haitian person with light brown skin, smiles playfully with love and light shining from their brown eyes. They wear an off the shoulder opalescent blue dress and an amethyst pendant. Their brown hair is pulled back into their signature two buns. Behind Patty is a pink background with radiant red and yellow flowers. Text reads: Remembering Patty Berne. Illustration by Nomy Lam.

On May 29, 2025, our community lost a dear friend and comrade, Patty Berne. Patty was co-founder and longtime Executive and Artistic Director of Sins Invalid and a primary architect of the Disability Justice movement, its 10 Principles, and core practices that center the lives, wisdom, and leadership of disabled queer and trans Black and brown people.

A few words from Movement Generation collective members from the past and present share some reflections on Patty’s beautiful life and legacy (audio version available here):

“I first experienced the gift of Patty Berne as a college student, as we were both members of Students Against Intervention in Central America. It was a bad-ass space of fierce and successful organizing, made possible in so many ways by Patty’s brilliance and visionary leadership. Patty always led with joy, discipline, directness, and tremendous political clarity. They took internationalism very seriously, and pushed us to think and act and care in innovative and necessary ways. Patty was great at getting us to cultivate curiosity, lean into discomfort, and foster our revolutionary learning edges as we did so. And: Patty was funny as fuck. Always. Their irreverence was delightful, refreshing, healing. Thank you Patty, for shining so bright, so true, so potent. ¡Patty Berne, presente!” –Mateo Nube

“What Patty taught me, I can never un-learn: that if capitalism depends on ableism—that industrial production brought with it measuring a person’s worth by how much profit their they can produce—then disability justice requires the end of capitalism. In other words, if we’re committed to a world where all mind-bodies are truly sacred and worthy of care and belonging, then we have to re-organize our relationships around collective care, interdependence, and mutual aid. I am forever indebted to Patty for their friendship, comradeship, and mentorship. I will miss her political brilliance, her artistic production, her always super-fly style. I am so grateful to have recorded a conversation with Patty in what we didn’t know would be their last year of life. If it would do you good to hear her voice, I invite you to listen here.” –Brooke Anderson

“I absolutely 100 percent move more boldly in everything I do since meeting Patty Berne.  Without a doubt they shifted my perspective, approach, and beliefs about my body and all bodies: no body is disposable and our bodies – disabled, queer, crazy, funky- are sexy as fuck. I sometimes forget this about myself, but Patty’s way of pushing with stern care, humor and realness continues to be instructive and inspiring and allows me to experience the worthiness, sensuality, and love for all bodies and all life. Thank you, Patty. I will never be the same and I am grateful.” –Angela Aguilar

“Patty showed me how to move from a place of unapologetic and fierce love. She could say ‘that’s not right and here’s another perspective’ in a way that could help bring someone into their heart instead of shame and defensiveness. Patty did that all with a twinkle in her eye, a flawlessly made-up face, a delightful giggle, and a lightness that made radical change feel imminently possible instead of heavy and hard.” –Michelle Mascarenhas

“Patty took us all under their wing, and for that I am forever grateful. A legend. A teacher. A beautiful human. Patty taught me how to be unapologetically myself. To embrace the complexity of being human at this time on earth, and to turn towards the moment with both fiery rage and the deepest, most expansive love possible. I am a better person, comrade, and leader because of Patty. Rest in MFing power, Patty Berne.” –Ellen Choy

“What I cherish is Patty’s smile and kindness; the fierce conviction and the loving critiques.  Patty was unafraid to grapple with the contradictions of all of our lives and the worlds we are navigating.  She taught me to let go of the fear of mistakes and the violent lie of perfection. She was always here for her communities and I know she always will be.” –Gopal Dayaneni

“Reparations Now! Climate Justice Now!” Date: Saturday 23 August 2025 1200hrs – 2000hrs Venue: We are 336, Brixton Road, SW9 7AA (Nearest Station Brixton) Contact: Mel Mullings 07718 645817

As part of the Trade Union Year of Climate Action, this year’s RMT Reparations Conference 2025 will challenge us to connect reparative justice with global environmental equity – reflecting our commitment to confronting two urgent and interconnected global issues- aiming to inspire collective transformation.

As people of the world, our insights, lived experience, and contributions to the Reparations campaign greatly enrich our dialogue. We believe your presence at the conference would help connect global perspectives with local advocacy and inspire meaningful action.

The creation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on African Reparations stands as a historic achievement in UK politics — an outcome driven by the strategic leadership and grassroots mobilisation of Black workers within the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). These individuals were more than participants; they were the architects of progress, pushing reparatory justice onto the national agenda through disciplined organising, coalition-building, and unwavering advocacy.

This moment underscores a deeper truth: reparations are not solely a matter of historical redress. They are a contemporary demand for racial equity, economic justice, and climate accountability. The APPG represents both the resilience of Black organising and the power of trade unionist activism in shaping transformative change.

Conference Objectives:

• To assess and advance reparations strategies within and beyond the trade union movement
• To explore the relationship between climate justice and reparations from a policy and grassroots perspective
• To amplify voices from impacted communities and build transnational solidarity
• To strengthen the coalition of legal, political, and social justice actors working toward reparative outcomes

The Conference will convene union members, community organisers, elected representatives, legal experts, and social justice organisations. We aim to generate strategic dialogue, expand networks, and foster collective action that centres reparations as a living and global justice issue.

Speakers are still confirming but we have an absolutely fantastic line up.  .

This is an open event and we’d love to have our sister TU’s involved with us. Thank you for your continued dedication to justice, community empowerment, and transformative leadership. We hope to welcome you in solidarity.

For further details or to express your interest, contact Mel Mullings (Conference Lead Organiser) at melbmullingscomms@gmail.com or +44 7718 645817.

FULL POSTER HERE

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The post “Reparations Now! Climate Justice Now!” first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.

Virtueless Signalling – Reform in the spotlight

In his pocket. Photo montage by Wendy Mayes from original photos by: by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0

 

For anyone who wants a future for this country that does not smell of ash trays, exhaust fumes and the sour sweat of xenophobia and, for that matter, anyone who wants any future at all, we will be running a regular look on this blog at the absurdities of what Reform is saying and doing in its last ditch defence of fossil fuels.

Tice backs off

The UK’s biggest clean-energy investors have accused Reform UK of “undermining the national interest” by threatening to remove public subsidies from renewables if it wins the next general election, as this would risk “thousands of green jobs and could push up energy bills for homes and businesses by making the UK more reliant on volatile global gas markets”. Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, had given “formal notice” to developers that the party would axe any deals struck in the upcoming renewables subsidy auction, allocation round 7 (AR7), this summer, if elected to government. However, Tice backed off in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s PM, the following morning, conceding: “I think some people may have misread the wording of the letter…A legally binding contract is a legally binding contract.” Perhaps he didn’t know what it meant when he wrote it.

All mouth and no trousers

Meanwhile the Chief Executive of Reform led Northamptonshire Council, which has just scrapped its “net zero” targets and banned all mention of climate change in Council documentation, nevertheless indicates that a lot of this is surface froth, stating: “I would like to emphasise that our Council is continuing with its wider sustainability work, still publishing our Annual Sustainability Report and will continue to work towards our environmental accreditation.

“We will also continue with projects that deliver long term savings like solar power and warm home initiatives. We will also develop and deliver a Sustainability Strategy and all services across our organisation will continue to play a key role in this work to protect and improve our local environment.”

Reform threatens almost a million jobs

If all the offshore wind projects supported by CFD auctions had to be replaced with gas and nuclear generation, as Reform threaten, Aurora Energy report that it would raise the cost of energy by £10bn (in 2022 prices) over the next decade.

The potential 48 GW of large-scale renewable capacity that Reform would block by 2030 includes 25 GW of offshore wind, 10 GW of onshore wind and 13 GW of solar. Every GW of offshore wind adds £2 – 3bn in GVA to the economy, so a loss of 25 GW would wipe out the potential for £50 – 75bn in value. For onshore wind the estimates are £1.6bn for every GW and £0.075bn for every GW of solar. Reform UK’s policies would therefore cumulatively deprive the economy of £67-£92bn in GVA. In today‘s figures, that is almost 3% of the UK‘s entire GDP.

In total, across wind and solar, Reform UK’s ambition to halt all large-scale renewables would destroy over 60,000 jobs by the end of this decade. This is a significant underestimate as this does not consider indirect and induced jobs. CBI Economics estimates that today across the UK, 273,000 people are employed in net zero businesses directly and an additional 678,000 across supply chains. Reform UK’s anti net zero policies could put many of these jobs at risk.

The New Economics Foundation has a full report on that here.

Meanwhile, on the Reform model in the US, companies have cancelled, closed or scaled back more than $22bn worth of clean-energy investments during the first half of this year. As a result, more than 5,000 jobs were lost to the changes in June alone, pushing the total number of job losses this year up to 16,500

Meanwhile, the Scotsman notes that “Scotland is at start of re-industrialisation on a scale not witnessed since oil boom of the 1970s” and the “SNP says Nigel Farage’s renewable energy ’sabotage’ will ’turn Aberdeen into Detroit’.”

Two messages to stop Reform

1. When voters were presented with a DeSmog story showing that Reform received over 90 percent of its funding from fossil fuel interests and climate science deniers between 2019 and 2024, this pushed down Farage’s popularity and “was the only message to significantly reduce willingness to vote for Reform”.
2. The second most effective issue was letting Farage’s bromance with Donald Trump speak for itself.

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The post Virtueless Signalling – Reform in the spotlight first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.

The Centre for Future Work’s new report on trade talks between Canada and the U.S. has received extensive coverage in Canadian media, as the August 1 deadline to reach a ‘deal’ with the U.S. looms. The report, “A Bad Deal With Trump is Worse Than No Deal At All,” lists several reasons why locking in one-sided U.S. tariffs in a non-binding memorandum with the erratic U.S. President would hurt Canada much worse than other U.S. trading partners, and reduce chances of rolling back Mr. Trump’s aggressive trade war through either international dispute settlement or in U.S. courts.

Report author and Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford was interviewed on CBC News Channel by Marianne Dimain. He explained that the current ‘deals’ Trump is reaching with several countries are not trade agreements in the conventional sense (which are legally binding and subject to parliamentary ratification by participating countries). Rather, they are non-binding frameworks that describe in broad terms future commitments by the two sides. They also maintain unilateral U.S. tariffs at significant levels (from 10% in the U.K. deal, to 47% for China), rather than the traditional approach of mutual reduction of trade barriers.

He pointed out that even though the final average tariff rate under a Trump ‘deal’ might seem lower than some of those other countries, Canada’s economy will be among the handful of hardest hit countries because of the unique role of U.S.-bound exports in overall GDP. Unfortunately, the willingness of some other countries which are less exposed to U.S. trade actions (including Japan and most recently the EU) to accept these one-sided ‘deals’ only enhances pressure on other countries (including Canada and Mexico) to buckle. “

The report’s arguments are summarized in this commentary in the Toronto Star. Stanford also discussed the report with Global TV, BNN, and several radio stations.

The post Trump’s “Shakedown” Must be Resisted: Media Coverage of Centre for Future Work Report appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

July 29th 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Milagros R. Elia

Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

milagros@envirn.org

914.455.1165

 

Nurses Reject Proposal to End Endangerment Finding Due to Health Harms

 

[Washington, D.C.] Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their proposal entitled “Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards” as part of their plan to reverse the 2015 emissions standards for new fossil fuel-fired power plants, which were issued during the Obama-Biden Administration, as well as the 2024 rule for new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants issued during the Biden-Harris Administration. The 2024 rule would create substantial climate and health benefits,  avoiding up to 1,200 premature deaths, 360,000 cases of asthma symptoms and 57,000 lost workdays in 2035. 

 

The Clean Air Act allows EPA to regulate emissions from sources that significantly contribute to air pollution and endanger public health. The proposed reversal of this longstanding landmark scientific finding, also referred to as the “endangerment finding,” would remove the federal government’s main tools to combat climate change by arguing that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants do not meet this threshold. It is anticipated that by reversing the endangerment finding, the legality of federal rules under the Clean Air Act, which limit not only greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, but also limit greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks would also be called into question. Rolling back vehicle pollution standards would expose people across the country to significantly more air pollution from vehicle exhaust, putting the 72 million Americans living nearby major trucking routes and those with chronic conditions at elevated risk. Residents in these ‘fenceline’ areas are disproportionately likely to be people of color or come from low-income households. EPA’s prior finalized rules for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, proposed to cut carbon emissions from tailpipes by more than 60% by 2032 which were viewed as a necessary step to address the climate crisis. 

 

In response to the announcement Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement:

 

“For this administration to state that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change defies not only well-established science but goes against decades of bipartisan collaboration that protects clean air. Reversing the endangerment finding has serious consequences for millions of people across the nation. Without the strong climate action mandated by the endangerment finding, nurses will continue to see an accelerating climate crisis which will worsen extreme heat days and emergency visits for dehydration, and increase extreme weather events, such as floods and wildfires, which will continue to impact our clinics, hospitals, and communities. 

 

“If the  administration additionally succeeds in rolling back vehicle pollution standards, more Americans will be at risk of breathing dirtier air across the country. By rolling back these protective standards, American families will face significantly more air pollution from motor vehicle exhaust, worsening the risks of asthma attacks along with aggravating symptoms of many other chronic debilitating lung conditions and heart disease.Those harmed the worst will be those who are already the most vulnerable in our communities. 

 

“As nurses, we will continue fighting for climate justice and urge all nurses to speak up about how these decisions affect our profession, our patients, and communities, now and for generations to come.” 

 

EPA will hold public hearings for the Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards to begin August 19th and 20th, with an additional session possible on August 21st. EPA asks those wishing to speak to pre-register by August 12th by sending an email to EPA-MobileSource-Hearings@epa.gov . Written comments can be submitted through September 21st. ANHE will be mobilizing nurses to raise their voices in the upcoming comment period.

###

 

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.

http://enviRN.org

The post Press release! Nurses Reject Proposal to End Endangerment Finding Due to Health Harms appeared first on ANHE.

The post Tell Your Governor: Defend Our Right to Clean Air appeared first on ANHE.

Trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. are continuing, as the revised August 1 deadline approaches. Reports indicate that despite Canadian concessions (on border security, defense spending, and the Digital Services Tax), the U.S. is refusing to remove current and threatened tariffs on Canadian products. Last week Prime Minister Carney warned Canadians that an eventual deal with the U.S. will likely include continued substantial U.S. tariffs. An emerging narrative from government and business quarters suggests that if tariffs imposed on Canada are lower than on other countries (resulting in a less severe ‘average effective tariff’ rate), then Canada should count this as a victory.

A new report from the Centre for Future Work shows this optimism is unjustified and dangerous. Because Canada’s economy is uniquely dependent on exports to the U.S. (equivalent to over 25% of Canadian GDP), even tariffs that seem relatively favourable (compared to other countries) will still cause disproportionate and unprecedented damage to Canada. Even under favourable assumptions, Canada would still be among the handful of worst-hit countries.

The report shows that Trump’s current and threatened tariffs would exact a painful and lasting toll on Canada’s economy, making us among the worst-hit countries in the world. It also lists seven economic and strategic reasons why accepting a bad deal with Trump on August 1, is worse than reaching no deal. Instead, we should continue to resist Trump’s attacks, both at the negotiating table and through countervailing policy actions.

Contrary to Trump’s claims, Canada holds plenty of valuable cards in the current negotiations, based on our status as the largest export market for U.S.-made goods and services, and a dominant supplier to the U.S. of many vital industrial inputs. The federal and provincial governments should preserve our right to play those cards, while undertaking the other steps required to reduce our dependence on U.S. exports, and build a more sovereign, value-added, sustainable economy in the future.

Please see the full report, A Bad Deal with Trump is Worse than No Deal at All, by Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work.

The post A Bad Deal with Trump is Worse than No Deal at All appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

By Jeremy Brecher,
Senior Strategic Advisor, LNS Co-Founder

Listen to the audio version >>

Can an alliance of social movements defeat racist legislation and authoritarian takeover? What happened a decade ago in North Carolina provides inspiration for what we need to do in the US today.

In the absence of adequate resistance in the electoral arena, an alliance of popular movements is functioning as the primary opposition to Trump’s authoritarian rule. This movement-based opposition has emerged rapidly and is developing significant power as more and more people see and experience the harm the Trump administration and the MAGA Congress are inflicting on individuals, groups, and society as a whole.

The movement-based opposition is using popular mobilization and nonviolent direct action to contest Trump’s initiatives and build the power to counter them. In an unprecedented and unpredictable landscape, it has developed primarily through experimentation and must continue to do so. However, there are historical examples of movement-based oppositions from which we can learn. The Forward Together movement in North Carolina is one of them.

In 2007, the North Carolina NAACP brought together a wide range of religious, labor, and justice organizations in a People’s Assembly and passed a program that included the primary issues of each group. They began a series of campaign to support local labor struggles, fight the rightwing takeover of school systems, expand voting rights, fight repressive legislation, and roll back a MAGA-style takeover of state government. Their underlying principle was that different constituencies would speak for themselves, but they all would support each other. Their experience illustrates how a movement based outside the electoral arena can nonetheless have a significant impact on government and on the electoral arena itself.

Although a national movement faces problems different from those of a state movement, Forward Together has many lessons for today’s national movement to protect society from MAGA authoritarianism. Forward Together faced a combined attack on democracy and on the wellbeing of people. Many people in North Carolina wanted to oppose that attack, but they were diverse, disconnected, and sometimes divided. The Democratic Party, although it was the official opposition, was not effectively opposing the authoritarian takeover, let alone expanding the realm of justice. Forward Together does not provide an off-the-shelf model, but it does show how an alliance of social movements can use organizing and direct action to change government and society.

Forward Together

NAACP’s Historic Thousands on Jones Street Rally May 23, 2012 | Video Credit: canarycoalition

The story of what came to be called Forward Together is told by William Barber II, minister and then leader of the North Carolina NAACP. (Barber is currently co-chair of the national Poor People’s Campaign.) In 2007 the North Carolina NAACP convened a People’s Assembly with what it called the “fourteen justice tribes in North Carolina.” The assembly, held on Jones Street outside the statehouse, unanimously adopted a fourteen-point agenda representing the concerns of those fourteen “tribes.” It outlined eighty-one action steps. The People’s Assembly became an annual event. The movement it spawned came to be known as Historic Thousands on Jones Street or HKonJ.

HKonJ chose as one of its first actions support of workers at the Smithfield hog-butchering plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, who had struggled for a decade to win a union. The coalition decided to “change the narrative” by “making the workers’ struggle a moral cause for our whole coalition.” Barber wrote that conversations about “fair wages” or “civil rights” could not be reduced to the self-interest of separate groups: “We were engaged together in a conversation about what kind of economy builds up the common good.” The coalition organized clergy and community leaders to make public statements at grocery stores across the state, asking them to stop carrying Smithfield meats. After months of struggle, Smithfield recognized the union and agreed to a contract. The HKonJ coalition’s relationship to the state’s beleaguered unions was solidified as well.

More direct political action followed. A right-wing takeover of the Wake County school board gutted guidelines promoting racial diversity and began to undermine public education. HKonJ held forums to alert the public to what the board was up to and spoke at school board meetings. “Our job was to shift the public conversation,” Barber wrote.

In response, the board banned protesters from its meetings. Barber says, “Like Bull Connor in Birmingham, they set the perfect stage for civil disobedience.” Coalition members were repeatedly arrested for trying to enter the meetings. At the same time, they mobilized voters for the next election. A year later every member of the school board who had tried to re-segregate the schools was voted out, and the right-wing candidate for state superintendent of schools was defeated.

HKonJ’s research indicated that the biggest reason low-income people didn’t vote was because they couldn’t leave their jobs to do so. In 2007 the coalition pressured the Democratic legislature and governor to pass a voting rights law to allow early voting and same-day registration. Then it mobilized its partner organizations for a voter registration and education campaign that added at least 185,000 new voters in the state. In 2008, all fifteen of North Carolina’s electoral college votes went to Barack Obama.

In the 2012 election a well-organized right-wing backlash took control of the North Carolina legislature and elected Pat McCrory governor. It passed new restrictions on voting rights, gay rights, abortion rights, environmental protection, unemployment compensation, medical care, and education, as well as other elements of the right-wing agenda. It passed a redistricting plan so gerrymandered that it was eventually blocked by federal courts as “unjustifiably discriminating.”

A group of college students with duct tape over their mouths filled the legislature’s observation area to protest voting rights restrictions and were arrested. HKonJ decided to follow suit. On Monday, April 29, 2013, seventeen protesters were arrested in the legislative gallery. The movement, soon to be rechristened Forward Together, decided to return in a week. Thus began North Carolina’s nationally publicized Moral Mondays. Over the next three months nearly a thousand protesters were arrested at the statehouse. Eighty thousand people joined the movement’s culminating demonstration. Barber called it a “popular uprising.” Many out-of-state organizations boycotted North Carolina; the NCAA banned holding national championships there.

Rev. Dr. William Barber speaking at a Moral Monday rally. Photo Credit: twbuckner, Wikipedia Commons, CC By 2.0

As the Moral Mondays movement grew, Governor McCrory’s poll numbers fell. Before the 2016 election, Republicans tried to divide the movement, targeting black Christians in particular, through the so-called “bathroom bill” requiring that people use public restrooms matching their “biological gender”—a clear appeal to anti-trans bigotry. Barber and other ministers spoke at church meetings throughout North Carolina, saying that “the fundamental principle of equal protection under the law” was a “constitutional and moral principle” that had to be upheld. They pointed out that the bill wasn’t about bathrooms at all. In fact, it “attempted to codify discrimination, denied all North Carolinians the right to challenge employment discrimination in state court, and overrode the victories of municipal living-wage campaigns.” Once they understood what the bill really did, “workers stood with preachers and LGBTQ activists stood with the business community to oppose the bill.” At the next election McCrory became the first governor in North Carolina history to lose a bid for reelection.

Forward Together eventually became a coalition of 145 organizations representing Christians, Muslims, Jews, nonbelievers, blacks, Latinos, poor whites, unionists, civil rights activists, feminists and environmentalists, doctors and the uninsured, and businesspeople and the unemployed. It represented gay and straight, young and old, and documented and undocumented. This unity was based on a belief that “none of us would be free until all of us were free.” One principle that shaped Forward Together’s actions was simply “showing up to support any group in the state that was standing for justice.” In 2013, Forward Together supported the fight of Planned Parenthood and NARAL against new abortion restrictions. A few years later a hundred people filled a Durham church to demonstrate solidarity with a Durham-raised asylum seeker fighting deportation.

Forward Together sought “powerful images of solidarity” manifested in “daily acts of justice and community building.” Barber writes that “our most directly affected members would always speak to the issue closest to their own hearts. But they would never speak alone.” The movement existed so preachers can “fight for fifteen” and workers can say “black lives matter”; so a white woman can “stand with her black sister for voting rights”; so a black man can “stand for a woman’s right to health care”; so L.G.B.T.Q. folk can “stand for religious liberty”; so straight people can “stand up for queer people”; and a Muslim Imam can “stand with an undocumented worker.”

One journalist described the premise of the movement as a “universalist program” for health care, voting rights, reproductive choice, and higher wages, one beginning in “building coalitions among people whom politics have driven apart.” Amid a welter of issues, the defining common ground for Forward Together was a response to the needs of the poor and vulnerable. As Barber put it, “poor and hurting people were the capstone of our moral arch.”

Real political power

Forward Together Rally, March 27, 2025 | Video Credit: VCU InSight

Forward Together played some of the roles of an opposition political party, drawing together diverse constituencies around common interests, criticizing existing policies and institutions, and proposing alternatives. But it exercised power by direct rather than electoral action. Barber said that “effective work for justice in the real world” requires “real political power.” Yet “the battle, while deeply political, wasn’t fundamentally about campaigns and elections.” More than winning seats in the legislature, it was about “exposing the conspiracy of the governing elite to maintain absolute power through divide-and-conquer strategies” and reshaping “the stories that tell us who we are.” Unlike a political party or lobby, Forward Together eschewed running or supporting candidates for office. Yet it transformed North Carolina politics.

The most obvious application today of Forward Together’s approach lies at the local and state level. Groups in more than two thousand locations in every state participated in the massive Hands Off, May Day, and No Kings Day protests. Forward Together gives one example of ways to draw such people and organizations together into a powerful and effective opposition force. An opposition formed by an alliance of social movements, outside the electoral arena but impacting it through organization and direct action, will be critical for defeating the MAGA juggernaut both locally and nationally.

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The post Movement-Based Opposition: A Successful American Example first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

A Report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, Co-published by ZNetwork.org.
By Jeremy Brecher

A “Solarpunk Berlin” by Alex Rommel

Synopsis

In a few short years, China has become the world’s dominant producer of “Greentech” technology that reduces or repairs harm to the environment. Chinese technology and industrial infrastructure are cheaper and better in nearly every sector of Greentech. Chinese solar, wind, grid, hydro, battery, New Energy Vehicle, and green hydrogen technologies are being adopted in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America at an accelerating pace.

Chinese overseas investments in Greentech are rapidly expanding. While many countries are concerned about the “dumping” of cut-price Chinese exports in their economies, most welcome joint ventures and other forms of investment. Such investments often come with protections for national economies and security.

The United States under President Biden and President Trump has tried to block Chinese Greentech products and investments. President Trump has gone farther, trying to cripple the development of Greentech while trying to expand fossil fuel extraction and burning to make the US the world’s energy superpower, whether in cooperation or in competition with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the other petrostates.

This strategy is bound to fail, however, because Chinese Greentech is so much cheaper and better than fossil fuel based production. If the US continues to wall out inexpensive Greentech while the rest of the world is converting to it, its fossil fuel industry and the entire industrial ecosystem based on it will lose much of their value – becoming “stranded assets.” The US will lock itself into a high-cost energy infrastructure which will be a large and long-lasting liability for its entire economy.

This new energy reality opens up a strategy for protecting the climate and freeing countries from dependence on fossil fuels and those who control them. By rapidly adopting low-cost Greentech wherever it may come from, climate protectors, fossil-fuel-importing countries, and local communities and governments can reduce their own energy costs and emissions. And they can drive down the value of fossil fuels, thereby rendering the fossil fuel producing countries stranded assets until they are willing to convert to Greentech.

How to Make the Fossil Fuel Powers “Stranded Assets”

There is a specter haunting the fossil fuels powers. As a recent article in The National Interest by two Columbia University energy experts put it,

What is emerging are two competing models of energy and influence—one anchored in the enduring logic of hydrocarbons, the other in the accelerating promise of electrification. At stake is not just the future of energy systems, but the contours of geopolitical power in the decades ahead.

The reality behind the specter is the phenomenal rise of China as the superpower of “Greentech” (sometimes also called “Cleantech”) – technology that reduces or repairs harm to the environment. As BP’s chief economist recently warned, “China is leading the global energy race because of its dominance in building up supply chains for renewable energy and electric vehicles.” Or as a Bloomberg headline put it, “US Will Lose if EU, China Become Clean Energy Buddies.”

Chinese investment and research have so reduced the cost of producing green energy, vehicles, and other technology needed for a Greentech transition that, if they were widely adopted, they would produce disaster for the fossil fuel producing countries, rendering much of their economies as “stranded assets” — assets like coal, oil, and gas that lose their value because they can’t compete with solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Conversely, the widespread adoption of Chinese “Greentech” would move the world far closer to climate safety and free it from the overweening power of fossil fuel companies and countries.

China’s rise as the Greentech superpower is not only a historical fact; it also provides a strategic opportunity for those who want to save the earth’s climate by eliminating fossil fuels; escape domination by the fossil fuel powers; and make affordable climate-safe energy available to all who need it at a reasonable price.

If China, Europe, and other non-fossil fuel countries cooperate to lower the cost of the green transition, they can not only cut greenhouse gas emissions, they can drive down the value of fossil fuels, thereby leaving the economies of fossil fuel producing countries with stranded assets not only in their fossil fuel industries, but in the large parts of their economies that are fossil-fuel based. The result will be lower energy costs for consumers around the world except in the remaining fossil fuel-dependent countries — at least until they are willing to join the Greentech transition.

The world should aim to adopt the least expensive available green energy systems – which today means primarily Chinese technology and industrial ecosystems – as rapidly as possible. We should let the fossil fuel powers suffocate in their own uncompetitive oil, gas, and coal until they are willing to join the rest of the world in going fossil free.

This report draws on many sources, but two have been particularly important. The first is “Green capital tsunami: China’s >$100 billion outbound cleantech investment since 2023 turbocharges global energy transition”from the Australian thinktank Climate Energy Finance. The second is “PetroStates and ElectroStates in a World Divided by Fossil Fuels and Clean Energy” by Columbia University energy experts Tatiana Mitrova and Anne-Sophie Corbeau. Other sources are indicated in the links.

The Chinese Greentech Revolution

According to the Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance, China leads the world in “R&D, investment, innovation, manufacturing, deployment and exports of cleantech” – including solar, wind, batteries, and new energy vehicles (NEVs) –by “an astonishing margin.” Its cleantech investments are more than double those of the US or the EU. f

The cost of electricity to Chinese consumers is barely half that in the US. This is not because sunlight or fossil fuels are easier to obtain there. It is largely because Chinese energy technology is far superior – including high-voltage powerlines, fossil-free renewable energy, and energy-using products like steel and cars. To take one example: Chinese electric vehicle imports to Europe cost 32% less than European EVs in 2023. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Clean Energy Equipment Price Index, Chinese solar panel and wind turbine prices are down 60% and 50% respectively since 2022.

Chinese technology and industrial infrastructure are cheaper and better in nearly every sector of Greentech and are therefore being adopted in much of the world. As summarized in a report by the Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance:

Wind: China now dominates the global wind industry, in onshore and offshore deployments, manufacturing supply chains, and technology development.

Solar: China totally dominates 80-90% of the technology development and manufacturing supply chains for the global solar industry.

Grid: China has pioneered ultra-high voltage direct current grid transmission projects of well over 1,000km length.

Hydro: China has quadrupled its domestic installed hydro capacity to lead the world at 420GW, four times the second-place US, and now constructs the majority of hydroelectricity dams globally.

Batteries: China totally dominates the entire global battery supply chain. China’s dominance is set to grow massively into 2025 with planned manufacturing plants in Hungary, Morocco, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the US, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Turkey, and Oman.

New Energy Vehicles: China has become the world’s largest market for new energy vehicles (NEVs), with a 60% global share, and in 2023 became the world’s largest exporter of cars.

Green hydrogen: China dominates electrolyzer [a technology essential for producing low-emissions hydrogen] deployments in 2023, accounting for a 75% global share in 2023.

It is not hard to understand why Chinese Greentech has moved so far ahead. Take EVs, for example. Once China’s auto industry was small and far below international standards. Starting in the 1980s, Chinese industrial policy targeted creation of a domestic automotive supply chain. The government began inviting foreign auto manufacturers to form joint ventures with domestic firms to encourage technology transfers. In a stellar example of sectoral targeting, in 2009 China began to subsidize electric vehicle production specifically. This reflected China’s domestic need for fossil-free energy, the potential for export, severe urban air pollution, and the opportunity to assert global leadership on climate.

Initially far behind other countries in technology and supply chain development, Chinese industrial policy provided direct subsidies to EV supply chain firms. It selected specific technologies to promote, established benchmarks designed to catch up to foreign EV producers, and specified the location of industrial facilities. It invested massively in research on advanced EV production. As part of a recent innovation in the Chinese economy, city governments provided a significant share of investment in EV development.

By 2017 Chinese EVs were good enough and cheap enough to compete in international markets. At that point direct subsidies were supplemented by what was called a “dual credit system.” Car manufacturers were given incentives (“credits”) to increase the percentage of EVs in their domestic fleets and to expand the range and lower the energy consumption of their vehicles. The standards were raised progressively over time. China’s industrial strategy worked: China’s car industry now accounts for 60% of global electric vehicle sales.

Chinese manufacturers now produce EVs that are both cheaper and technologically more advance than US EVs; they have been described as “smartphones on wheels.” According to the German Chamber of Commerce in China, 69 percent of German automotive companies reckon their Chinese competitors already lead them in innovation or will do so within the next five years.

Lying behind the story of Chinese industrial advance, and specifically the rise of its EV industry, is the historically unprecedented Chinese rate of investment. In 2022, China’s level of total investment was more than 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) – approximately twice that of the US. This results in substantial part from China’s relatively low wages and limited welfare state provisions. Final consumption accounted for only 53 percent of China’s GDP in 2022. Chinese investment is based on exploiting its people, but that is surely the case for other economies as well.

China’s industrial policy was intentional and coordinated. But China was following the principle of export-oriented development that was the basis of the Western-imposed “Washington Consensus” in the era of neoliberal globalization.

According to the IEA, China continues to invest more than twice as much in cleantech annually as either the US or the EU. From 1995 to 2020, China’s total R&D outlay grew from US$18bn to US$620bn – a 3,299% increase compared to America’s 227%.

This account indicates why it will be extremely difficult for other countries to catch up to Chinese Greentech without drawing on Chinese technology, industrial ecosystems, and investment. The growing recognition of this reality is leading much of the world to decide, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Chinese Greentech goes global

While China initially focused on building up its Greentech capacity to reduce its own dependence on fossil fuels, according to Mitrova and Corbeau, China`s long-term trajectory suggests a pivot: “from hydrocarbon-dependent power to a commanding force in an electrified global order.”

Crucial to this trajectory is foreign investment. The Climate Energy Finance report details China’s new program of “huge, historically unprecedented outbound capital flows encompassing the globe” as “China’s world-leading corporates operating across every key decarbonization sector increasingly ‘go global.’”

Based on our tabulation of investments currently proposed and confirmed, we estimate that Chinese firms have committed more than US$100bn in outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) across at least 130 major cleantech transactions since 2023. . .The technology and geographic diversity of this investment program is striking, spanning Europe, greater Asia, Africa and South America.

Recent Chinese investments include batteries (European Union), solar photovoltaics (Vietnam, Malaysia) and new energy vehicles (Thailand, Brazil). Spain is emerging as a European hub for EV battery manufacturing, based on strategic partnerships with Chinese companies Stellantis and CATL in a joint venture to build a $US4 billion battery plant in northern Spain.

These investments take varied forms. They include joint ventures; investment in or purchase of companies; building and ownership of facilities by Chinese companies; and leasing or purchasing of technology licenses from Chinese companies.

The Chinese “threat”

China’s industrial policy and domestic investment have led to Greentech overcapacity leading to rapid price deflation. This has led to widespread concern about a flood of Chinese Greentech products being “dumped” at low prices in other countries. In May 2024, long before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, the Biden administration announced tariffs specifically targeting green products, including lithium-ion batteries, critical minerals, and solar cells. It quadrupled duties on electric vehicles to 100%. It also released a “Foreign Entity of Concern” ruling that vehicle manufacturers would not get IRA tax credits if any company in their battery supply chain has 25 percent or more of its equity, voting rights, or board seats owned by a Chinese government-linked company.

Other countries have also increased tariffs on climate-protecting Chinese imports. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in March that Chinese exports blocked by the US could be rerouted toward Europe. If Americans won’t buy Chinese batteries, Chinese manufacturers could cut prices even further to attract European customers.

Most countries, however, view Chinese Greentech investments as a very different matter from the import of products. Foreign investment is generally viewed as a positive contribution to national economies, providing employment and building up the national industrial base.

Developing countries, including China, have often encouraged foreign investment, but under conditions like technology transfer, hiring of national personnel, and caps on share of ownership.

Last summer the EU imposed new tariffs on Chinese EVs. But the EU may actually have been engaging in an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” strategy. The purpose of the tariffs, according to an article reporting on “conversations with four diplomats and two senior officials,” is to “use the tariff threat to force Chinese carmakers to come to Europe to form joint ventures and share technology with their EU counterparts.” Indeed, such joint ventures are already developing. Stellantis has an EV joint venture with China’s Leapmotor and Spain’s EBRO-EV has one with Chery to build EVs in Barcelona.

Such joint ventures often include provisions to address economic and security concerns of the host countries. According to a Reuters news story last summer, Italy was reportedly negotiating a deal with China’s state-owned Dongfeng which would ensure that at least 45% of the components in cars produced in Italy are sourced from within the country. Italy was also seeking commitments from Dongfeng to manage customer data locally and source critical components like infotainment units from European suppliers. Given the common interests of China and potential recipient countries in expanding Chinese Greentech investment, there appears to be a good deal of room for negotiating joint ventures that protect the interests of both sides.

Other reasons are sometimes given for discouraging Chinese Greentech overseas investment based on unrelated objections to Chinese behavior. Chinese human rights violations ranging from persecution of Uyghurs to suppression of free speech are sometimes urged as reasons to treat Chinese investment with suspicion. So are allegations that China threatens the security of other countries. While China is far from perfect, such criticisms are rarely applied equally to the superpower that has funded and supplied the weapons for genocide and other war crimes in Gaza, conducted an unprovoked attack on Iran, and threatened to annex Canada and Greenland. Containing the depredations of all superpowers will require a radical change in the world order that applies international humanitarian and human rights law to great as well as lesser powers. Such charges against China provide no basis for avoiding the measures that are necessary to limit destruction of the climate and domination by the fossil fuel powers.

The fossil fuel powers’ energy plan — and why it will fail

In June 2024 John Podesta, senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, told an interviewer, “The US is now the number one producer of oil and gas in the world, the number one exporter of natural gas, and that’s a good thing.” He also defended the 100% tariff the Biden administration imposed on electric vehicles and other Greentech products from China. After accusing China of deliberately overproducing green goods, Podesta said, “We’re witnessing a renaissance of manufacturing in the US in the green technology space, and will resist unfair trade practices that are going to undermine that investment.” In short, Biden administration policy was to expand fossil fuel production and exports while excluding the increasingly cheaper, superior, and more competitive Chinese Greentech.

Donald Trump is one-upping this program of climate destruction and economic nationalism. He is demolishing the modest US Greentech initiatives, for example by defunding the climate-protecting programs in the Inflation Reduction Act and attempting to block coastal wind projects. At the same time, he is expanding coal, oil, and gas extraction and burning as rapidly as he can as a means to both economic and geopolitical dominance.

Trump’s fossil fuel policy oscillates between global US energy dominance and a fossil fuel imperial alliance led by the US, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. According to Mitrova and Corbeau, these three countries, with about a third of global oil output, now share “a commitment to energy dominance, particularly through fossil fuels,” with none supporting “a transition away from hydrocarbons.”

Why is Donald Trump, despite his vow to make the US the energy superpower, cozying up to what would seem like his competitors, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the Persian Gulf emirates? And why is he doing everything possible, not just to deny the reality of climate change, but to decrease renewable energy, even though it would increase US energy production and could complement rather than impede the development of other fossil fuel energy? The obvious reason is that inexpensive Greentech – most of it Chinese – is an existential threat to either US fossil fuel dominance or to a cartel of major fossil fuel states.

Here is the Achilles heel of all the schemes for global domination by fossil fuel powers. As we have seen, Chinese Greentech is now substantially cheaper and better than fossil fuel production. If the rest of the world decides to use the Chinese-developed Greentech to undercut the role of fossil fuels, all the investments of the “fossil fuel powers” in oil, gas, and coal will be rendered stranded assets.

Stranded assets are assets whose value is reduced before their expected useful lifetime. If fossil fuels and fossil fuel infrastructure lose their value because they can’t compete with Greentech, the companies that own them will also lose much of their value. And this is the case not only for fossil fuel companies, but for the entire economic ecosystem based on fossil fuel. As BPs chief US economist warned,

The U.S. should be worried about trying to sell a gasoline-fueled Chevrolet Suburban that cost six figures. The question is where will American car companies be able to sell a gasoline truck? How is that going to compete in the international marketplace with a $20,000 EV that can charge in five minutes. You need to ask yourselves that question.”

It is not only companies but also countries that can become stranded assets. By doubling down on fossil fuels, the US not only risks creating stranded fossil fuel company or auto company assets; it also locks itself into a high-cost energy infrastructure which will be a large and long-lasting liability for its entire economy. As a Canadian energy expert put it, “The U.S. and Canada 100% tariffs on China’s EVs, batteries and components will boomerang regarding a growing innovation gap and legacy automakers’ competitivity in critical global markets.”

The vulnerability of the fossil fuel industry is not just something for the distant future. According to a paper from the Carnegie Endowment, a much bigger concern than the effects of tariffs for the U.S. oil and gas industry is “the collapsing oil price.”

WTI Crude, a key benchmark price, has fallen to about $60 per barrel in mid-April, its lowest level since 2021. Amid fears of a global recession, traders are worried that there won’t be enough demand for their product. These prices are lower than the minimum level they need to make drilling new wells profitable, according to their responses to a Dallas Federal Reserve survey.

According to the IEA, oil production will outstrip demand from now until at least 2030. “Lower oil prices and demand expectations are set to result in a 6% fall in upstream oil investment in 2025,” the first year-on-year decline since the Covid slump in 2020 and the largest since 2016. Global refinery investment in 2025 is set to “fall to its lowest level in the past 10 years.”

“A time-critical opportunity”

Investment in Chinese Greentech is expanding in most parts of the world – with the notable exception of the US, Russia, and other fossil fuel producers. The price of fossil fuels is already falling, largely due to their inability to compete with the falling cost of Greentech. But to protect the climate, liberate countries from fossil fuel dependence, and reduce the hegemony of fossil fuel powers, the implementation of Greentech and the collapse of fossil fuel industries needs to proceed much faster. According to the IEA, “The annual investment required in renewable power still needs to double to achieve a tripling of installed renewable capacity by 2030.” This needs to be accompanied by rising spending on “grids, storage and other forms of flexibility” to ensure “secure and cost-effective utilization of this capacity.” Spending on efficiency and electrification needs to “almost triple” within the next five years to deliver a 4% annual energy intensity improvement by the end of the decade.

The Climate Energy Finance report lays out a powerful vision of how this can happen. It notes that there is an “under-deployment” of Chinese low-cost cleantech production capacity. But there is a “time-critical opportunity” to change that through a “faster rollout of decarbonization technologies across the globe.” China’s research and development and manufacturing scaling-up, which have slashed the cost of green technologies, are “the key enabler of accelerated global decarbonization.” And that is “an existential necessity” as “the climate challenge escalates” and “for nations to secure their energy independence.”

The global adoption of Chinese-type Greentech can be accelerated by deliberate action. Three forces in particular are positioned to accelerate it and have a strong interest in doing so.

The first and most obvious is China. China has a strong interest in encouraging the adoption of its Greentech around the world. Foreign direct investment is “a key strategic pillar” of China’s project to “globalize its footprint, extend its geopolitical influence, circumvent tariffs, secure its supply chains, and build new and developing domestic markets for its massive output of cleantech production.” It is not yet evident how much China will pursue narrow commercial or geopolitical interests. But it is in the interests of the rest of the world to make a constructive role the most attractive course for China.

While in the era of polycrisis no great power’s policy can be reliably predicted, China has indicated an openness to such an approach. In a directive sent to Chinese automotive companies early in 2024, the Ministry of Commerce said firms should build an industrial supply chain system “jointly built and shared by all parties.” China can contribute to global decarbonization by continuing its amazing progress in Greentech; making it available to the rest of the world on mutually beneficial terms; and helping develop global policies that encourage polycentric independence.

The global climate movement can also be a key player in promoting the rapid expansion of Greentech worldwide. This does not mean that the movement must give up its independence and become “pro-Chinese”; in fact, its informed and evenhanded criticism of all parties that affect the climate remains crucial for climate progress. But it can fight in every arena for the use of the best and cheapest available Greentech and for investment regimes that make this attractive both for the Chinese and for all countries that want to transition off fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel-importing countries form a third major force for using Chinese Greentech to replace fossil fuels. According to the IEA, there has been rapid growth worldwide in spending on energy transitions over the past five years. Some 70% of that increased spending came from net fossil fuel importers. Countries that are dependent on imported fossil fuels have an overwhelming interest in using Chinese Greentech and investment to make a rapid transition off fossil fuels. As Mitrova and Corbeau put it, “For any country seeking to decarbonize (unlike the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia), China is an indispensable partner.”

While there is a reasonable concern that China may use dependence on its technology and investment to exercise undue influence, in the emerging polycentric world countries can resist unilateral dependence through a policy of “polyalignment,” cooperating with many different countries in different arenas. They can also negotiate arrangements with China like technology transfers, limits on foreign personnel, and caps on share of investment in joint ventures that protect national interests and provide a pathway to greater independence.

The need for such cooperation is particularly essential for developing and emerging countries. Africa accounts for only 2% of clean energy investment despite having 20% of the world population. China’s special envoy for climate change stated in June 2024 that China’s investment into technology innovation and manufacturing had slashed green energy costs globally, and that it stands ready to collaborate with developing countries to help them to decarbonize. Nearly half of China’s exports of solar, wind, and EV and battery products already go to the Global South.

How fast can this go? In 2023, Pakistan’s entire power generation capacity was 46 gigawatts. In the last two years it has installed 40 gigawatts of new solar capacity, based largely on imported Chinese solar panels. According to the IEA, Chinese solar exports to developing economies surpassed those to advanced economies in early 2025.

China, recipient countries, and investors can provide much of the needed capital. But this process can be greatly accelerated by the development of an international fund to finance the use of Chinese Greentech in the rest of the world. Call it an international “Fossil-Freedom Investment Fund.” Its purpose would be to support installation of the cheapest and best fossil-free production where it contributes most to global climate and development goals. In most cases that superior production model will be Chinese. Ideally it would be housed within the UN system, but it could alternatively be freestanding or part of some other international organization.

Push the River!

The urgent, large-scale adoption of Chinese Greentech can be fought for in the arenas of national policy, global cooperation of non-fossil fuel countries, and local and sub-national governments and communities.

In national arenas, those seeking climate protection, national independence, and affordable energy can unite around a program of rapid adoption of Chinese Greentech through governmental economic guidance, joint ventures, technology transfers, and sub-national and community initiatives. These can all incorporate negotiated provisions for economic development and national independence. As the Climate Energy Finance report puts it, there is

Enormous potential for bi- and multilateral partnerships and collaborations on innovating and building new and emerging future-facing energy transition industries, as nations leverage Chinese capital and expertise in localized contexts to value-add domestically and derive mutual benefit. Recent announcements in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Hungary and Brazil all illustrate a potential game-changing shift in China’s strategic direction to better ensure more sustainable win-win collaborations.”

In international arenas, coordinated policies could greatly amplify and accelerate the adoption of low-cost Greentech. This could take place through a tacit alliance of non-fossil-fuel-producing countries, or through an international “grand bargain” establishing a Fossil-Free Development Pact. According to the IEA, “a growing finance gap in developing economies points to a larger role for international sources” combined with “the development of domestic capital markets.” I

There could be a role for international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, although so far they largely appear to toe the line of the fossil fuel powers. The BRICS+ formation also might play a role, but it includes the major fossil fuel powers Russia and Saudi Arabia. The UN could well play a major role, identifying common interests and developing strategies and policies that could win widespread acceptance – at least among the non-fossil fuel countries. There might also be a role for an alliance of developing countries aiming to ensure that programs adequately address those most in need.

Local communities and sub-national governments can also act on their own initiative in cooperation with, or even in opposition to, their national governments. CNN reports that the incredible increase in solar energy in Pakistan, for example, has occurred “largely in the absence of large-scale government solar spending.” According to Mustafa Amjad, program director at Renewables First, an energy think tank based in Islamabad, “It was essentially the people forcing markets to import more solar panels.”

How do people in fossil fuel countries fit into this picture? Even in fossil fuel countries, local communities and sub-national jurisdictions may be able to circumvent the sometimes-porous national import restrictions to access the cheapest and best Greentech, wherever it comes from. They can launch campaigns to demand that national governments stop blocking their access to low-cost Greentech – campaigns that can win wide support on economic as well as climate grounds. They can install low-cost, high-quality Greentech in their venues. They can be part of the “Green New Deal from below” movement that is installing Greentech with or without the support of national governments.

Climate advocates in fossil fuel countries can loudly proclaim the devastating effects of fossil fuel dependence. They can truthfully say that their countries’ romance with fossil fuels is catastrophic not only for the climate, but also for the future of their national economies. Every dollar spent on fossil fuel development is a dollar more that can become a stranded asset. By promoting dependence on fossil fuels, their governments have slowed or even reversed the transition to climate safety — and they have doomed their national economies to become stranded assets. Climate advocates can make the demand for Greentech a crucial part of the resistance to Trump, Putin, and the Middle Eastern oil autocrats.

The need for global cooperation among non-fossil fuel powers to promote rapid proliferation of low-cost, high quality Greentech is increasingly recognized. According to a recent article in the Guardian,

Many experts believe the only prospect of staving off climate breakdown is for China, the EU, the UK and other major economies to form a pro-climate bloc alongside vulnerable developing countries, to counter the weight of US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and petrostates pushing for the continued expansion of fossil fuels.

Simply adding Chinese Greentech to the existing world order will not be sufficient to solve the problems the world faces; that will require many additional forms of economic, social, political, and technological change. But tacit large-scale cooperation, or even a Greentech “grand bargain” among Europe, China, and the developing and emerging countries, could turn the fossil fuel great powers – notably the US, Russia, and Saudi Arabia — into stranded assets. It could crash the economies of the fossil fuel powers, provide massive development for countries exiting the fossil fuel economy – and radically reduce the destruction of the global climate.

 

A Report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, Co-published by ZNetwork.org.
A shorter piece derived from this report was published in Foreign Policy in Focus.

Jeremy Brecher is a co-founder and senior strategic advisor for the Labor Network for Sustainability. He is the author of more than a dozen books on labor and social movements, including Strike! Common Preservation in a Time of Mutual Destruction, and The Green New Deal from Below.

The mission of the Labor Network for Sustainability is to be a relentless force for urgent, science-based climate action by building a powerful labor-climate movement to secure an ecologically sustainable and economically just future where everyone can make a living on a living planet.

The post How to Make the Fossil Fuel Powers “Stranded Assets” first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

July 3, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Milagros R. Elia

Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

milagros@envirn.org

914.455.1165

ANHE Statement on Passage of Bill which Deeply Cuts Medicaid and Facilitates Fossil Fuel Expansion 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, in the longest vote in House history, what has been referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill” by a vote of 218-214. Only two Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie (KY) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), joined all House Democrats in voting against the legislation, which was approved by the Senate two days earlier. 

Contents of the bill include extension of the 2017 tax cuts of Trump’s first term, gives a $150 billion boost in funding for a border wall, immigration enforcement, and deportations and provides $150 billion in new defense spending for a missile defense project. The bill cuts incentives that promote green energy and expands domestic production of oil, coal and natural gas. The bill also makes severe cuts to low-income health and nutrition programs which are expected to eliminate health coverage for millions of people and cripple food safety nets. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the net effect of the package adds an additional $3.3 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade.

In response to today’s announcement, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environment’s (ANHE) Executive Director, Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement:

“As nurses, we are outraged that the passage of today’s budget reconciliation package includes so many egregious cuts to critical services that our patients and communities across the country rely on.

This bill slashes Medicaid funding and nutrition programs and expands production of fossil fuels, putting millions of Americans at risk of negative health impacts such as food instability, restricted access to basic healthcare needs and lifesaving resources, as well as increased exposure to toxic cancer-causing air pollution in already vulnerable communities.This is in reality, a huge setback in steps we’ve achieved striving for a healthy nation. 

As nurses, we stand united in strongly condemning the passing of this bill and remain committed to uphold our professional duty to public health and will continue fighting for clean air, clean water, and healthy environments. 

Even as the bill now heads to the President’s desk for signature, nurses across America will continue to elevate the human health impacts of this bill, demanding accountability and healthy solutions.”

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.

http://enviRN.org

The post Press Release! ANHE Statement on Passage of Bill which Deeply Cuts Medicaid and Facilitates Fossil Fuel Expansion appeared first on ANHE.

Chairperson, distinguished delegates,

I am Teresa Bul, a Nigerian waste picker from Lagos State, speaking on behalf of WIEGO and the International Alliance of Waste Pickers.

The informal economy, where over 2 billion people earn a living, is not a barrier to social justice—it reflects policy failures to address poverty, exclusion, and lack of protection. Rather than forcing workers into rigid systems, policies must adapt to recognize and support us.

Recommendation 204 should be a road map to reduce risk, secure livelihoods, and ensure social protection and justice—not just productivity.

I urge the ILC to center formalization on:

• Job creation: with gender-sensitive policies that guarantee access to finance, workspace, and fair legal frameworks.
• Rights at work: ratify and implement Conventions 189 and 177, recognize informal workers in labor laws, and ensure a just transition for waste pickers.
• Social protection: make it accessible to all workers.
• Collective bargaining: remove barriers to our right to organize and negotiate.

Recognizing, protecting, and empowering informal economy workers is essential for a just world, as our work sustains the economy.

Theresa Bul
Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos
IAWP Delegate at the #ILC2025

This position paper was developed for the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) to contribute to the General Discussion on innovative strategies for addressing informality and advancing transitions toward formal employment that supports decent work.

Grounded in the ILO’s Decent Work framework, WIEGO, HomeNet International, the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, IDWF, StreetNet International, and UTEP advocate for a rights-based approach to formalization. This approach prioritizes risk reduction, access to social protection, and economic policies fostering enabling environments for cooperatives and social and solidarity economy enterprises. It also calls for legal frameworks that secure labour rights and collective bargaining for all workers, including those in informal employment.

MUST READ AND RECORD YOUR VOICE READING THIS! Nets and WIEGO Position Paper Formalization June 2025Download Global-Position-Paper-on-Formalization-June-2025-FrenchDownload DEBE LEER Y GRABAR SU VOZ LEYENDO ESTO Redes y WIEGO Documento de posición Formalización Junio 2025Download

Join The Strategy Center for a Launch of our Statewide Organizing Work with the CA Black Power Network Help us build the collective power to advance statewide policy priorities as part of the California Black Power Network Thursday April 17 2025

Meeting 6:30-8PM

Refreshments 6-6:30PM

The Strategy and Soul

3546 W. Martin Luther King Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90008

• Gain an understanding of our collective goals and policy priorities at both local and statewide levels.
• Commit to staying engaged in the fight to improve the lived conditions of Black Californians.
• Learn what it takes to win on critical policy and issue areas.

RSVP by Tuesday April 15th, 2025 RSVP

The post Join The Strategy Center for a Launch of our Statewide Organizing Work with the CA Black Power Network first appeared on The Labor Community Strategy Center.

Making the Case for Afrocentric Physical Books in the Age of Techno-Imperialism Join the Strategy & Soul Bookstore at the LA Times Festival of Books April 26th and 27th Booth #269 in the Purple Section We carry physical Afrocentric books to combat techno imperialism.

Don’t you just hate that now most devices have forced us to do almost everything digitally, companies and governments can have a say over when you can access your content? They can revoke your access !

So, picture this, you’re all set to travel for vacation, or a family engagement out of town. You have chosen to fly, which means that you will more than likely not have internet access, or you’ll be subject to the commercial content offered on the airline (which by the way can also be regulated mid-flight), or you’ll have to pay for internet access. To combat this, one of the things you do to prepare is download your favorite playlist on Spotify, or Pandora, or Apple Music, etc. Maybe you downloaded that great book you’ve been waiting to have time to read using Kindle or Apple Books. You may log onto Netflix on your device and download a few episodes of a TV show or a few movies.

Some of the content you have paid for, some of it you’re just paying the streaming fee. And so, you think you’re all set. There will be no boredom in this mind! And if it doesn’t work, you’ll just go to sleep.

So, you get on the plane and at first, it’s all working great, you’re in your flow…your reflecting “Damn, I can’t believe I waited this long to read How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney.”

But the plane leaves U.S. air space, or leaves the air space where you downloaded all your content and whatever you’re doing on your device; it stops! It shows you a notification explaining that this content is not allowed in this region of the world.

Just a reminder, you said you’d go to sleep if it didn’t work out.

But now that you have seen this message on your device, you are too riled up for sleep! If the device was a person, you’re on edge to slap the hell out of that device. “How dare they try to tell me that I can’t read my book that I paid my hard-working money for!”

Well Comrade, welcome to a new level of techno-imperialism.

So what is it anyways? Techno-Imperialism, according to Google AI, refers to the concept of powerful technological companies or countries exerting technological influence or control over other countries or cultures, often through economic dependence, data control, and dominance of digital ecosystems.

While this definition is very broad and also relates to everything from exerting control through embargo to Walter Rodney’s discussion on Underdevelopment, in this short article we’re referring to the control of mass information available via books, broadcast, over the internet and on your mobile and stationary devices.

The very control of information has been at the heart of imperialist projects since its inception. And now that there is technology involved that always forces you to sign a user agreement contract that protects companies when they revoke your access regardless of how much you paid and regardless of reasoning, the threat to ideological struggle and access to information is even more heightened now more than it has ever been.

We have now seen over the last few years the escalation of national book bans in grade schools and public institutions by state governments and the federal government. And now the Trump administration is initiating a McCarthyist like hunt to punish any institution that is moving forward with DEI initiatives, race-based programing and dissemination of banned books.

The Call for institution building by the left is even more prescient now than ever and that includes Afro centric, anti-imperialist, anti-racist bookstores like Strategy and Soul Bookstore in the middle of South Central LA and in every city center where there is a nationally oppressed community.

The charge to have our own physical books in our own controlled spaces will be inevitable. So join us this April at the LA Times Festival of Books to build your library and our political collectives that will be instrumental if fighting Trump’s Fascist nightmare.

Co-Director, Labor/Community Strategy Center

Commentary by Co-Director, Labor/Community Strategy Center

The post Making the Case for Afrocentric Physical Books in the Age of Techno-Imperialism first appeared on The Labor Community Strategy Center.

Washington D.C.-  Build Back Fossil Free, a coalition of over 1,100 groups pressuring the Biden Administration to declare a climate emergency and end the federal approval of new fossil fuel projects, released the following statement in response to the Biden Administration’s plans to release resume onshore oil and gas leasing: 

“Today, President Biden violated his promise to end drilling on public lands with yet another handout to the fossil fuel industry. Black, Indigenous, communities of the global majority and poor communities are being left devastated from climate chaos and we are tired of the excuses and inaction from this Administration. The reality is simple: they said they would act to curb the climate crisis, yet they fail to do so at every crucial opportunity that is presented to them. Scientists continue to ring the alarm, there is no time to waste. 

“Families are already paying the price of decades of fossil fuel dependence, creating record profits for oil and gas CEOs who exploit the current crisis. Minor changes will do little to break Big Oil’s stranglehold on our economy and our communities. This decision sacrifices the health and future of Black and Indigenous people, and communities of the global majority – all while doing nothing to lower gas prices. Meanwhile, more drilling will poison frontline communities and deepen the climate crisis.  

“If Biden truly wants to help families and communities, he can use his executive authority to declare a climate emergency, end the federal approval of new fossil fuel projects, and deploy major investments in delivering 100% renewable energy for all. Until then, the proof is in his actions, not his words. And his actions are putting the fossil fuel industry’s profits before the health and safety of our families and communities over and over again.”

The oil and gas industry continues raking in record profits while communities pay the price. The watchdog organization Accountable.US reported in February that Shell, Chevron, BP and Exxon made more than $75.5 billion in profits in 2021, some of their highest profits in the past decade. 

The communities most at risk from new fossil fuel extraction are primarily Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples, people of the global majority and those on the frontlines of fossil fuel industry expansion. These are the same communities that turned out in record numbers to get Biden elected in 2020 and who have since been urging Biden to use his executive authority to fulfill his campaign promise and ban new federal fossil fuel projects. In March, these communities were joined by the Congressional Progressive Caucus in urging the President to ban new federal fossil fuel leases. 

Several analyses show that climate pollution from the world’s already-producing fossil fuel developments, if fully developed, would push warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius, and that avoiding such warming requires ending new investment in fossil fuel projects. Thousands of organizations and communities from across the U.S. have called on Biden to halt federal fossil fuel expansion and phase out production consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius.

Additional statements from climate, social justice and environmental organizations on moves by the Biden Administration and BLM to restart drilling: 

“As frontline community members in the Permian Basin that have been advocating for putting a stop to new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, Citizens Caring for the Future finds it extremely disheartening that BLM is going forward with these lease sales,” said Kayley Shoup of Citizens Caring for the Future. “Our day-to-day life and health is directly affected by these sales and the subsequent production that comes along with them. It would take a small army to truly enforce regulation here in the Permian, and we know that is the reality in oil and gas regions around the country. We live our lives surrounded by the industry and we understand that in order to take on climate change and make a meaningful dent in emissions the Biden administration must take action that puts a stop to new development.” 

“The West is drying up and going up in flames. Between extreme drought, the shrinking of the Colorado River, and now urban wildfires in the winter, how much more death, destruction and devastation do we have to see before this administration takes action?” said Natasha Léger, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Community. “It’s time for climate leadership and to stop leasing our public lands for oil and gas development. We need heroes to break through the political and economic inertia that has us on a collision course to inhabitability.”

“As the Interior Department announces that it plans on continuing oil and gas leasing on federal land, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic condemns any further extraction, especially within the Arctic,” said Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic. “Our lands are warming at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world, causing detrimental impact to the fragile ecosystems that call it home and directly impacting the rest of the world, as well. With conservative climate models predicting that we have less than 30 years to radically change our relationship with oil and gas, the future rests in the United States’ hands. We can no longer commodify our land and water, especially at the rate climate change is occurring. We are nature fighting back.”  

“It is unconscionable that the BLM will go forward with these oil and gas lease sales as we continue to see the devastating effects of climate change, particularly in the Southwestern United States,” said Deborah McNamara, campaigns director at 350 Colorado. “According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s August 2021 assessment, there is ‘high confidence’ that human-influenced rising temperatures are a direct cause of the extension of the wildfire season, increased drought, and decreased precipitation in the southwest United States. In order to curb emissions and do what scientists are telling us we must do in order to avert the absolute worst climate impacts, we need a rapid phase out of fossil fuel production by 2030. Continuing business as usual at the BLM with ongoing oil and gas lease sales will not get us where we need to be in order to solve the climate crisis and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

“How much more can Gulf Coast states endure? Most of us weren’t born with a silver spoon to get lawyers all the time to fight these civil laws aka ‘environmental acts,’ or have the luxury of property rights because it was all taken from us so long ago,” said Love Sanchez of Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend. “Now here we are, working class people, simple people, 95% of the time BIPOC people, that just want to protect our land and water. Then, I’m not surprised, we now have the Interior, who decides they want to continue their projects in the Gulf Coast. It’s a very disappointing thing to hear. Fortunately, we will continue to be persistent in protecting these waters.” 

“The Biden administration’s claim that it must hold these lease sales is pure fiction and a reckless failure of climate leadership,” said Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s as if they’re ignoring the horror of firestorms, floods and megadroughts, and accepting climate catastrophes as business as usual. These so-called reforms are 20 years too late and will only continue to fuel the climate emergency. These lease sales should be shelved and the climate-destroying federal fossil fuel programs brought to an end.”

“We have heard a lot of rhetoric from President Biden and his administration about the need to take action on climate,” said Kyle Tisdel, climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center. “But not only is the administration not doing everything it could — it is not really doing anything. Climate action was a pillar of President Biden’s campaign, and his promises on this existential issue were a major reason the public elected him. Achieving results on climate is not a matter of domestic politics. It’s life and death.”

“Candidate Biden promised to end new oil and gas leasing on public lands, but President Biden is prioritizing oil executive profits over future generations,” said Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager at Friends of the Earth. “Biden’s Interior Department has even issued permits to drill at a rate faster than the Trump administration. Now, the Bureau of Land Management is preparing to hold its first public lands lease sale, despite having no legal obligation to do so. If Biden wants to be a climate leader, he must stop auctioning off our public lands to Big Oil.”

“This is pure climate denial,” said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians. “While the Biden administration talks a good talk on climate action, the reality is, they’re in bed with the oil and gas industry. Rest assured, with the climate crisis raging, we can and will fight back. We can’t afford not to.”

“The Biden administration fiddles while Rome burns,” said Shelley Silbert, executive director at Great Old Broads for Wilderness. “The most destructive fire in Colorado history consumed over a thousand homes last December. When your house is on fire, you act immediately. Climate disasters hit us harder each day and we’re out of time. The Biden administration must address the climate crisis now, and a vital step is stopping oil and gas leasing on public lands immediately. There is no other option.” 

“Right now, fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters make up a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions at a time scientists are saying we must move urgently to cut emissions by at least half. Not only does it devastate our planet, it’s a handout to Big Oil at the expense of average Americans, who will bear the brunt of its societal, health, and financial ramifications,” said Dan Ritzman, Lands Water Wildlife director at the Sierra Club. “We urge the Biden administration to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make good on campaign promises, fulfill a global commitment to acting on climate, and serve American communities by phasing out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans.” 

“Let’s set aside all the niceties and speak plainly on this: even people in positions of power and authority are fully aware that nothing goes unscathed in the aftermath of creating and maintaining  fossil fuel infrastructures,” said Sha Merirei Ongelungel, executive director of Pasifika Uprising. “So whether you’re trying to reopen the Palau National Marine Sanctuary for commercial fishing and potential exploratory drilling or in the United States pushing to resume oil and gas leasing on public lands, the only safe inference is that our leaders are dishonest and hungry for more money and more power. And that is wholly unconscionable. What’s legal isn’t always ethical and too many leaders, the world-over, are demonstrating this with their utter disregard for their communities and the climate. Frankly, I’m embarrassed for these so-called leaders. For all their power and authority, they will never have the true power and solidarity needed to lead us into a safer future like grassroots movements.”

“Ramping up exports of liquified natural gas to Europe in response to the invasion of Ukraine is a losing proposition that will take too long to implement to address current energy demands,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project. “Instead of taking decades to build the necessary export terminals so we can keep burning fossil fuels and turning the Earth into a fiery hellscape, we should be investing in solar production in urban settings where the energy is being used, on rooftops and parking lot awnings, so Europe and the United States can both transition to clean power sources and get that production online a whole lot faster.”

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not be more clear. It is time to rapidly transition off of fossil fuels. Increasing leasing for fossil fuels on public lands is grossly misaligned with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and ensuring that young people inherit a habitable planet,” said Zanagee Artis, executive director of Zero Hour

###

Congressional Progressive Caucus Calls on Biden to Declare a Climate Emergency and Ban Fossil Fuel Leasing on Federal Lands and Waters

Congressional Progressives follow the lead of climate, frontline, and progressive groups who have been making the same demands 

Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Progressive Caucus today called on President Biden to declare a climate emergency, jumpstart just renewable energy production, ban federal fossil fuel leasing, end fossil fuel subsidies, and take executive actions aimed at advancing environmental justice and making clean air and water accessible for all.

Since Biden’s inauguration, declaring a climate emergency, igniting a just renewable energy revolution, and ending fossil fuel expansion have been the top demands from climate, Indigenous, social justice, and progressive groups, including the Build Back Fossil Free Coalition. The growing coalition of more than a thousand groups is dedicated to pushing Biden to use his executive authority to act on climate and fossil fuels. 

In October 2021, the Build Back Fossil Free coalition organized a weeklong mobilization at the White House where thousands of Indigenous, frontline, and allied activists put their bodies on the line to demand Biden declare a climate emergency and stop permitting fossil fuel projects. 

Earlier this year, the coalition sent a letter, signed by more than 1,100 organizations, to Biden urging him to quickly deliver on his campaign promises by declaring a climate emergency, stopping the federal approval of new fossil fuel projects, and initiating a just transition to a distributed, renewable energy future. 

Ahead of the State of the Union, organizers gathered at the White House with an art piece depicting a giant pen and executive order, urging Biden to act on climate “with the stroke of a pen. And last week, groups in the coalition sent another letter to Biden urging him to use the Defense Production Act to jumpstart the deployment of clean energy solutions, like heat pumps, across the country as a response to the crisis in Ukraine. 

President Biden has the authority today to use the Defense Production Act to create well-paying, union jobs building just, renewable energy technologies; begin to phase out the quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution created by fossil fuel production on federal lands and waters; and declare a climate emergency to reinstate the ban on crude oil exports, which would have health and climate gains equivalent to shutting down 42 coal plants.

Below are statements from leading climate, social justice, and environmental organizations:

Quotes:

Grassroots/Frontline Groups

“Biden must take bold action by declaring a climate emergency and investing in real clean energy and actually sever the dependence of fossil fuel economy. Indigenous, frontline, youth and grassroot led movements have been demanding that the federal fossil fuel leasing program be reformed to ensure that communities have equity access to clean energy grids and participation in planning processes. It’s important for this administration to adopt the principles Environmental justice movements have thoroughly implemented as their center frontline communities and equity to further meaningful climate solutions,” Julia Bernal, Executive Director for Pueblo Action Alliance

“Those living in the Arctic are on the cutting edge of the climate crisis. The CPC agrees with us, thousands of organizations agree with us, now is the time to declare a climate emergency and stop the expansion of fossil fuels. The Biden Administration needs to follow this grassroots-led movement and the science backing us and stop approving fossil fuel projects like the Willow Master development plan,” Siqiniq Maupin, Executive Director of Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic

“Biden is failing to support Tribal sovereignty each day he allows the Dakota Access pipeline to flow. This CPC announcement is another reminder for Biden to stand with the people, declare a climate emergency, uphold Indigenous rights and protect the water.” Waniya Locke, Standing Rock Grassroots

“The climate crisis is rooted in lack of oversight of extraction that is happening in frontline communities. It is time for Biden to go beyond performative politics and show communities of color that we will be represented. He needs to declare a climate emergency and stop fossil fuel destruction, including extraction on federal fossil fuel leases that pollute in communities like ours.” Cesar Aguirre, Senior community organizer, Central California Environmental Justice Network

National Organizations:

“President Biden has demonstrated his lack of commitment to the very communities who elected him to office. He has stalled on climate action, abandoning Black, Indigenous, communities of the global majority, and other frontline communities who don’t have time to negotiate with neoliberals, capitalists, and white supremacists because their very existences are at stake. This is why we stand alongside the CPC to demand Biden use his executive powers to declare a Climate Emergency and ban drilling on federal lands and waters. Our collective futures depend on bold climate action now.” Ashley McCray, Green New Deal Network Organizer,  Indigenous Environmental Network

“There’s no question that we’re in a climate emergency. The caucus is absolutely right that President Biden should declare it so we can build the energy security that only renewable energy can bring,” said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program. “Biden can act quickly, without Congress and without Joe Manchin, to stop oil and gas drilling on public lands and unlock his emergency powers to end the era of deadly fossil fuels. He must answer the caucus’s call and turbo-charge the renewable energy transition with the Defense Production Act.” Jean Su, director, Energy Justice Program, Center for Biological Diversity.

“As communities across this country are facing the realities of a rigged economy, a public health crisis, racial injustice, and climate change, Congress and the Biden Administration must use every tool at their disposal to deliver comprehensive, transformative, and immediate change. The announcement of the CPC Executive Action slate is a bold and exciting phase of progressive power that demonstrates Progressives understand there is no time to waste. Declaring a national climate emergency and working to end our reliance on fossil fuels are two critical steps in addressing the climate crisis our communities are facing and Indivisible is thrilled to see these priorities included in a slate that works to address climate change, invest in good paying union jobs, and prioritize a just and equitable society.” Ann Clancy, Associate Director of Climate Policy, Indivisible

For more information or to be connected with experts and spokespeople reach out to Cassidy DiPaola, cassidy@fossilfree.media.

###

For a PDF of this letter click here.

February 24, 2021

Dear President Biden,

As 1,140 organizations collectively representing millions of members and supporters, including Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline communities, we urge you to use your executive authority to speed the end of the fossil fuel era, protect our communities from the climate emergency, and address the severe harms caused by fossil fuels. 

Your first year in office was marked by historic climate disasters, another alarming surge in domestic greenhouse gas emissions, and increasingly dire warnings from the leading scientists around the world. From hurricanes and floods, to wildfires and droughts, tens of millions of Americans are directly confronting the dangerous consequences of a warming world. Indigenous, Black, Brown, AAPI and working-class communities are disproportionately harmed not only by fossil-fueled extreme weather, but also targeted by oil, gas, and coal corporations and suffer from toxic pollution and ongoing environmental injustices.

You have repeatedly identified the existential threat posed by climate change, calling it a “code red” for humanity, and stated in your first week in office, “In my view, we’ve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. We can’t wait any longer.” 

You further promised “environmental justice will be at the center of all we do addressing the disproportionate health and environmental and economic impacts on communities of color — so-called ‘fenceline communities’.” And you elevated the  respect of Indigenous sovereignty and ordered federal agencies to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships with Tribes.

These statements must be backed up by bolder action. You have the authority under existing law to wind down fossil fuel production and catalyze a just, renewable energy revolution to deliver healthier communities, a livable future, and millions of good-paying jobs. It’s critical that you use that authority as quickly and broadly as possible.

Together, we call on you to take these steps:

• Follow through on your promise to ban all new oil and gas leasing, drilling, and fracking on federal lands and waters.
• Direct federal agencies to stop approving fossil fuel projects, including pipelines, import and export terminals, storage facilities, refineries, and petrochemical plants. Direct the Department of Energy to halt gas exports to the full extent authorized by law.
• Declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, unlocking special powers to reinstate the crude oil export ban, redirect disaster relief funds toward distributed renewable energy construction in frontline communities, and marshal companies to fast-track renewable transportation and clean power generation, creating millions of high-quality union jobs.

The U.S. must contribute its fair share to the global effort to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with what science, justice, and equity demand. Your administration’s legislative and regulatory climate proposals have not addressed limiting the production and burning of fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. As fossil fuel lobbyists and politicians continue to block real climate action in Congress, bold executive action is desperately needed.   

President Biden, you are the chief executive with immense powers to address our communities’ concerns.

You showed what serious climate leadership could look like in your first week in office when you canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and paused oil and gas leasing on federal lands. The urgency of the moment requires you to return to that original ambition. Fully deliver on your climate and environmental justice promises by using your executive authority to keep fossil fuels in the ground and build a resilient and affordable renewable energy system.

Sincerely,

For a full list of organizations see click here.

**Apologies for some of the audio issues, Andrew had a night off**

As the nights draw in and  the GND team snuggle up in our cozy, retrofitted, zero carbon  house of the future (powered entirely by the hot air supplied by Andrew) it's time for a catch up with the low traffic neighbourhood Santa Claus himself, Councillor Jon Burke of Hackney.

This week we discuss the on going campaign to make Hackneys streets for people not just cars, the climate impacts of catering the world to cars and we debunk myths about low traffic neighbourhoods.

Links

Jons' article in the Huffington Post on electric vehicles
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/electric-cars_uk_5fb64017c5b695be8300137c

The Hackney Citizen article on the journey from against to for LTNS
https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2020/12/08/ltns-from-horror-to-acceptance/


Shout outs

Claire Stocks- XR and Walk Ride GM campaigner
@stocksyatlarge

Chris Stark- chief exec at the Climate Change Committee (UK)
@ChiefExecCCC

Scarlett West- Climate activist
@ScarlettOWest

Alice Toomer McAlpine - Manchester Meteor Co-editor

If you like the show tell your comrades!
Find us on
 Twitter:@MCRGND_POD
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FB:MCRGNDPOD

Support the show

If there is one thing to be said about the last 40 years of Neoliberalism it's this. You can put a price on everything. If it can be quantified then it can be priced and sold. Even when it comes to the existential threat of climate breakdown and biodiversity destruction the strategy has been give it a price tag and then someone in the system can pay for the damage.  Existence has turned into a game of who will pick up the insurance policy excess.  Does the commodification of everything give us the tools to tackle climate change? Or are we green washing are way extinction?

This week we are joined on the show by Adrienne Buller (@adribuller) Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth. We discuss how green finance is a cover for some of the markets ecological sins, could UBS be a pathway out climate breakdown and how should the labour party  define its self, now the tories have supposedly become the big spenders?

Adriennes' article on attaching market value to life 
https://novaramedia.com/2020/10/16/whats-the-value-of-a-whale/

Dealing with the commodification of housing.
https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/charting-a-just-and-sustainable-recovery-for-scotland

Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrum
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/political-theory/governing-commons-evolution-institutions-collective-action-1?format=PB

Progressive International 
https://progressive.international/wire/2020-12-02-common-wealth-to-makeamazonpay-reimagine-the-platform-economy/en


Shout Outs

The Standsted 15, here's a short film on their story. 
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/stansted-15-tell-their-story-through-film

Sophie Yeo - @some_yeo
https://inkcap.substack.com/

the Yard @theyard_mcr a fantastic venue/co working space in North Manchester
https://theyardmcr.com/

Luca Rudlin- Amazing Videographer, editor and all round amazing dude
@People_Staring

If you like the show tell your comrades!
Find us on
 Twitter:@MCRGND_POD
Insta: Manchestergndpod
FB:MCRGNDPOD

Support the show